A Mix-Up in Muscatine

As most family historians say over and over again when trying to explain to others, "It's not about names and dates. It is finding out about the lives of our ancestors that holds a grip on us.  Long after we have the names and dates, we continue to search for scraps of information about the lives and personalities of family members who lived long ago.  So as I was browsing in the Newspaper Archive database available through my local library, I found the accompanying news article about Uncle Ernie (Ernest Thomas Allen) who I wrote about previously here, and here. This is why genealogy never ends. 

Muscatine Journal and News-Tribune

Muscatine Journal and News-Tribune

Wednesday, July 14, 1920

Page 4

   It is hard luck, indeed, when you happen to have the same name as an alleged thief, especially when you have some heartless friends to ask foolish questions.  This is the little pet peeve of E.T. Allen, city street commissioner, who poured his tale of woe into the ears of Officer Cal Schrieber.  It seems that Mr. Allen's front name is Ernest, and a man by the name of Ernest Allen, who works at the Zoahringer garage on Front street, was arrested Monday for the theft of an automobile tire from a man in Columbus Junction.

   Friends of the street commissioner called him up on the telephone when they read of the arrest and offered to bail him out, it is said.  He wants it distinctly understood that he did not steal any tire, or at least that he was not arrested for any such theft.  He couldn't use a Ford tire on "Dobbin" he declares.

So Uncle Ernie still had a horse for transportation in 1920, and there is another man by the same name in the town.  That is good information for a researcher  . . . I wouldn't want there to be another mix-up in Muscatine.

Ernest T. Has Been Located

Here at last is a photo identified as Ernest T. Allen, the oldest and only son of James Bush Allen and Elanor Gilshannon Allen.  Ernest Thomas Allen was born 02 Dec 1872 in Clinton, Iowa.  He married Nora Tyler, 24 Nov 1896.  They had no children.   Ernest T. was my gg uncle and the brother of my gr. grandmother, Mae Allen.  Poor Uncle Ernie, the only boy with five younger sisters.  In an earlier post, I had a photograph of the entire Allen family with spouses and children circa 1910.  The problem was that Ernest T. and his wife Nora had their faces scratched out.  I had no other identified photos of him or his wife, Nora Tyler.  I imagined every unidentified young man in my boxes of photos could be him.  I analyzed each photo trying to narrow them down to the appropriate age and time period, then scoured the faces in each one looking for a family resemblance.  I asked every relative I knew if they had a photo of him to no avail.







There was one such unidentified photo of a handsome young man  taken at a studio in Muscatine, Iowa in the collection of my dear cousin Mary Margaret.The young man in the photo had blue eyes like James Allen, and I knew that Ernest T. had been the street commissioner in Muscatine for many years.  I even thought he looked like James B. So, hoping to find someone to identify him, a year ago I sent the photo and wrote to my cousin who is also named Margel (but goes by Jill) and she responded:

Obituary of Ernest T. Allen

Margel,

I remember Uncle Ernie, but he was old, small man, and DaDa Mae took Jeanne and I down to visit him. He lived in Muscatine Iowa. He always had a small veg garden in the yard and the mosquitoes were bothering him. He took a bandana and sprayed it with some bug killer and tied it on his head, and when he took it off, his hair fell out too...I don't know how true that was but that is what us kids were told. That very well could be him. I forget what his wife's name was, but after she died, Uncle Ernie was going to go live in a MOOSE HOME in Florida. I don't know if that ever happened.

Love, Jill

 

 His obituary at left must have been in a Muscatine newspaper.  Without a photo, I was still hopeful that my unidentified young man from Muscatine was him.  Truth be told, I was totally convinced, but something nagged at me. I wanted to be sure. . .   

Through Ancestry.com I tried to make connections with descendants of the Allen sisters hoping to share information to give the family personality. When I found Susan, the granddaughter of Augusta Allen, I was thrilled.  It was because of Susan that I met cousin John on my last whirlwind trip to Clinton . . . and she thought she had a picture of Ernest T.  Would she please email me a copy??  Well, she didn't really have a scanner, but she would be glad to send me a copy.  Several days later a brown oversize envelope arrived, and out fluttered copies of family photographs.  The one identified as Ernest T. is so pale and soft with foxing that he feels a little like a ghost still, but, I have to admit, he does look like his sisters.  As you know, when you solve one mystery, you create another.  So. . .  why he was in Peoria where this photo was taken?  Now that I have a photo of Ernest T,  who is the blue eyed guy in the photo above with the conservative version of a handle bar mustache?  The clothing and mustache appear to be turn of the century? Since Ernest T. was born in 1872 and worked in Muscatine, it seemed like a good fit, and he still looks like James B. to me . . . 

Still Searching for Ernest T.

During my recent vacation in Florida I casually opened my morning email, coffee cup in hand, so that I was scrolling, deleting, and typing hunt and peck style with my free hand.  Moments into my morning routine, my eyes scrolling through the email  ads updates from places like Coldwater Creek, Knitpicks, Office Depot, and Eddie Bauer, stopped when I noticed a familiar address.  It was from another double cousin on the McDonnell & Allen side of my family AND there was a file attached.  When I opened it, I was thrilled stunned shocked . . . well, let's just say that I was very excited.  I was staring at the entire Allen Family including spouses and children . . . at least their bodies were all there.  I wish I could say the same for their faces.  June found the photo when she helped Mary Margaret's  daughter pack up her house after her death.  I thought Mary Margaret and I had sifted through, sorted, and analyzed every box of old family photos she had so this was like an unexpected gift.

There is only one problem . . . two of the faces are scratched out completely!  James Allen has pencil scribbled over his mouth, and Flossie has one eye scribbled over.  Normally, scribbling or scratching on photos is done by a young child, but these scratches were not random and the intense anger can still be felt. In my mind's eye I see a woman  (Really, this does sound like a female type of thing) muttering angrily to herself  as she scratches out each face. She even kept scratching through two layers on Ernest's face.  What did Ernest and Nora do, and who was so angry that she obliterated their faces?  Was it someone in the photo?  Since James Allen's mouth is scribbled over, I assume that is her way of saying she didn't like his opinions? attitudes? decisions? rules? Family gossip is that he was rather strict, and then there is the fact that no one ever put a headstone on his grave.  Ouch!  But what is up with Flossie's one eye?  This is anger that has endured for over a hundred years.

  *****************************************************************************

I believe the photo was taken around 1910 based on the age of the youngest child that I know - my Uncle High (Harold Moldt) - who is being kept in place with his mother's arm.  After identifying the individuals I knew, I realized it showed a pattern with the husband standing behind his wife and their children, more or less, on the ground in front of them.

MY FAMILY:
Back row from left to right - Owen Jerome McDonnell, Edward Thomas Moldt, Augusta (Gussie) Allen, Laura Allen, Herman Holdgrafer, and I am positive Ernest Thomas Allen even if he doesn't look very good in this photo.
Middle row from left to right - Elizabeth Burnett Allen McDonnell, baby Florence McDonnell based on her birth date, baby Harold Moldt, Anna Mae Allen Moldt (my great grandmother), Elanor Gilshannon Allen, James Bush Allen, Florence (Flossie) Allen Holdgrafer looking downright angry, and I am positive the next woman is Nora Tyler Allen even if she looks as bad as her husband in this photo.
Front Row from left to right - Ambrose McDonnell, Berenice Moldt (my grandmother) but I have no idea who the baby is except Florence Holdgrafer was born in March 1910 so this is a possibility, Edward Thomas Moldt Jr. (known as Doc for most of his life), Vivian McDonnell, possibly Vivian Holdgrafter, possibly Eleanor McDonnell (I could have the girls wrong), Owen James McDonnell, and probably Vincent Holdgrafer.

Some of the individuals I have identified only by their date of birth such as the Holdgrafer children.  If the photo is about 1910 then their ages would fill in the unknown children appropriately.  

Is this Ernest Thomas Allen before he lost his hair?

Ernest Thomas was the oldest child and the only son.  Ernest and Nora had no children. I have never seen a photo of him. A while back I tried to match the unknown photo on the right to him and wrote to some family members who might remember him or hoping they had an old photo.  Time and again, I got the same story.  All they remembered was that he was bald, and they all told me the same story.   Uncle Ernie was working in the yard when he was swarmed by insects, so he rubbed his head with insect repellent and then his hair fell out, and it never grew back.  The question is . . . is this the truth or just some Irish blarney?  I can tell that he still has his hair in the family photo above, but is the photo on the right also him?  Ernest T. was the street commissioner in Muscatine, Iowa from 1915-1929 and this photo is from a Muscatine studio. I think he looks like James B. Allen, but this might be wishful thinking.  So close but . . .I'm  still searching for the image of Ernest T.