Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Strange What Turns Up

I've often found it strange how out of nowhere comes information that you thought probably wasn't possible.  Today I share two such thoughts.

Early this year, I received a kind letter from my Aunt in Pennsylvania and she shared with me a copy of an article from the Staten Island Advance that she received from another Aunt of mine.  To date, I don't know what edition of the SI Advance this was from, but low and behold an article in the "Memories" column by Mike Azzara, was a picture that I have seen before.  Not only was it a picture, but a newspaper article about said picture.  It was in fact an article recalling bygone days of musicians who frequented clubs on Staten Island.  As you can see below the picture is of the Mahoney Orchestra.

Mahoney Orchestra 'Memories'

What's more impressive is that grandpa Muller (Paul Ernest Muller 1901-1954) is mentioned specifically in the caption.  While the article itself doesn't mention him, obviously the contact that Mr. Azzara used for this article had some kind of connection.  What was most intriguing, is that this lost picture (either I have the copy of it or possible it is in my mother's collection) provides a date in which we can place grandpa Muller, January 17, 1947, aged 45.

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Another tid bit that has come to light was found recently in my grandmother O'neal's Baby's Record.  It in itself, is a time capsule of events of her life including a picture of her and a very young grandpa Bair (Burton W.)




But more interesting was a poem that I found in a Newsletter for the Marion Steam Shovel Company.  (see image below)  G-Grandpa Benjamin Franklin Bair worked for the company and he must have been extremely proud of his new grand-daughter Lucretia, so much that the company at first didn't believe that he was a grandfather.  To prove his point, he clipped some of Lucretia's newborn hair!  Ironically, in her baby book, there are two samples of her hair, one was clipped only after a few days and is tied with a small pink ribbon.  Could this have been the hair?

A "Bair" Story ... Marion Excavator, February 1921

To see the edition of the Marion Excavator, February 1921 click HERE

2 comments:

  1. So I stumbled upon this via google. I really have no information on my grandparents history and this family tree business is new to me. I'm not really sure how we're related but my grandmother was Wanda O'Neal Covington. My father is William Clinton Covington. I enjoyed reading your blog : )
    Nichole Covington Boitano

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  2. Hi Nicole,
    We are distant cousins. We share a common ancestor in Homer Oscar O'neal our great-grandfather. Your grandmother Wanda was sister to my grandfather Spencer.
    Brian

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