#1 - My dear darling Jeannette

This is the 1st in a collection of a dozen letters written by Alice Sandy Marmaduke. I am sure that they are a fragment of what must have been many more letters, but they do give us a glimpse of the Marmaduke family in 1902 & 1903. Because of Alice's vague language, I can only guess at some of the underlying struggles going on within the family. These letters are what first attracted me to the Marmaduke family, and what drew me in to take a deeper look at my ancestors.

Let me first introduce you to Alice May Sandy Marmaduke. Born August 9, 1858 in Essex Co, Virginia, Alice was born to a family who could trace themselves to original settlers of Virginia (more information on that in another letter). I have no records of her childhood aside from the 1860 census. Her father Edward is listed in the 1870 census, but the rest of the family is missing. The 1880 census curiously shows Alice & her sister Mary Jane living with their older brother, Edward M. Sandy, in Washington DC. Alice was 22 at the time, and her mother had passed away several years earlier. 

Alice married James Berkeley Marmaduke in 1881, and their marriage was recorded in the newspaper & can be found in the Washington DC health department marriage records. The interesting thing is that my family has their original marriage certificate, which is in a glass frame. I am trying to find it, and will scan & share it when I do. 

The Marmadukes made their home in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. 

Alice & Berkeley's first child, a son named Andrew Dare, was born nearly 9 months to the day of their marriage! He was followed by 4 daughters, Ada Viola, May Croxton, Bettie Gordon, & Jeannette. 

Alice became a very young widow on December 26, 1892. The circumstances of Berkeley's death are still unknown to me. 

We pick up the story about 10 years later, in 1902. In the 1900 census, 4 of the 5 children were living in Spotsylvania with their mother near the Hilldrup, Wenger, & Mason families (I believe off of Old Plank Road). But things have changed in just 2 years. In late 1902, Alice Marmaduke's children are all living apart from her and apparently all apart from each other. Jeannette was just 10 years old at the time. I cannot imagine what it is that separated this family, and as the coming letters will show, it seems that it is outside of Alice's control. 

Below is the 1st letter in our collection. My hope is to post the entire collection of letters in a set of blog posts over the next few weeks. This one has very little substance, but does provide us some context clues - date, Alice's location, Dare's location... 

 

Spotsylvania Co. Va,

Oct 27^th 1902

My dear darling Jeannette

I am so anxious to hear from you & to know how you are getting along. Please write to me at once Jeannette.

I rec’d a letter from May a few days ago. She is well & doing well.

Dare is in Fredericksburg & is well. Jeannette will you please send me Bettie’s address. I can’t understand why she does not write sometimes.

I cannot write much this time, but if you will ans this right away I will try to write you a long letter & give you all the news.

I am as ever

Your devoted Mother

2^nd page: “I will send you Mamma’s letter” – presumably written by Jeannette or Bettie. 

Well, that's all for tonight. More of Alice's letters to come!

Dear Lindsay,

May 11, 1898 

Dear Lindsay - I don't believe that I have written to you since I have been here. I reckon you would like to know how I am getting along in Chili. Every thing is very pleasant and nice but I get home-sick some times. I heard that you was taking music lessons from Miss Crawfort. Have you got any organ yet. I am taking lessons on the piano and I am going to get Uncle Eddie to get me an organ when I go back to Pittsburg. Mamma is out at Oakdale and she likes it very much, but she says that she is coming back home in the Fall if she can. I am getting along quite well in school. I haven't got but six more weeks to go. Lindsay have you swept your yard yet. We have already cleaned the big lawn up here. We had arbor day as a holiday and all of the girls had a big time. I had to help make flower beds. Lindsay I room with a very nice little girl. She is eighteen years old but she aint a bit taller than May. How is Johnnie getting along in his store. I suppose he misses us running down there two or three times a day. Has Mrs. Boe (Roe?) got everything fixed nice. I would give any thing if I only could get back home again. I can't write you a long letter this time as it is nearly time for me to go to school. I can get there in five minutes. Lindsay you must write me a long long letter next time. News is very scarce and I will have to close.Write soon to your cousin Viola. Love to all. Excuse writing. 

Chesbro Seminary North Chili Monroe Co New York 

Viola Marmaduke, location unknown. Approx 1898-1900

Viola Marmaduke, Chivis School, 1896, age 13

Viola Marmaduke, Pittsburg, PA - approx 1898-1900

This letter was written by Viola Marmaduke (my 2nd great-grandmother), age 14. She was at school in Chili, New York, almost 450 miles (by modern travel routes) from her home in Spotsylvania, Virginia. I wonder what this means about the Marmaduke family. Was it "normal" in the late 1800s for families to send their children away to school? From what I have gathered from census records, other letters (which I will reveal in future posts), and general family knowledge, the Marmadukes were not wealthy. I do know that Viola's father Berkeley passed away 5 1/2 years earlier (the circumstances of his death are currently a mystery to me). She was 2nd child in a family of 5 children. 

Anyway, this letter was written to Viola's 1st cousin, 1x removed, Mary Lindsay Hilldrup (see the relationship chart between the two girls - above). Above is the only photo I have of Mary Lindsay Hilldrup, and it is snipped from a school photo that also includes all 4 of the Marmaduke sisters. (Chivis School, Spotsylvania, Virginia. 1896.) Interestingly, Lindsay was 7 years older than Viola, so I am curious about the nature of their relationship. Maybe Lindsay was a babysitter or a "big sister" figure to Viola. 

Mrs. Crawfort appears to be the future Mrs. Dare, who married A. John Dare in 1899. She is referred to as "Mrs Dare" in 1902-3 in a letter from Viola's mother to Viola's sister. That's  all I know about her though. The Dares are neighbors of the Hilldrups & Marmadukes in Spotsylvania, and probably related, but I'm not sure how. Alice & Berkeley Marmaduke likely named their first child, Andrew Dare Marmaduke (who went by "Dare") for this family. It would make sense if they were related.

Uncle Eddie... Oh my, Uncle Eddie has quite the reputation. He was Alice Sandy Marmaduke's brother, and his story is certainly not unfolded completely. I will write more about him soon. Let's just say that his reputation is controversial! 

I wish I knew where Oakdale was. Does anyone know? Based on letters written by Alice Marmaduke, she seemed to live in several places (although I believe they were all temporary solutions to a larger problem). This is the only letter that references a place called Oakdale.

I can't figure out who "Johnnie" is, except that he may be Lindsay's brother John. But his occupation on the 1900 census is "Farmer" & "General Farm" on the 1910 census. John Hilldrup later married Gertrude Doggett (Gertie), who shows up very often in postcards, letters, and photos written by Viola & her mother. I hope to learn more about Gertie as time goes on.

Mrs. Boe/Roe... from my searches in the 1900 Spotsylvania census, it looks like her name is Anna Rowe, and she was an elderly widowed woman and a landlord... I guess that would explain Viola's question about everything being fixed nice, but I don't know her role in their lives. 

Sadly, Lindsay Hilldrup died a little over a year after this letter was written, at the age of 23. The newspaper clipping is posted below (Alexandria Gazette. September 06, 1899). I haven't found anything more about her life or death. I would love to know more about this cousin of my 2nd great-grandmother.

Closing for now. So much more to write soon!

Wilbur Wise Marmaduke

I've mentioned the Library of Congress's Chronicling America website before. This site is a jewel mine for family research! Chronicling America provides digital copies of newspapers from all over the country going all the way back to 1836. 

Somehow I ended up searching the newspapers for Wilbur Wise Marmaduke, and he turned out to be more of an interesting character than I originally thought!

Before I share the story, here's a short summary of Wilbur & his family:

Wilbur's father, Milton, was a brother (possibly a 1/2 brother) of my 3rd great-grandfather Berkley Marmaduke. Wilbur was born in Montross, Westmoreland County, Virginia in 1871, and grew up in Washington, DC. He married & had a son, but I do not know much about either of them yet. 

What first interested me about Wilbur was this postcard in my great-grandmother's collection of family postcards (over a thousand postcards!). 

Oddly enough, we have 2 of this postcard from a trip that Viola Marmaduke's sister Bettie took to see him in Miami. I think it's so interesting that Wilbur & his wife would have postcards made of their home. Was that common? The postcard is postmarked 1935 on the back, and is a postcard written from Bettie to Viola. Bettie was suffering from cancer at the time. Here's a copy of what she wrote below: 

More about Bettie & the details surrounding this postcard later... 

Anyway, Wilbur & his 2nd wife Viola (not to be confused with Viola Marmaduke) moved to Florida sometime between 1920 & 1928. He was in his 50s at the time. They moved there as hotel managers, and Wilbur died in 1947 at the age of 76.

So back to Washington, DC in 1898. I found a series of articles in the Washington, DC Times about Wilbur & his father Milton. I'll let the articles tell the story...

September 4, 1898

It reads: "Institutes Suite for Damages. Jacob Spliedt has entered suit for $5,000 damages against Wilbur W. Marmaduke & Milton M. Marmaduke, alleging that Thursday last the defendants assaulted and violently beat, kicked, bruised and ill-treated him. The plaintiff claims that he has been permanently injured therefrom and is hindered and prevented from pursuing his ordinary avocation. He also says he has had to pay out the sum of $100 for the treatment of his hurts. Messrs. Bierny and Woodward represent the plaintiff."

September 30, 1898

This one reads:
TICKET BROKERS 'TROUBLE The assault case of Spliedt against the Marmadukes on trial. The case of Wilbur W. Marmaduke and Milton M. Marmaduke, charged with assaulting Jacob Spliedt September 2, was taken up before Judge Scott in the Police Court at 1 o'clock this afternoon. The jury was called during the morning, being made up as follows: J. C. Miles, James H. Tucker, Warren F. Basim, D. E. Kealey, Chas. Barnes, Theodore Heilman, Charles T. Willis, John Y. Yates, Lawrence Cole, Joseph N. Kudd, John II. Baxter and Thomas D. Manning. The defendants have been under $500 bail each, and at the preliminary hearing pleaded not guilty, demanding a jury trial. An interesting incident in the case is the fact that Mr. Spliedt has entered a law suit against the Marmadukes, asking for heavy damages for injuries resulting to him in the alleged assault. The Prosecuting Witness. The first witness heard was Mr. J. Spliedt, who charged that the Marmadukes, father and son, attacked him while on his way down Pennsylvania avenue in front of the National Hotel on the afternoon of September 1 without any provocation. He had his umbrella raised, when suddenly he was attacked by the two men. Mr. Marmaduke, Sr. said to his son: "Now you have got him, do him up good." The younger Marmaduke then, he said, struck him twice on the head and once in the side with a large hammer. Subsequently he went to the office of Dr. D. Percy Hickling, who, upon an examination, found that one of his ribs was broken. Mr. Spliedt was cross-examined at much length by Mr. Tracy L. Jeffords, counsel for the Messrs. Marmaduke, but the direct testimony of the witness was not shaken. Dr. D. P. Hickling testified that on the afternoon of September 1 Mr. Spliedt came to his office to be treated; the latter had two wounds-one on his face and the other on the forehead. The patient also had a rib broken. The injuries could have been inflicted, he said, with a blunt instrument. Mr. Spliedt was sick for some days following the day he received the injuries, which were very recent, not more then two or three hours at the most. Dr. H. F. Price said he saw a scuffle between the Marmadukes and Mr. Spliedt, in which one of the Marmadukes struck Mr. Spliedt in the head with a hammer. Mr. Spliedt was carrying a raised umbrella at the time. Thomas Hill, who described himself as "bootblack and general hustler," said he saw Mr. Spliedt struck by one of the Marmadukes with a hammer, but whether by the father or son he did not know. Defendants Testify. Mr. Wilbur W. Marmaduke, one of the accused, was the first witness for the defense. He said that he and Mr. Spliedt were rivals in business, but denied that he struck the prosecuting witness. His father, he said, struck Mr. Spliedt, but not until after Mr. Spliedt struck the witness. Mr. Melton M. Marmaduke admitted striking Mr. Spliedt, but claimed that the latter struck his son before he did so. Witness said he struck Mr, Spliedt repeatedly. The case was still on trial when this report was closed.

Oct 1, 1898

 

The article says: "Small Fines Imposed. The case of Jacob Spleidt against the Marmadukes. The trial of Wilbur W. Marmaduke & Milton M. Marmaduke, ticket brokers, charged with assaulting Jacob Spleidt, also a ticket broker, in front of the former's place of business, under the National Hotel, on the afternoon of September 1, occurred in Police Court yesterday. The jury was out fifteen minutes and returned a verdict of guilty. In disposing of the case Judge Scott said that there were many things in favor of the defendants, and, therefore, he imposed the lowest possible fine, $15 each. While the jury was considering the case against the Marmadukes the clerk presented a charge of disorderly conduct against Spleidt, preferred by the Marmadukes. Judge Scott heard the same witnesses that had testified in the preceding case and the defendant was dismissed."

WOW. No words! 

More soon, 

Julie

Frank Cullen?

Frank Cullen, Jr. as a young man.

Frank Cullen in about 1940.

I spend a lot of time thinking about Frank Cullen. Frank was my 2nd great-grandfather, and he lived quite a life! Frank spent his early adult life traveling with the Greatest Show on Earth, Barnum & Bailey Circus (as well as several other traveling shows) as a bill poster. My family is fortunate enough to have hundreds upon hundreds of postcards that Frank sent to his mother Mary Jane & his future wife Viola while he was traveling. But more about that in another post.

Elmer, Frank, & Mary Jane Cullen (about 1888)

The biggest mystery about Frank is his father. The story that's trickled down to me is that Frank's mother Mary Jane would tell my great-grandmother Mary Virginia to "mind her own business" when she would ask about her grandfather. It's always been suspected that he took off and left the family, but we have no proof of anything really. 

In my genealogical research,  there is no living sign of Frank Cullen, Sr. He is referenced by name in a few places. In 1889, Mary Jane shows up in the Detroit city directory (after 9 years of no record) as a widow of Frank. (see below)

She continues to claim herself as Frank Cullen's widow for at least another decade in the Detroit city directory. 

The odd thing is that I have absolutely no other written record showing Frank Cullen's life (or death). No birth certificate, marriage record, census record, death record, burial... NOTHING! I cannot even find birth certificates for his 2 sons. 

I do have a document that my Frank (Frank, Jr.) saved with his files. It is an "application for the determination of birth" because Frank's birth was apparently "unrecorded." The City of Cincinnati sent him a letter saying that his birth was not recorded with the city. Can you imagine someone telling you that they have no record of your birth? Anyway, part of the application asks him about his father, and below is how he responds:

It makes me sad that Frank didn't know his father. 

We have 2 photographs in our family records that **could** be of Frank, Sr. Both photos are of a bearded man who looks similar to Frank, Jr. But the photos appear to be much older than the ones I have of Frank, Jr. at a similar age. And I have probably a hundred photos of Frank, Jr, and he is not bearded in a single other photo... Anyway, here they are. 

This is a cardboard backed photo (cabinet photo) that was in Mary Jane Cullen's personal photo album. Someone wrote "Frank Cullen" next to the photo. I believe that this photo is of Frank, Sr. for several reasons (hopefully not just because I want to believe that it's him!). The main reason is that this photo is unlike ANY photo we have of Frank, Jr. And we have a lot of them...

This photo is still in its frame. My grandpa dismantled the frame over Christmas so that we could see if anything was written on the back, but the only thing is the metal plaque with his name.

  I still spend much of my research time hoping to find some shred of evidence that Frank Cullen, Sr. existed. I feel like I've unturned every stone to continue to find nothing. 

But tonight gave me a little bit of hope. I was researching Frank, Jr's time in the circus. I found a fascinating website called circushistory.org. It occurred to me that maybe Frank, Sr. isn't to be found because he was in the circus business himself. So my search continues...

January 29, 1890 Newsclipping

A fantastic resource I've used for genealogy research is the Library of Congress's "Chronicling America" website. This site provides detailed information about & scanned pages from American newspapers spanning the years of 1836 - 1922. Typically these newspaper pages are not easily searchable through Ancestry.com, so when I am looking for more detail about a family member, I use this resource. 

The James Berkley & Alice Marmaduke family (my maternal 3rd Great-Grandparents) are of particular interest to me. My family has a series of letters written by Alice Marmaduke in 1902-1903. Alice had been a widow for 10 years by this point, and she was writing the letters to her young daughters Jeannette & Bettie. Alice's letters reference family troubles, but what piques my interest the most is that she is separated from her daughters who are 11 (Jeannette) & 14 (Bettie). My biggest questions are why they are separated and who the girls were with. So I searched the Chronicling America historical newspaper collection in hopes of finding answers.

I did not find the answer to my question about the girls, but I did find a distressing blip on the family's timeline. Here is a link to the article, but below is a screen shot of the item.

The blurb says "Last Friday the dwelling of Mr. Berkley Marmaduke, in Spotsylvania County, about six miles from Fredericksburg, was destroyed by fire, together with nearly all of the furniture and wearing apparel." Alexandria gazette. (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, January 29, 1890, Image 2

It amazes me that I could be so affected by something that happened 123 years ago. This 1 sentence blurb in a newspaper makes me wonder how the family recovered from the tragedy.There were 4 children at this point, all under the age of 10. Because the majority of the 1890 US census records were destroyed in a fire, it is difficult to know where the family's home was. But I do know that as of 1900, the Marmadukes lived in a home in Spotsylvania that was surrounded by extended family. How would this family's story have changed, though, if the fire never happened? Would Berkley still have died in 1892? I have so few pieces of information about the Marmadukes, yet each piece is so fascinating. More to come about Berkley, Alice, and their children in future posts...

Who? Why? When? Where?

I am writing this blog as I am discovering bits and pieces of my family's history. Geneology has always interested me, and I have spent the past few years diving deeper into my family tree via Ancestry.com and the unbelievable collection of photos, letters, and postcards (literally thousands) left to us. My great-grandmother Mary Cullen Loriaux (1919-2008) thankfully saved these precious pieces of history. 

Many of the photos & letters leave me asking so many questions. Why was Alice Sandy Marmaduke separated from her young girls in 1903? Why wouldn't anyone talk about what happened to Frank Cullen, Sr? 

Because the majority of the photos come from my great-grandmother's collection, I am focusing almost exclusively on her lines, along with her husband's family.

These photos were found in an album belonging to Mary Jane Quinn Cullen (1851-1935). It is photos like these that drive me especially crazy as I don't know the who, where, when, and why these photos were taken. I'm hoping that this blog will connect me to people who are more experienced genealogists that can help point me in the right direction. I wish I had begun this blog years ago... 

This precious little girl's photo was in the album next to my great-great grandfather's (Frank Cullen: 1883-1951) infant tin-type photo (taken in 1883/4). 

My instinct tells me that this photo may be of my 4th Great-Grandfather Hugh Quinn (abt 1814-abt 1870) since it was in the album near the tin-type of his wife (below). But there was nothing else indicating that this photo is of Hugh Quinn. My knowledge of the Quinns is that they came from Ireland, and ended up working in Cincinnati, Ohio in about 1860. Their occupation in Cincinnati was bleaching/pressing of hats.

Margianna Quinn (maiden name unknown / 1811-1892)

I have no clue about this woman. Because it's a tin-type, I would guess it is from around 1880.

Again, no idea... This woman does not look familiar at all to me. It's also a tin-type.


Now for a photo that I have identified. This is Mary Jane Quinn Cullen with her 2 sons: Frank (1883-1951) & Elmer (1881-1911). I would estimate this was taken in 1888. Their father, Frank Cullen Sr. was supposedly deceased by this point. My great-grandmother Mary Cullen (Frank's daughter) was always told to mind her own business when she asked about her grandfather Frank. Mary Jane's city directory record notes that she is the widow of Frank Cullen, along with the 1910-1930 census records. I have not found the 1880, 1890 (missing due to the fire) & 1900 census records for Mary Jane. I have seen no written proof of Frank Cullen Sr's life as I do not have birth, death, or marriage records for him. I do have 2 photos of him that I will share at some point. In the meantime, here is the tin type of Mary Jane, Frank (L), & Elmer (R).

I could keep on for hours, but will close for now...