Who was "Aunt Blanche?" Mystery Solved

Mystery Solved.

It would seem that Blanche Newcomer Hilgeneck was a first cousin to Alice Newcomer Doty.

Blanches' father, Simon Newcomer, and Alice's father, Jacob Newcomer had the same parents: Jacob Newcomer ( 1814 - 1883) and Susan Burkett ( 1815 - 1869)

I found the will among my mother's things. 
 In the summer of 1956, Blanche Hilgeneck left my parents $1000.00 in her will - a goodly sum for the times and especially for my mom and dad, who had just purchased a farm and had four young children to raise.  I can remember my mother talking about Aunt Blanche and maybe I even met her in my childhood, but after I discovered her will in my mother's papers, I became even more curious about her relationship to us. 

I have seen a photograph of Aunt Blanche, but I couldn't find it, so I'm leaving a space for posting that when it is found.  Blanche turned out to be Blanche Newcomer Hilgeneck who lived in Elmore, Ohio in Ottawa County. So the conclusion had to be that she was somehow connected to the Michigan Newcomers, specifically Alice Newcomer Doty, my mother's grandmother.

According to the 1900 census, Blanch Newcomer was born in March 1880, so I went back to the 1880 census to find her there.  Blanch (as it was spelled in the census) was 2/12 or 2 months old and unnamed on that census, designated only as Baby daughter born in March.  Her parents were Simon Newcomer, 29 (born circa 1850), a farmer, and Ellen, 27, his wife.  She had two older siblings in 1880: Charles, 7, and Nettie (Jeanette), 4.

The family lived next to Emma Burket, 40, a widow, and her daugther, Stephanna, 15, in Ottawa County, Ohio.  Living with them was Anna Wilson, also a widow.  I would discover that Emma was Ellen Newcomer's sister and Anna Wilson was Ellen's mother  (not mother-in-law, as the census states.)
So Blanche's parents were Simon Newcomer and Ellen Wilson of Ottawa County, Ohio.

With no 1890 census, I had to skip to 1900 where I found Blanche's family still living in Harris Township, Ottawa County, Ohio.  By this time, however, Simon was deceased and Ellen, the widow, had three children at home with her: Charles (born 1873), 26, single and a farm laborer; Blanch (born 1880), 20, single and a servant (probably helping out in a neighbor's home); and Fred (born Dec. 1882), 17, single and attending school.  So when did Simon die?  I found a record of his gravestone which gives the dates 1850 - 1887, so he was quite young when he passed away.  Ellen reported on this census that she had given birth to six children, but only 4 were living.  It would seem then that Nettie or Jeanette was working somewhere as a live-in domestic perhaps or at least was living elsewhere at the time.  I learned later that she never married.

In 1901, Blanche Newcomer, 21, married Emmett Hilgeneck, the son of Harman and Minnie.  Emmett was 29 and it was his second marriage.  Blanche and Emmett lived most, if not all of their married lives, in Elmore, Ohio in Ottawa County.  They never had any children. 

His obituary from September 24, 1934:
"EMMETT HILGENECK DIES SUDDENLY AT HOME
A severe shock was felt in this vicinity Monday afternoon when it became known that Emmett A. Hilgeneck had died suddenly in his home on Augusta Street, following an illness since Friday of intestinal flu, with complications.  Last rites are being held this (Thursday) afternoon at 2 o'clock in the home, with Rev. K. W. Scheufler of Trinity Methodist church officiating and interment in Union cemetery.
Mr. Hilgeneck, aged 64 years and 6 months, was a lifelong resident of Elmore, having been born in the parental Hilgeneck home on Toledo street, occupied now for many years by Henry Hilgeneck and family.  For many years, Mr. Hilgeneck has engaged in the florist business here and had become well known in a business way throughout this section, many gorgeous floral tributes attesting the friendships he enjoyed.
He is survived by his wife, Blanche Newcomer Hilgeneck, and his only brother, Henry Hilgeneck.
Mr. Hilgeneck was born in Elmore and has always resided here. Before going into the floral business 20 years ago, he followed the trade of carpenter and painter, and with his father and brother, Henry, built many of the homes in Elmore and vicinity.  He was of a jovial, good natured disposition and he always dealt fair with all whom he had business transactions, and his sudden passing came as a shock to all."

Blanche continued to live out her life in Elmore, about fifty miles from my parents' home.  According to her siblings' death certificates and obituaries, some of them lived their last days with Blanche in her home where I'm sure she cared for them.  None of her siblings married. Charles, the oldest and a cement worker, died in 1940; Jeanette died in 1947, and Fred died in 1951.  Blanche lived until 1955.  Her obituary was no help in establishing the Newcomer relationship:

Ottawa County Exponent, September 2, 1955: 
"DEATH CLAIMS MRS. BLANCHE HILGENECK
Mrs. Blanche Hilgeneck died early Sunday morning at her home on Toledo St. in Elmore.  Mrs. Hilgeneck had suffered a stroke in June and had been in ill health since that time.  She was born at Elmore, Ohio, March 19, 1880, the widow of the late E. A. Hilgeneck.  Mr. and Mrs. Hilgeneck were the former owners of the Elmore Greenhouse.  Mrs. Hilgeneck was a member of St. Paul's Trinity M.E. Church, Elmore and the Ladies Aid Society, and also a member of the W. R.C.   Friends called at her late residence, 32 Toledo Street, where services were held Tuesday, August 30th at 2 p.m.  Rev. L.L. Young officiating, assisted by Rev. G. C. Diberts, former pastor of the M.E. Church."

My mother and father were named first in her will.  At the time, they had four children, which would have included a 6 month old baby and a set of twins just about to turn 4.  It would have been quite a feat for them to have visited her or to have attended the funeral.

So how was "Aunt Blanche" related?  I had to find out how Simon Newcomer, Blanche's father, fit into the family.  Born in 1880, Blanche fell in age between my grandmother, born in 1890, and my great-grandmother, born in 1858.  
I went back to the 1870 census, then, to try to find Simon at home with his parents.  There I found in Harris Township, Ottawa County:
Newcomer, Jacob, 58, laborer, born Maryland
Newcomer, Susan, 54, born Ohio
and their children: Simon, 19; Margaret, 21; and Lucinda, 12

I couldn't find him in the 1860 census, so I am still not sure if this Jacob is the same Jacob who is related to Alice Newcomer's grandfather.  More research is needed.

So, it's still a family mystery to be solved.  Maybe someone out there has an answer for me!

 

Alice Newcomer Doty

My great-grandmother, Alice S. Doty, was born on August 12, 1857 in Elmore, Ohio, just southeast of Toledo.  Her parents, Jacob Newcomer and Susan Overmyer Newcomer, left Ohio when Alice and her brother were young, about 1865, and moved near the Doty family along the River Raisin in Monroe County, Michigan. 

It would seem logical that Alice's middle name was Susan, named after her mother.  However, one source connected with her youngest son, George Lewis, gave her middle name as Sophronsia!  I don't have an official document to prove either way.  Often she gave her name as Alice N. Doty, recognizing her Newcomer roots. 

Alice was only seventeen when she married George W Doty who was 26.  Family lore has it as an elopement carried out in 1874 and the marriage record shows no family member was an official witness who signed for the marriage.

It must have been a bit overwhelming for the teenaged Alice to take on a farming household and her elderly father-in-law, too, as he lived with them the first four years of their marriage.  Six years after her wedding and following the death of her father-in-law, she gave birth to her first child, named Susan after her grandmother.

Susan was followed by Ada three years later.  Then an almost seven year gap exists before Guy was born in 1890.  Cousin Don noted that after Guy was born, Alice, who was 33 at the time, fell into a deep depression and tried to drown herself in the river.  No record exists of this, of course, but one has to wonder if she did suffer from what we now know is the legitimate illness, post-partum depression.  Maybe they thought the cure for that was another child, because just a little over a year later, little Harry was born.

Then almost four years pass before George L was born and another four before Dorothy came along. Several census records indicated that she bore six children and all six lived, so we know there were no miscarriages or still births along the way.

This photo was probably taken a couple years before George W. died, perhaps 1907-1908.  Back row: Guy, Harry, Ada, William Kemmerling, husband to Susie.  Front row: George L., George W., Dorothy, Alice, the little children of the Kemmerlings, Dorothy and Donald, held by Susie.

When her husband, George W., died in 1910, he left her with six chldren and a farm to manage.  The two oldest sons, Guy, 19, and Harry, 18, labored on the farm.  By the time of George's death, Susie was already married, and Alice was a grandmother, but she still had two younger children of her own to raise.

In the 1920 census, Alice, 62, was still managing the farm with the help of Guy, who was still single and at home at 29.  Dorothy, 20, and single was also at home.  But now, Alice took into her home also her widowed father, Jacob Newcomer, 86.  A hired man, Vern Miller, 27, rounded out the household.

Taken at Ada Lohr's home, from left to right: Alice Doty, Dorothy Kemmerling, Donna Ordway (mom, born 1925), Dorothy Doty Ordway (grandmother) and Ada Lohr.

Alice outlived her husband, George, by twenty-two years.  In that time, she successfully raised six children who became responsible citizens, cared for her father-in-law until his death, and participated in church and social organizations in her community.  The only paper I have with Alice's handwriting is this interesting recipe for cancer salve, used to cure skin cancer, I would assume.

At some point between 1920 and 1930, Guy took over the homestead farm and Alice moved in with her daughter Ada and husband.  In the 1930 census, at age 72, she is listed with Ada and Henry Lohr at London, Monroe County, Michigan.  Her oldest daughter, Susie, had died four years earlier. 
In 1932, tragedy struck the family doubly when Ada died of a heart attack in August and Alice died a few months later in November. 

Alice Doty's obituary, dated November 9, 1932:
"MRS. ALICE DOTY DIED TUESDAY NIGHT
Lived In Raisinville Many Years; Funeral Not Yet Arranged
Mrs. Alice Newcomer Doty, aged 75 years, died suddenly at the home of her son-in-law, Henry Lohr, one mile east of Azalia at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.  Although Mrs. Doty had not been feeling well for some time, her death was unexpected.
She was very active in church work, being a member of the East Raisinville Evangelical Church.  She was a member of the Ladies' Aid Society of that church and a charter member of the Raisinville Grange and for many years took an active part in the organizations.
Mrs. Doty was born at Elmore, Ohio, August 12, 1857.  At the age of
-?- years, she moved to Raisinville township with her parents.  She lived for many years in the Newcomer homestead on the North Custer Road.  On November 5, 1874, she was married to George Doty, one of the best known farmers in Raisinville township.  Mr. Doty died in 1910.
She leaves three sons, Guy of Raisinville, Harry of Monroe, and George of Los Angeles; one daughter, Mrs. Dorothy Ordway of Malinta, Ohio; and one brother, L. W. Newcomer of Monroe.  Another daughter, Mrs. Lohr, died three months ago.  She is also survived by eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements have not been completed."

and later...
"Funeral of Mrs. Doty
Funeral services for Mrs. Alice Newcomer Doty, who died suddenly Tuesday night, will be held at the home of Henry Lohr, near Azalia, at 1:30 p.m. Friday and at the First Evangelical Church here at 2:30 o'clock.  The Rev. Cletus A. Parker of Ida will officiate and burial will be in Woodland cemetery here.  Mrs. Doty had two daughters who preceded her in death.  They were Mrs. Henry Lohr and Mrs. Susie Kemmerling."

My mother was about seven when she lost her grandmother, yet she remembered her fondly and respected her through the years by displaying the photo shown at the beginning of this post in her home.

George Washington Doty

This photo hung in my parents' home for as long as I can remember.  Its last place of honor was in my mother's bedroom.  Even though she never knew her grandfather, she had great respect for him and her grandmother.  George Washington Doty, father of Dorothy Doty Ordway, was born in a log home that was on the homestead of his parents in Raisinville Township, Monroe County, Michigan.  George made his appearance in the midst of a Michigan winter, on January 15, 1848.

For George's parents, Joseph and Sarah True Doty, it was their fifth child and third son.  George would live his entire life on this farm as one of the more well-known farmers of the area.  He would also become a stalwart worker in the church and his community.

In the 1850 census of Raisinville, Monroe County, Michigan, little George W., at 2 years old, was surrounded by his family: father Joseph, 45; mother Sally, 36; and siblings, Emeline, 10; Sarah, 7; William T., 5; and Charles 3.  With them, lived an Irish farm hand, John McGuire, who was 29. 

The 1860 census showed the addition of sister, Hellen, who would be the last child in the family.

In 1864, brother Charles was old enough to join up with the Union Army and that's what he did.  He was young and ready to fight, and soon was sent south.  He did not return.  It must have been heartbreaking for the family to lose this young boy who was only 17 or 18 at his enlistment.  George W. was approximately a year younger than Charles, so it would have been an especially hard blow for him.  This photo shows George at around 16 years old circa 1864.

George continued to work on the family farm as the 1870 census indicates.  In that census, only George and Hellen are left at home and both are referred to as "servants," - in this case, it just means they were laborers on the home place.  On the June 1874 list of teachers in Monroe County, George was listed as a teacher at the Raisinville School.  One source said he taught several terms, and I'm sure he was needed more and more on the farm as his parents aged.

On November 5, 1874, George W. Doty married Alice S. Newcomer.   Alice was a neighborhood girl, growing up right down the road from George.  Mom's cousin, Don, wrote once in a letter that the family lore said George and Alice eloped, ladder to the window and all.  According to the marriage record, George was 26 and Alice only 17.

George's mother died in July 1874, and so it is thought the couple moved in with George's father, Joseph.  According to cousin Don, this was hard on young Alice, as Joseph was difficult to handle and sometimes he hit the spirits, making him harder to control.  About a year later, George and his brother, William, acquired the farm from their father.

Joseph died in 1878, and by 1880 George and Alice welcomed their first child, Susan Bertia.  Three years later, a sister arrived - Ada A. (Alice?)  This photo, probably taken circa 1886, shows George and Alice, with Susan in the back and little Ada in front.

Seven years later, in 1890, Guy J. joined the family, followed quickly by Harry Russel, thirteen months later.

This photo is nicely labeled, showing Guy on the left, Ada in back, Susie on the right and little Harry in front.  I would estimate this photo as taken 1893-1894.

When Alice was 37, her youngest son, George Lewis, was born in 1895, followed by her youngest daughter, Dorothy Elizabeth in 1899 when she was 42.

In this photo, taken around 1905 or 1906, I would guess, the whole family gathered.  Back Row, L to R: Harry, Susie, Guy, Ada and Front Row, L to R: George Jr, George W., Dorothy, Alice

Unfortunately, George's health began to decline and he died on March 4, 1910, leaving all of the children at home except for Susie who had married by that time.  The official cause of death was Bright's disease which was an all-purpose term at the time for anything related to kidney failure, usually accompanied by edema and high blood pressure.  It could have been related to the heart or diabetes, but that was not determined.  In those days, the only treatments available were laxatives and diuretics and diagnoses were not very specific.

George was well thought of in his community as evidenced by the obituaries that followed in the local papers.
The first appeared on March 17, 1910 in the Record-Commercial, Monroe, Michigan:
"George Washington Doty, 62 years old, a prominent farmer and Sunday school worker of Raisinville township, died Monday afternoon at 3 o'clock at his home, death being due to a complication of troubles.  A widow and six children survive him.  Funeral services will be held Thursday afternoon at 1:00 from the house, thence at the Evangelical church at Raisinville; interment at Lasalle."

The Monroe Democrat followed the next day, March 18, 1910, with this notice:
"Mr. George Washington Doty, a well known and well liked man throughout the county, died at his home up the river at three o'clock on Monday afternoon.  He had been ailing for eight years and had reached the age of 62 years, 8 months and 2 days.  Born in Raisinville township, January 15, 1848, on the farm where he has resided and died.  Mr. Doty took a prominent part in civic and church affairs of his community, was a member of the Evangelical church for 26 years and in that society, having been Sunday school superintendent for 12 years, president of the County Sunday School Association for the same length of time, also class leader for several years and a trustee of the church at the time of his death.  Mr. Doty proved himself a noble Christian character the whole of his life and showed remarkable fortitude in the suffering accompanying his last illness.  His wife, who was Miss Alice Newcomer and to who he was married on November 5th, 1874, mourns him with their six children, Mrs. William Kemmerling, of Monroe; Misses Ada A. and Dorothy E., and sons Harry R., Guy, George.  There are also two grandchildren, a brother, Mr. T. Doty of Raisinville, and a sister, Mrs. W. H. McIntire, of Eldorado, Kan.  The funeral was held on Thursday afternoon at 2 o'clock from the East Raisinville church attended by a large number of followers."

The next week, the Record-Commercial printed a lengthy obituary, dated March 24, 1910, accompanied by the first photo shown in this post:

"Death has again laid claim to another prominent Monroe County man in the person of  George Washington Doty who was born in Raisinville township, Jan. 15, 1848 and died at 3:00 o'clock in the afternoon, Monday, March 14, 1910, sixty-two years old.  Mr. Doty has resided on the same farm all his life.  His parents, Joseph and Sarah Doty, came to Raisinville township from Albany Co., N.Y., in 1839, he having purchased the farm of 133 acres Jan. 18, 1837, which comprised all of P.C. 533, the original farm being over 4 miles long and for which he paid $900.  Part of this claim has remained in the Doty family for over 73 years. 

The Doty line extends back to the good old Puritan stock.  George Doty had inherited many of the sturdy traits of these early pioneers and up to about eight years ago scarcely knew a sick day.  Since that time, however, his health has gradually given way and what relief could be given was only temporary.  In his younger days he taught school for several terms till his whole time was required on the farm. 

He was a man of excellent habits, an exemplary Christian and citizen.  He united with the East Raisinville Ev. church over 26 years ago and during that time has held almost every office that the church could bestow.  He was superintendent of the Sunday school for six years and his deep interest and success in S.S. work brought him before the county to such an extent that he was elected President of the Monroe County Sunday School Association, which office he faithfully discharged for twelve years.  He was urged to continue when the last convention was held in Monroe last fall, but owing to the condition of his health, was compelled to decline. 

He was united in marriage Nov. 5, 1874, to Alice Newcomer, who survives him with their six children: Mrs. W. L. Kemmerling of Monroe; Ada A., Guy J., Harry R., George L. and Dorothy E., at home.  Also two grandchildren, one brother, Wm. T. Doty of Raisinville, and one sister, Mrs. W. H. McIntyre, of ElDorado, Kas.  One brother and two sisters have preceded him.  The funeral was held Thursday, March 17, at 2 p.m. at the East Raisinville Ev. church and conducted by his pastor, Rev. G. Knechtel, of Ida.  The large concourse of people which attended the last sad rites testified of his far-reaching friendship.  Interment in the Woodland cemetery, Monroe."

And, finally, the Evangelical-Messenger, which was a weekly newspaper published by the Evangelical Association, published this obituary on April 13, 1910:

"George Washington Doty was born in Monroe Co., Mich., Jan. 15, 1848, and died March 14, 1910.  He was united in marraige with Alice Newcomer, in 1874, who with their six children, survives him.  As a convert, he united with our church at East Raisinville over 26 years ago.  He held various offices, being especially prominent in Sunday school work.  He was president of Monroe County Sunday School Association.  He was an earnest Christian.  G. Knechtel."

G. Knechtel, who submitted this article, was George's pastor.  The Ev. Church eventually merged with the United Brethern in Christ and was known as the E.U.B.  The E.U.B. eventually merged with the Methodist church and became the United Methodist denomination. 

From these, I can surmise that grandmother Dorothy Doty was brought up in the church and during her youth, her father experienced poor health.  The trauma of losing her father at the age of ten would have been difficult to endure.