Branch Climbing

  Eloise was originally established in 1832 as the Wayne County Poorhouse. Over time, it evolved into a complex of buildings encompassing various facilities including: a poorhouse a hospital a psychiatric asylum a tuberculosis sanatorium In 1911, it was renamed Eloise after the post office that served the area. At its peak, Eloise housed thousands of patients and employed hundreds of staff members. By the mid-20th century, changes in mental health care and social services led to Eloise’s gradual decline, and it closed for good in the 1980s. Most of the buildings were demolished or repurposed. Today, there are only a few structures left, including the Eloise Cemetery. On Ancestry today, while piecing together details and filling in gaps in my family tree, I discovered that my great-great-grandfather, Joseph Lehman (sometimes spelled Lehmann), passed away in 1939 while under the care of the Eloise hospital and was buried in the cemetery there.  Joseph was 83 years old when he pa...

  From my great-great-grandmother Eliza Rich's photo album. I have no idea who these two ladies are, but I love their hats!

It's been a very long time since I posted here. I've been taking breaks from research because I keep running into brick walls. I even let my Ancestry membership lapse since I felt like I shouldn't be paying the money when I wasn't logging in regularly. But something about springtime always makes me want to dive back in to genealogy. Maybe it's because spring is a time of year when I feel more energized and motivated in general. Or maybe as the trees begin to bud and the flowers start to bloom, I'm reminded of the cycles of life and how my own family history is a part of that larger picture, and I feel a renewed sense of connection to my ancestors, their lives, and their experiences. I still have an active subscription with newspapers.com. I found a tiny snippet just last week that I hadn't come across before, about my grandpa Ballard's time in the Army during World War II. Here it is:  Source: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120558028/james-d-ballard/  N...

In 1940, my great-great-grandmother Ella Graham lived in this home at 414 W. Ruth, Flint, Michigan. She was widowed and living with one of her sons (Vernon Graham) his wife, Mary, and Vernon and Mary's daughter, Margery. I found the house on Google Street view, still standing (as of 2019). It appears abandoned now.

Recently went to Forest Lawn Cemetery in Saginaw to look for/photograph some gravestones. This is my great-grandmother's.  She married Frank Hull after her husband (my great-grandfather) Thayer Graham passed away. Here is Thayer's grave. He and Viola are not buried next to each other.  If you're looking for someone who was buried in Brady Hill, Oakwood, or Forest Lawn in Saginaw, you can quickly find the location of their burial plot here:  https://www.saginaw-mi.com/departments/publicservices/cemeteries/search/ Just type in their name and you'll get a map showing the exact location of your ancestor's grave.

I contacted Chester County PA and they're going to send me a copy of Juanita and Leon's divorce decree! They found it on microfiche, made a copy, and are mailing it to me today! I'm so excited. I hope this will give me some more leads on her.  Leon is the one who started the divorce proceedings in 1946, claiming that Juanita deserted him in March of 1943. They had only been married a few months before she supposedly cut and run.