Part 768h – Brunhammer Doherty Genealogy – When Is a Date the Correct Birth Date? – Granduncle John Herbert Holmes

Good Day,

In my genealogy search and research, and in response to a number of my past Postings, I was asked the question “How can there be a number of different dates concerning a specific event?” My response based on what I have been taught and learned is that a date for a specific event may change dependent upon who is giving the date and who is taking the response. Other factors for differences may be the recording and transcription errors over time, and information copied without a measure of source or documentation.

In some incidences, information relaying regarding details and dates may be compared to the children’s party game “Pass the message” or “Telephone”. Per Wikipedia, the game “is often invoked as a metaphor for cumulative error, especially the inaccuracies as rumours or gossip spread, or, more generally, for the unreliability of human recollection."

But now I have encountered a strange issue concerning a date; the birth date of granduncle John Herbert Holmes. According to the Parish Register of the Calvary Episcopal Church in Tamaqua, in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, and per the 2 November 1876 Baptism Registration of granduncle John Herbert, his Birth Date is entered as 10 June 1876. All-things-being-equal and based on the two dates, the registered birth and the baptism, there would have been 145 days. The following are the actual Pages from the Calvary Episcopal Church Parish Register.

A normal and plausible rule-of-thumb accepted in genealogy is “the document closest to the event is considered the most likely to be accurate”. In this case, the Baptism Registration, I would venture to say, which is 145 days after granduncle John Herbert’s birth date could be, at least the most probable.

But here comes the monkey wrench, sort-of. On the 10 September 1918 World War I Draft Registration Card, and signed by granduncle John H(erbert) Holmes, his date of birth is entered as “June 9th, 1876”. Say what? Check it out. Below are the images of the two pages of the Registration Card, as provided by The National Archives and the United States, Selective Service System, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.

My questions are:

Even though there is only a ONE DAY difference reporting granduncle John Herbert’s birth date, between the Baptism Registration and the WWI Draft Registration, would I be safe in assuming that granduncle John Herbert may have made a mistake providing his birth date, when he was only 42 years old?

Did granduncle John Herbert’s parents, great-grandparents John and Hanora (aka Hannah) Holmes provide the incorrect birth date at granduncle John Herbert’s baptism?

Okay I know that this is not a big deal, it is only ONE DAY, but does this mean that it is extremely important to check and review all documents for credible information?

And can a general rule of thumb sometimes be allowed some flexibility?

Oh and by the way the name of the game "Pass the message" in Italian is: "Telefono senza fili". Translated: Cordless Phone... How apropos!

Enjoy,

Jim

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Part 739h – Brunhammer Doherty Genealogy – The Mystery of GG-Grandfather Audley Holmes – 1854 Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, PA - Murder Investigation

Good Day,

Following up to Part 734h I have received another clue in my exploration of the murder of gg-grandfather Audley Holmes.

Isn’t genealogy entertaining? The investigative work into the past lives of ancestors and relative connections can definitely be intriguing and cause one to want to know more and more. And the questions to answer are archetypal – Who? What? Where? When? How? And Why?

Well at present, according to the added note in the Burials section of the Calvary Episcopal Church Register in Tamaqua, in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, gg-grandfather Audley Holmes was “Murdered” on 16 December 1854. And now I have some more data that I just received in the mail. In this day and age, everything genealogical is not necessarily available on line. We still have to do some physical leg work.

From the Schuylkill County Historical Society, I just received a copy of the 23 December 1854 Miners’ Journal, And Pottsville General Advertiser. Of the three copied pages the following was a story as a part of the Tamaqua Affairs, as I have transcribed:

TAMAQUA AFFAIRS.

(FROM OUR REGULAR CORRESPONDENT.)

Messrs. Editors: - Our citizens were startled
on Wednesday last by the intelligence that one
of our residents had been murdered on the bridge
crossing the Susquehanna at Wilkesbarre; his re
mains were brought home and interred in the
Protestant Episcopal burying ground, on Satur-
day afternoon. His funeral was attended by the
I.O. of O.F., and a large number of citizens. –
Mr. Holmes was a Protestant Irishman. The cir-
cumstance of his gold watch being found in the
cook’s possession, reminds us of the late occur-
rence in New York, when the servant girl Eliza-
beth, was arrested for larceny; and perhaps; had
the cook been searched, her “dear dead Father’s
_____" might have been found.

The abbreviation "I.O. of O.F" represents the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. And is this a possible lead?

Here is the copy from the Miners’ Journal.

The indication that gg-grandfather Audley Holmes’ murder had occurred and “had been murdered on the bridge crossing the Susquehanna at Wilkesbarre” certainly now elicits more interest. From my research it seems that, apart from the fact that there are a number of bridges crossing the Susquehanna River, it may be possible to narrow down that the bridge in question may have been Market Street Bridge. The distance from Calvary Episcopal Church in Tamaqua to the Market Street Bridge in Wilkes-Barre is just about 40 miles.

The top inserted image is a postcard of the Market Street Bridge circa 1906. There original Market Street Bridge was a wooden structure and built about 1805. It has undergone a number of changes since that date.

The note from our informant and researcher from the Schuylkill County Historical Society is that “If you wish to seek more data on this, I would suggest contacting the Luzerne County Historical Society. Since the murder was committed there, I would hope their newspaper carried it and perhaps the county coroner’s office has a report on it.” Now on to the Luzerne County Historical Society... and the check is in the mail.

This mystery is beginning to sound like a game of Clue, especially in light of the reporting that “his gold watch being found in the cook’s possession…” and “in New York, when the servant girl Elizabeth, was arrested for larceny; and perhaps; had the cook been searched, her “dear dead Father’s _____ might have been found.”

Stay tuned for my next installment of The Mystery of GG-Grandfather Audley Holmes.

Enjoy,

Jim

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Part 734h – Brunhammer Doherty Genealogy – The Mystery of GG-Grandfather Audley Holmes – 1854 Tamaqua, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania

Good Day,

In my search to follow the genealogy of the Holmes Family Line I have discovered an additional note in the Burial Section of the Calvary Episcopal Church, of Tamaqua, in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Record Book. The note added to the 16 December 1854 Burial Registration entry is "Murdered".

Of course this certainly piqued my interest. (See Part 733h of A Genealogy Hunt to see the actual document.)

I immediately searched for any possible news of such an event. My first thought was to conduct a Google, Google Book, and Internet Archive search using the terms "Audley Holmes, 1854, Tamaqua, Murder". No luck.

I contacted the Pottsville Free Public Library. This was not necessarily a dead end. I did find out that possible related newspaper archives are available but to date no digitization of the earlier years has been done. I was advised that The Schuylkill County Historical Society may be able to help.

In due course of my research and investigation I contacted a number of family members and descendants of this particular line to learn whether there are any more details. It has been relayed to me that during the course of years some hints of mystery may have been a part of gg-grandfather Audley Holmes' demise.

As the tale unfolds, there may have been some clandestine meetings that may have rubbed some people the wrong way. It appears that as a part of the tale, Great-Great-Grandfather Audley Holmes may have "fallen" from a bridge to his untimely death.

Stay tuned, and if you have any related details and information please feel free to contact me.

Enjoy,

Jim

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Part 733h – Brunhammer Doherty Genealogy – 1854 Death and Burial – Great-Great-Grandfather Audley Holmes – Murdered?

Good Day,

And at times in my genealogy search and research I am always looking for some iota of information that may “spice-up” the droll work of the collecting and organizing of ancestor associated data and documents. Well, I can say that these next two pages from the Calvary Episcopal Church Record Book may just provide me with a new “mystery” to try and solve. Or maybe I should say, at least learn about the related details.

On Page 53 of the Calvary Episcopal Church Record Book, in the section titled “Communicants” it is indicated that “Mr. Audley Holmes t” of “Tamaqua t” is “Deceased Dec. 16/54”. The entry is somewhat misconstrued as the ditto marks in the Date column indicate “Dec 23rd 1850”. It appears that the person who entered the previous information may have mis-written the actual year of the previous entry.

From the registration it looks like great-great-grandfather Audley Holmes is being removed from the Church’s Communicants’ role. His death is recorded in the “Dismissal” column: “Deceased – Dec. 16/54.”

Here is Page 53 of the Calvary Episcopal Church Record Book as I downloaded from Ancestry.com.

On Page 67 of the same Record Book, in the “Burial” section, I discovered the following entry:

BURIALS

DATE – Dec. 16th do. (1854)
NAME – Audley Holmes
PLACE OF INTERMENT – do. (Tamaqua) Ch. yard.
AGE – 30 years.
/Murdered./

Here is the image of the page.

I only report as I find them. Could gg-grandfather Audley Holmes have been “murdered” on 16 December 1854? Did the catastrophe happen in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania? If anyone has any knowledge and family history of this possible heinous act, please get in touch with me.

Enjoy,

Jim

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Part 732h – Brunhammer Doherty Genealogy – 1854 Baptism – Great-Grandfather John Eugene Holmes – Tamaqua, Pennsylvania

Good day,

And the generations and the documentation just keep on appearing… All-things-being-equal I haven’t clicked on any leaves, it just takes some considerable amount of time researching and digging, and digging and researching… and searching and searching.

From the Calvary Episcopal Church of Tamaqua, Pennsylvania Baptism Register I chanced upon the 7 May 1854 Baptism Registration of great-grandfather John Eugene Holmes. His parents are registered as great-great-grandparents Audley and Rebecca Holmes. Great-Grandfather John Eugene’s birthdate is listed as 20 June 1853.

Here is the image of corresponding pages from the Calvary Episcopal Church Baptisms Register. I was able to download the pages, Image 29 of 162, from the Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985 database provided through Ancestry.com.

And my transcription –

BAPTISMS.

DATE. – May 7th " (1854)
NAME. – John Eugene. –
PARENTS. – Audley & Rebecca Holmes
SPONSORS. – The Parents –
BIRTH. – June 20th, 1853
OFF. CLERGYMAN & REMARKS –

It does take time to find a document and relevant information and data.

A point of note – it is amazing the repetition of the name “John Eugene” through the generations of the family lines.

And just you wait until you read what I have most recently found. Definitely stay-tuned.

Enjoy,

Jim

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