stevenpiziks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stevenpiziks) wrote2018-06-29 12:22 pm
stevenpiziks) wrote2018-06-29 12:22 pm
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A Strange Vacation 1
Darwin is an avid genealogist. Over the years, he's compiled an enormous family tree dating back to the 1600s. However, as happens to all major family tree projects, he has a few gaps, relatives he's unable to track down or verify. One major block for him is a distant grandparent and his children who lived in Newton Falls, Ohio (near Warren) in the 1800s. The grandparent (George McClary) owned a farm outside Warren and was buried there, but twenty-some years after his death, his son Alexander sold or abandoned the family farm and moved to Niles, Michigan. Why? Good question. Darwin has also been trying to find the grave of George McClary and his wife Margaret for years and years with no luck. There's also almost no information about Margaret to be found.
For years, Darwin has been wanting to visit Warren to see if any local records mention George and Margaret. This year he finally set aside time to go, so off we went.
I was coming along as a sort-of research assistant and to explore a new town. I figured I could also do some writing while Darwin was researching.
I found us an AirBnB apartment in Warren, and it was very nice, with original woodwork and floors but updated fixtures. The building seems to have been an eight-unit apartment building put up in the 20s and recently renovated by a new owner. The other apartments were occupied by young professionals.
Warren itself fell on hard times. Years ago, it was a major shipping hub. A canal and a railroad had major stops in Warren, and as a result, a lot of decent-sized factories went up--you wanted your factory close to the shipping back then. But then came trucking. And a couple-three recessions. The canal was closed. The railroad faded away. The factories also closed or relocated. And the town went to seed. Today its main industry seems to be the hospital. Nearly everyone we ran into was connected to it in some way. The downtown is a delight, with a huge, impressive stone courthouse that looks like a castle. But outside that small area are dead strip malls, boarded-up factories, and crumbling Victorian houses.
After we arrived, Darwin and I drove over to Newton Falls to look around. We found the old cemetery right off (the new one was across a rusty WPA bridge that rattled over the river) and searched through it for George's grave. No luck. Many of the stones were, of course, hard to read, and we had no idea what section he was in. While we were searching, a woman and her young son strolled through the graveyard, and it looked like this was part of a regular route for them. I asked her if she'd ever seen a grave for McClary. She said she hadn't, but she could give me the number of the cemetery sexton, who would know. Yes!
The next day, I called the sexton, but only got voice mail, so I left a message. While Darwin was occupied with something else, I did a quick search on George McClary and discovered someone had posted a photo of the gravestone just last year (after Darwin had stopped bothering with on-line searches for him). We rushed back to Newton Falls and started hunting. Fairly quickly I found it and called Darwin over. The stone was one I'd seen yesterday, but the inscription was too faded to make out well, and I'd passed it over.
Darwin was happy to have found it. I was two for two!
However, the grave next to it had no stone. Presumably this was Margaret's grave, but it had no marker.
After another call to the sexton got only voice mail, we tracked down the office and went to see him in person. He was also head of the local road commission, and he shared office space with a small fleet of construction vehicles. He seemed a little annoyed that Darwin was asking for grave information (though it's his job), and he dug through a file of stuff. Nothing about Margaret McClary. Not a word.
This has been bugging Darwin for some time. He doesn't even have a death date for her. He's not 100% certain she died in Newton Falls. Perhaps Alexander McClary dumped the farm BEFORE she died, and the entire family moved up to Michigan, leaving the empty grave behind. Or perhaps they were having financial problems (the farm was tiny and supporting eight people) and couldn't afford a stone. Or . . . or . . . or . . . The answer may lie in Niles, which we'll have to visit later.
We also tracked down the exact location of the McClary farm and drove out to have a look. The area is all Ohio farmland, with corn and wheat and hay fields in all directions--EXCEPT the McClary farm. It was all woodlands with Kale Creek running through it.
Darwin was uncertain about exploring the place, but I pointed out that there were no houses anywhere within shouting distance, so who would notice we were there? I parked the car in a forgotten side road and we got out for some tramping around.
The former farm was completely overgrown by a forest that looked to be tertiary growth, maybe 75 or 80 years old. This added to the mystery. The place used to be a farm, which meant it was clear-cut like all the rest of the land around it. Obviously the McClarys had left the place and no one else had taken it over. We coudln't find out who currently owned the land, but Darwin is going to check on-line later.
The land was beautiful, with the trees and the babbling creek. It would be an idyllic place for a young Alexander McClary to grow up (as much as being an 1800s farm boy can be idyllic). We tramped around for a while and tried to figure out where the house might have been, but had no luck there. And I got stung by nettles. Ow!
We left with mud all over our shoes and headed back to town for more research. I also did some exploring around town by myself. Darwin eventually came to the conclusion there was nothing else to find.
So we headed to Philadelphia.
For years, Darwin has been wanting to visit Warren to see if any local records mention George and Margaret. This year he finally set aside time to go, so off we went.
I was coming along as a sort-of research assistant and to explore a new town. I figured I could also do some writing while Darwin was researching.
I found us an AirBnB apartment in Warren, and it was very nice, with original woodwork and floors but updated fixtures. The building seems to have been an eight-unit apartment building put up in the 20s and recently renovated by a new owner. The other apartments were occupied by young professionals.
Warren itself fell on hard times. Years ago, it was a major shipping hub. A canal and a railroad had major stops in Warren, and as a result, a lot of decent-sized factories went up--you wanted your factory close to the shipping back then. But then came trucking. And a couple-three recessions. The canal was closed. The railroad faded away. The factories also closed or relocated. And the town went to seed. Today its main industry seems to be the hospital. Nearly everyone we ran into was connected to it in some way. The downtown is a delight, with a huge, impressive stone courthouse that looks like a castle. But outside that small area are dead strip malls, boarded-up factories, and crumbling Victorian houses.
After we arrived, Darwin and I drove over to Newton Falls to look around. We found the old cemetery right off (the new one was across a rusty WPA bridge that rattled over the river) and searched through it for George's grave. No luck. Many of the stones were, of course, hard to read, and we had no idea what section he was in. While we were searching, a woman and her young son strolled through the graveyard, and it looked like this was part of a regular route for them. I asked her if she'd ever seen a grave for McClary. She said she hadn't, but she could give me the number of the cemetery sexton, who would know. Yes!
The next day, I called the sexton, but only got voice mail, so I left a message. While Darwin was occupied with something else, I did a quick search on George McClary and discovered someone had posted a photo of the gravestone just last year (after Darwin had stopped bothering with on-line searches for him). We rushed back to Newton Falls and started hunting. Fairly quickly I found it and called Darwin over. The stone was one I'd seen yesterday, but the inscription was too faded to make out well, and I'd passed it over.
Darwin was happy to have found it. I was two for two!
However, the grave next to it had no stone. Presumably this was Margaret's grave, but it had no marker.
After another call to the sexton got only voice mail, we tracked down the office and went to see him in person. He was also head of the local road commission, and he shared office space with a small fleet of construction vehicles. He seemed a little annoyed that Darwin was asking for grave information (though it's his job), and he dug through a file of stuff. Nothing about Margaret McClary. Not a word.
This has been bugging Darwin for some time. He doesn't even have a death date for her. He's not 100% certain she died in Newton Falls. Perhaps Alexander McClary dumped the farm BEFORE she died, and the entire family moved up to Michigan, leaving the empty grave behind. Or perhaps they were having financial problems (the farm was tiny and supporting eight people) and couldn't afford a stone. Or . . . or . . . or . . . The answer may lie in Niles, which we'll have to visit later.
We also tracked down the exact location of the McClary farm and drove out to have a look. The area is all Ohio farmland, with corn and wheat and hay fields in all directions--EXCEPT the McClary farm. It was all woodlands with Kale Creek running through it.
Darwin was uncertain about exploring the place, but I pointed out that there were no houses anywhere within shouting distance, so who would notice we were there? I parked the car in a forgotten side road and we got out for some tramping around.
The former farm was completely overgrown by a forest that looked to be tertiary growth, maybe 75 or 80 years old. This added to the mystery. The place used to be a farm, which meant it was clear-cut like all the rest of the land around it. Obviously the McClarys had left the place and no one else had taken it over. We coudln't find out who currently owned the land, but Darwin is going to check on-line later.
The land was beautiful, with the trees and the babbling creek. It would be an idyllic place for a young Alexander McClary to grow up (as much as being an 1800s farm boy can be idyllic). We tramped around for a while and tried to figure out where the house might have been, but had no luck there. And I got stung by nettles. Ow!
We left with mud all over our shoes and headed back to town for more research. I also did some exploring around town by myself. Darwin eventually came to the conclusion there was nothing else to find.
So we headed to Philadelphia.