Tragic Tuesday - Tragic or untimely deaths

We all have ancestors in our family trees that catch our eye for one reason or another. A family member with the same name as you, someone who has your same birth date, and those who passed away before their time.

I decided to write a little about five of my ancestors and how they died.

First is the youngest. William Vincent Elwell III. He was my grandmother's twin brother. They were born in Cleveland, January 15, 1916. William lived 7 months and 18 days and died on September 2, 1916. He and his sister, my grandmother, both contracted cholera infantum. My grandmother survived, William didn't. Since William didn't live very long, I don't have much information on him. I should be able to get his birth and death certificates from Cuyahoga County. I only wish they would let me get non-certified copies.

My great aunt Kathleen "Kay" Layman Whiteman Welch is next in untimely deaths in my family. She was born June 3, 1925, the oldest of three girls. In her youth, somewhere around 1930, my aunt Kay contracted rheumatic fever. 

Kathleen Layman

She survived, but she ended up having heart complications. Aunt Kay ended up missing a lot of school and graduated with my grandmother, who was a year younger. My grandmother told me that Aunt Kay was always tired and couldn't have children. There may have been other side effects of the rheumatic fever, but I wasn't told of any others. Aunt Kay died May 7, 1964; not old, but not a full life either. She was 38 years old and left her second husband, two sisters, her parents, and some nieces. 

Next in the "tragic death" category is pretty horrific. James Monroe Van Gilder was born January 4, 1858. As far as I can tell, he lived a average life. He was married at age 20, had 9 children (8 survived), and at least later in life, he owned his own farm. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but on December 26, 1926 James somehow had a wagon run over his body. I would have to guess that the wagon went over his mid section because his death certificate states that his liver was damaged. James also survived a surgery of some kind two days after the accident. James lived for one month and 16 days after the accident. The primary cause of his death was the accident, the secondary is listed, but I can't make it out. If you can, comment below.

James Van Gilder's Death Certificate - Reason for death.

Almost every family has a Civil War tragedy. Though, John J. Layman's death isn't as horrible as most soldiers' deaths. John was born in 1846 in Virginia. He enlisted on the Union side and was a private in the West Virginia 12th Infantry, Company F. Less than a year after he enlisted, John died of typhoid fever. While he didn't get shot or have a leg blown off during a battle, if you look up some signs and symptoms of typhoid fever, he more than likely didn't live in the best conditions and died uncomfortably. John J. Layman died September 15, 1864 at the age of 18.

John J. Layman Headstone at Antietam National Cemetery. He was first buried in the Sandy Hook, MD area and then moved.

Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi: accessed 18 Jun 2013.

Finally I have the mysterious and tragic death of James Van Gilder. No, I didn't type that wrong. This is James Van Gilder born about 1803 and died about 1843. He would be the previous James' grandfather. This James had family that moved out "West" in the Mississippi River area (possibly Missouri). Somewhere crossing the Mississippi River, James drowned. He left behind his wife and five children. I have yet to find a death place, burial place, or his actual death date. For all we know he was done being a husband and father and started his life over.

For any of you researching any of the above people, I hope I gave you some information that you didn't have before. If not, I didn't write all that I knew of these five people. If you would like to know more go ahead and comment.

William Source Info -

Ancestry.com. Ohio, Birth Index, 1908-1964 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

         Original data: Ohio Birth Records. Columbus, Ohio: Ohio Vital Records Office.

Ancestry.com and Ohio Department of Health. Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1932, 1938-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.
         Original data: Ohio. Division of Vital Statistics. Death Certificates and Index, December 20, 1908-December 31, 1953. State Archives Series 3094. Ohio Historical Society, Ohio.
          Ohio Department of Health. Index to Annual Deaths, 1958-2002. Ohio Department of Health, State Vital Statistics Unit, Columbus, OH, USA.

Kathleen Source Info -

Ancestry.com and Ohio Department of Health. Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1932, 1938-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.
      Original data: Ohio. Division of Vital Statistics. Death Certificates and Index, December 20, 1908-December 31, 1953. State Archives Series 3094. Ohio Historical Society, Ohio.
        Ohio Department of Health. Index to Annual Deaths, 1958-2002. Ohio Department of Health, State Vital Statistics Unit, Columbus, OH, USA.

James Source Info - 
West Virginia Division of Culture and History. "West Virginia Vital Research Records - Record Image". James M. Van Gilder Death Certificate. http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/va_view.aspx?Id=1253122&Type=Death . (18 Jun 2013).
John Source Info -
 National Archives and Records Administration; Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Volunteer Organizations During the American Civil War, compiled 1890 - 1912, documenting the period 1861 - 1866; Catalog ID: 300398; Record Group #: 94; Roll #: 201.

James #2 Source Info -
Word of mouth/family lore.

Amanuensis Monday

Before I get started writing his blog, I would like to share that I learned a new word today, amanuensis. For those of you who are in the dark like I was geneabloggers.com defines an amanuensis as "a person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another." I'd like to transcribe something my aunt had in her genealogy records. It is a letter written by John Rae Tough and Mary Sinclair Tough, parents of Harold Winston Todd (Tough).

State of Ohio

Cuyahoga County,

State of Ohio

   John Rae Tough and Mary Sinclair Tough, being duly sworn depose and say:

   That they are the parents of Harold Winston Todd, formerly Harold Winston Tough, said name being used by their son because he did not like the name Tough on account of his being embarassed by his friends and acquaintances by calling him "Tough" and their son had intended to take court action to make the name "Todd" legal.

   Deponents state that they live at 1273 West 117th. St., Cleveland, Ohio, and Mrs. Mary Sinclair Tough's name was Mary Ingram Sinclair,

   Subscribed and sworn to before

   me this 22nd day of August 1942. Mary Sinclair Tough

                                                       John Rae Tough

George J.W. Mathews

George J.W. Mathews

Notary Public, Cuyahoga County, Ohio

5703 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio

My commission expires April 19, 1944

The story behind this is that most of the children of John and Mary Tough didn't like the way their last name sounded in the United States. In Scotland, where they originated, Tough was pronounced differently than the word tough (strong or firm in texture but flexible and not brittle - via: www.merriam-webster.com). From what I can gather, Tough would be pronounced a little like the Loch in Loch Ness. More or less tock.

As Harold and his siblings were the first generation of Toughs to be born and to grow up in the United States, they had to deal with the teasing of their peers throughout their youth. Strangely this letter was written when Harold was 27 years old. He also had already been in the US Army for a year and five months.

I believe all of the other siblings changed their surname to Todd and eventually so did John and Mary. Although I don't have any evidence of this except all of the males in the family (and Mary) have Todd for their surnames on their gravestones.

I think a call to the Cuyahoga County Courts will be in order this summer.