Wordless Wednesday: Teddy Bear

Travis LeMaster & teddy bear, 1969

Travis & Teddy Bear, reunited Christmas 2010

[complete with man-tears of joy!]

Wordless Wednesday – a great way to share your old family photos! Create a post with the main focus being a photograph or image. Some posters also include attribute information as to the source of the image (date, location, owner, etc.). Wordless Wednesday is one of the longest running “memes” in the blogosphere and is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

Tombstone Tuesday: Carl E. and Hazel M. (Wallace) Wehrly

Source: Salamonia Cemetery (Jay County, Indiana), Carl E. and Hazel M. Wehrly marker, photographed by Travis LeMaster, 26 March 2009.

Carl Ethan and Hazel May (WALLACE) WEHRLY are buried in the Salamonia Cemetery, Madison Township, Jay County, Indiana.  Carl was my paternal 1st cousin twice removed.


Carl was born February 26, 1905 in Salamonia, Jay County, Indiana, the son of Alva Monroe and Emma C. (YAEGER) WEHRLY.


Hazel was born January 21, 1910, the daughter of John and Hazel May (NEWTON) WALLACE.


I do not yet know when and where they were married.


Carl died August 23, 1946 in Portland, Jay County, Indiana.  Hazel died in 1978.


Tombstone Tuesday – To participate in Tombstone Tuesday simply create a post which includes an image of a gravestone of one or more ancestors and it may also include a brief description of the image or the ancestor. This is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

Black Sheep Sunday: Harry Pierpont

Mug shot of Harry Pierpont

Last week, after watching Public Enemies, starring Johnny Depp as John Dillinger, I turned to Wikipedia and began reading about the lives of John Dillinger and other members of his gang.


When I read the entry for Harry Pierpont, I can across this line which made me stop in my tracks:

"Born in Muncie, Indiana, to J. Gilbert and Lena Orcutt Pierpont..."

Orcutt....Orcutt...why did that name sound so familiar?  Turning to my database, I quickly found my answer.  My paternal 2nd-great grandaunt, Samantha E. METZNER had married James ORCUTT on May 12, 1878 in Jay County, Indiana.  Jay County is just north of Muncie.  Could there be a connection?


Thus began my search of Google and other sources.  I quickly found the website OutlawHistory.com which had a lot of information on Harry's criminal history and his family tree.  Turns out his mother, Lena, was the daughter of James and Samantha!  Harry was my paternal 2nd cousin 2 times removed.  Harry's grandmother, Samantha, had died when his mother, Lena, was only 7.  James ORCUTT remarried and moved to Muncie, Delaware County, Indiana.


My grandmother would have been Harry's 2nd cousin, and I wonder if she knew they were related when she read about his exploits in the headlines.


The Dillinger era in Indiana was a wild and tumultuous time.  Reading the activities of the "Terror Gang" is fascinating.  The times were much as they are today - the populace not trusting the banks, etc.  The fact that Harry robbed banks in my neck of the woods makes me want to dig deeper into the history of this time period in the midwest.


I've spent much of the last week scouring the newspaper articles at Ancestry.com and surfing the web reading about the criminal acts of my cousin and other members of his gang.  Though the portrayals in the movie Public Enemies took liberties with history - Harry Pierpont did break out of the Indiana State Prison at Michigan City and then busted his pal John Dillinger out of the Allen County, Ohio jail in Lima.  It was during this breakout that Harry shot and killed the sheriff.  It was this crime that he was ultimately executed for by the State of Ohio.


Harry died October 17, 1934 in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio by legal electrocution.  A copy of his death certificate was found at the FamilySearch website:

Harry was buried at the Holy Cross and Saint Joseph Cemetery in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, next to his older sister, Fern.  Later his mother, Lena, was buried there as well.

As I piece together the rest of the story, I hope to connect with others who may be related to this family and may have more stories to tell.


Black Sheep Sunday – create a post with the main focus being an ancestor with a “shaded past.” Bring out your ne’er-do-wells, your cads, your black widows, your horse thieves and tell their stories. And don’t forget to check out the International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists (IBSSG). This is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.