July 4, 1876: It Was a BLAST!
July 4, 1876 – The United States was celebrating its first centennial eleven years following the end of the Civil War. In Philadelphia, soldiers from the North and South, “the Blue and the Gray”, marched together. There were lively and soul-stirring festivities held throughout the country, speeches galore, fireworks – or “Gunpowder and Glory”. As cannons were fired and firecrackers lit, explosions and costly fires marred the festivities for some. In Philadelphia one headline read “A Salute That Cost Several Hundred Thousand Dollars.” “A Dynamite Horror” occurred around the same time elsewhere in Philadelphia. In Brooklyn headlines read:
FIREWORKS
DESTRUCTION: What the Centennial Cost Brooklyn
It was America’s 100th anniversary and it was time to celebrate! All the celebrating rattled more than a few nerves, however. The Fourth was truly a blast (after blast, after blast)! For more on this story, see the July issue of Digging History Magazine on sale here or celebrate the Fourth with a subscription here.
Victorian Fashion: Bicycles, Bloomers and Suffrage
“Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel…and away she goes, the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.”
So declared Susan Brownell Anthony, social reformer and women’s rights activist, in 1898. For hundreds of years women had been dependent on a man to take them wherever they needed or wanted to go. Suddenly, with a little practice on the new-fangled two-wheeled machine, they were free to go wherever and whenever they pleased. It truly was liberating!
Young and old alike, women were discovering the joys of bicycling. At the age of fifty-three, following her mother’s death, Frances Willard – activist, social reformer, suffragist and one of the founding members of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union – decided she had new worlds to conquer. She would learn to ride a bicycle.
The rest of the story (plus all the controversies and perceived detriments to women’s health – what exactly was “bicycle face“!?!) can be found in the June issue of Digging History Magazine. Subscriptions are also available (month-to-month, 3-month, 6-month and 1 year) — easy to subscribe and receive an issue every month in your inbox (60-70 pages of colorful graphics, history and genealogy focused articles and virtually ad free. In other words, just history!).
Keywords: Amelia Bloomer, bicycle face, bloomers,Digging History Magazine,Frances Willard, safety bicycle, Susan B. Anthony, Women’s Christian Temperance Union, women’s suffrage, bloomerism. Mary Gove Nichols, Victorian fashion, Victorian dress reform, Dr. Mary E. Walker, wheelwoman, flopping skirts, scorchers, bicycle scorchers
Road-Tripping Across America (with everything but the kitchen sink!)
The June issue of Digging History Magazine features stories on road-tripping (as it’s called today). These road trips, however, were a far cry from the ones we take today. The early ones took weeks to cross America from coast-to-coast — shovels, shotguns and lots of patience were required! Automobile races had been around for awhile and another one — possibly the most audacious of all — was to take place in the dead of winter. This one would begin in New York and end in Paris, via Alaska and Siberia. It’s been called The Great Race of 1908.
Yet, when J.M. Murdock decided to drive his family home to Johnstown, Pennsylvania from Pasadena, California in 1908 his hometown newspaper thought the Murdock trip could very well exceed interest for the planned race around the world later that year. By the time the Murdock family had packed their car it was a good thing the maps were of the vest-pocket size, as they likely couldn’t have fit one more thing. The description of what they took along on their trip reminds one of the I Love Lucy episode when the Ricardos and Mertzes were headed to California. The article, entitled “Rolling Along in an Automobile: America’s Love Affair with the Road Trip”, traces the history of family road trips, including early travelers hitting the road with their new-fangled machines and “everything but the kitchen sink”, earning them the somewhat pejorative nickname “Tin Can Tourists”. From Tin Can Tourists came the auto camps which morphed into motor courts and then roadside motels.
The story of the Murdock family’s trek across the country will make you grateful for the traveling conveniences we all take for granted today. The June issue is on sale here. Subscriptions are also available: a budget-conscious month-to-month plan (or take a “test drive”); 3-month; 6-month and 1-year. Use the “2OFFSUM18” discount code at checkout for a one-year subscription for an even better deal.
Here’s a deal worth taking a look at: On the right-hand side of this page find the “Subscribe to Blog Via Email” section, type your email address and Subscribe. Then, look for a free issue of Digging History Magazine in your email inbox just for signing up as a follower.
Digging History Magazine: June 2018 Issue on Sale Now!
This month’s issue of Digging History Magazine is out and available for sale — or better yet, start your subscription with this “Road Trip!” issue. Articles include:
- On a Whim and a Bet: America’s First Coast-to-Coast Automobile Trip
- Rolling Along in an Automobile: America’s Love Affair with the Family Road Trip
- The Great Race of 1908: New York to Paris (via Alaska and Siberia)
- Victorian Pastimes: Girdling the Globe
- Victorian Fashion: Bicycles, Bloomers and Suffrage
- Appalachian Histories & Mysteries: Edith Bolling Wilson – Virginia’s Ninth President
- Genealogical Head-Scratcher: Stumbling Across Hidden Cousins
- Are Emerging Technology and Shifting Societal Norms Changing the Rules of Genealogical Research?
- Ghost Towns of the Mother Road
- Nineteenth Century Rainmaking: Part I
- The Dash: Henry P. Ewing, Blind Miner
Summer is just around the corner (at least when the calendar says it’s summer!). Be safe out there!
Sharon Hall, Publisher and Editor, Digging History Magazine
Digging History Magazine: Who Would Name Their Son “States Rights”?
Who would name their son “States Rights”? Certainly not a Yankee!
A few years ago while snooping around Find-A-Grave to research a person to write about for my “Tombstone Tuesday” column, I stumbled across men named “States Rights” whose parents turned out to be proud Southerners who made a statement by naming their sons in honor of the burning issue of slavery — before, during and long after the Civil War.
It’s an article written for the regular Digging History Magazine column, “Believe it or not . . . stranger things have happened” and featured in the Civil War-themed April issue. Purchase a single issue or start a subscription (3-month, 6-month or one-year).
Sharon Hall, Publisher and Editor, Digging History Magazine
Digging History Magazine – North and South: Profiles in Courage
When I decided to feature a Civil War theme for the April issue of Digging History Magazine, I knew I needed to find two compelling stories of men who fought on opposite sides. While researching stories for the March issue related to the Zimpelman family (“Who Were You Roy Simpleman?” and “Feuding and Fighting: The El Paso Salt War”), I decided the character I would feature to represent the Confederacy was George Bernhard Zimpelman, a German-born Texan. What I didn’t fully realize was just how valiantly he served.
I also looked for a Union soldier to feature and found the riveting story of Francis Jefferson Coates. He grew up as a Wisconsin farm boy and joined the much-heralded “Iron Brigade”, an amalgamation of hard-scrabble farmers and lumberman of Wisconsin. After being wounded at South Mountain he was promoted to corporal and later sergeant, about four months before Gettysburg. Gettysburg would be his last military battle, but not his final life challenge.
Two different backgrounds, two brave soldiers, two powerful stories. The April issue is available on sale as a single issue, or start a subscription of any length (3-month, 6-month or one year) and receive it as your first issue.
Sharon Hall, Publisher and Editor, Digging History Magazine
Adventures in Research: Solving Family History Mysteries (Digging and DNA)
I love what I do — helping clients discover who they are, where they came from, did their ancestors make history (good or bad) and more. I take a slightly different approach perhaps than many genealogists who are looking for land and census records and clipping obituaries. I look for those too, but what I really enjoy finding are the stories. I never know what I’ll uncover. When I come across something that is either challenging or unexpected (a real “family history mystery”) you can expect to see it written about in Digging History Magazine. I want to share what I’ve learned in hopes of helping other researchers who are challenged by their own “family history mysteries”.
One such memorable mystery actually began right around the time I began writing articles for the Digging History blog. One of the first articles I wrote was to commemorate the 100th anniversary of a tragic coal mine explosion in Dawson, New Mexico. Approximately one month later I wrote a “Feudin’ and Fightin’ Friday” article about a seemingly obscure Texas feud. Turns out the two articles were amazingly linked, something I wouldn’t discover until contacted by someone in 2015 requesting a change in the Dawson article.
As an editor, the request, ironically, involved a misspelled name. It had been misspelled in the newspaper article used as a source and Doug Simpleman, great grandson of the man with the misspelled name, wanted to set the record straight. In fact Doug had been working for awhile to set the record straight about Roy Simpleman — and to find out who he really was. You see, Roy had been born as Refugio Badial, the illegitimate son of Ramona Badial. How did he become Roy Simpleman?
Doug contacted me in July of 2015 and by September we were reconnecting about the article and Doug’s ongoing research. On September 19 we exchanged a flurry of emails back and forth for about four hours. Then, everything began to fall into place — who Roy really was and that his likely birth father was the son of a German immigrant, George B. Zimpelman. A Y-DNA test would soon prove Doug’s theories. Doug and I reconnected recently when I decided to include the story in the March issue. I’ve since uncovered even more details and was able to significantly enhance the Texas feud story. It wasn’t an insignificant event, but one that had been simmering for years in the post-Reconstruction era.
It was such an interesting research adventure, and despite my part in it being rather minuscule, I had to write about it. As a matter of fact, I’m still writing about it as I’ve uncovered more about the Zimpelman family. Several days ago I contacted other members of the Zimpelman family and now they are becoming aware of this amazing story.
By the way, the Zimpelman saga continues next month as April will feature a focus on stories from the Civil War. This month’s story arc includes not only the “family history mystery” but an updated article on the El Paso Salt War. Additionally, a ghost town story and a repeat of the Dawson mine explosion article are both related to Doug’s family history mystery.
One good story begets another, I say! Read the entire story arc (and more) in the March issue, available on sale here. Or, purchase a subscription here (buy a subscription during March and it will begin with March issue).
Keywords: Family history mystery, Roy Simpleman, George B. Zimpelman, George Walter Kyle Zimpelman, El Paso Salt War, solving genealogy problems with DNA, breaking down brick walls with DNA, Digging History Magazine, Dawson New Mexico 1913 mine explosion, Digging History, mining history, historic mine disasters.
Galveston: Ellis Island of Texas and the Storm That Changed Everything
Here are some excerpts from the March issue of Digging History Magazine. It’s packed with stories, beginning with a series of articles on Galveston, Texas:
- Galveston: The Ellis Island of Texas
- The Storm That Changed Everything
- Isaac Cline’s Fish Story
So much emphasis has been placed on Ellis Island, and certainly thousands of immigrants passed through there (as well as other ports like Baltimore and Philadelphia). However, many immigrants actually came through Gulf of Mexico ports like New Orleans and Galveston. If immigrants were headed for the American Midwest states and territories of Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, Galveston landed them hundreds of miles closer to their destination than arriving at an Atlantic port.
The first residents of the island weren’t the most welcoming. One historian called the Karankawas, whose presence on the island dates back to the 1400s, a “remarkably antisocial tribe”. Although thought to have been cannibalistic, evidence seems to indicate that is probably not true.
Between 1817 and 1821 it was home to Jean Lafitte and his band of pirates. Following their departure the Port of Galveston was established as a small trading post in 1825. By 1835 it was the home port of the Texas Navy.
Norwegian and Swedish immigrants began arriving in Texas in the 1830s and 1840s, some over land and some making entry at Galveston. Most notably during this same time period, large groups of German immigrants also arrived in the port.
By the late nineteenth century and early twentieth Galveston had become a cosmopolitan gateway city. What happened to the city in early September 1900 would change everything, however. A storm which had been birthed thousands of miles away along the western coast of Africa was about to impact the Gulf of Mexico, something Isaac Cline, Galveston’s resident meteorologist, had stated nine years earlier could never happen. How wrong he was.
Thousands of tourists were on the beach, restaurants were full and a massive storm was about to wipe out much of the beach city of Galveston.
Even today no one seems sure just how many people died, except to say that it was the most disastrous hurricane in history – estimates range from six to eight thousand fatalities. Cora’s body was later found on September 30 underneath the very wreckage that Isaac, his daughters and Joseph clung to during the height of the storm. Her body was identified by her wedding ring. Among the dead were ten nuns and ninety children of the St. Mary’s Orphans Asylum.
By the following day, headlines across the country began to report the tragedy, albeit having somewhat sketchy details to report since Galveston’s communication lines had been severed in the midst of the storm. Survivors were met with horrible conditions in the aftermath. Corpses of both humans and animals were strewn about everywhere. Early on Monday, September 10, efforts were underway to try and bury the humans. City officials, however, abandoned that plan – there were simply too many bodies. By Monday afternoon they were planning to have a mass burial at sea.
The bodies would have weights attached and transported out into the Gulf on barges. This was a gruesome task, to say the least, and to entice men to carry it out the city offered free whiskey. Enough men signed up, but after becoming exceedingly drunk, were incapable of securing the weights properly, causing hundreds of bodies to wash back up on the beach on Tuesday morning. The only option left was to burn the bodies. The smell of burning flesh and plumes of smoke hung in the air for several weeks.
Isaac Cline’s Fish Story
The Galveston hurricane notwithstanding, Isaac Cline had witnessed some unusual weather events during his career. Probably the most unusual one sounds like a far-fetched tall Texas fish tale — how it happened and why it happened were astonishingly true, however.
Isaac Cline had witnessed some unusual weather events during his lifetime. Following his graduation from medical school in March of 1885 Cline was assigned to the weather station at Fort Concho near San Angelo, Texas. Weather was what he was always interested in apparently, yet he received a medical degree to claim a scientific background. Instead, he surmised he could study weather and its affects on people, thus welding the two disciplines.
Isaac must have thought he’d arrived in hell. The landscape was largely barren and it was hotter than Hades during the summer months. The Concho River was dry during this particular season of the year. Yet, one evening in August as Isaac was strolling along, crossing the bridge over the river, he was startled to hear a distant roar. Was it thunder? No, but it wasn’t long before he saw with his own eyes where it was coming from.
Read the rest of these stories (and more) in the March issue, available on sale here. Or, purchase a subscription here (buy a subscription during March and it will begin with March issue).
Keywords: Cleng Peerson, Ellis Island of Texas, Erik Larson, Fort Concho, Galveston, Hotel Galvez, Isaac Cline, Isaac Cline fish story, Isaac’s Storm, Jean Lafitte, Jewish immigration, Karankawa, New York of the Gulf, Norwegian immigration, San Angelo Texas, St. Mary’s Orphans Asylum, Swiss immigration, Texas immigration, The Guide to Texas Emigrants, Galveston 1900 hurricane
Digging History Magazine: Subscription by Check?
Potential Digging History Magazine customers have been asking. “Can I pay by check?” The answer is “Yes” but for subscriptions only. Monthly and Special Edition issues are by Credit Card or PayPal only. Why is that? It would simply be too cumbersome to keep up with monthly individual issue purchases. However, since subscriptions are for a term of your choosing (3-month, 6-month or one-year) it’s a bit easier to accept checks and keep track of customers.
If you’d like to buy a subscription, but prefer to pay by check, simply send a message on the Contact Page. I’ll contact you and make arrangements for payment by check. Note: Payment via Credit Card or PayPal is preferred because it’s easier to keep track of subscribers, but realize some customers aren’t comfortable making purchases online.
Payment by Credit Card or PayPal (safe and convenient payment gateways) assures you will receive your first issue immediately. Paying by check will delay delivery of your first issue because the check must be mailed and processed before you receive your first issue.
I appreciate your interest in Digging History Magazine and I’m proud to offer it to like-minded lovers of history! Subscriptions are now available. Purchase any subscription level this month (February) and you’ll also receive a free copy of the inaugural January issue.
Sharon Hall, Publisher and Editor, Digging History Magazine
Baby, It Was Cold Outside: Historic United States Blizzards
The word “blizzard”, at least in terms of a violent snowstorm, hasn’t been around as long as one might think. “Blizzard” or “Blizard” are ancient family names, although speculation abounds as to its origin as a surname. One source proposes it may have been a variant of the word “blessed”, perhaps even a nickname.
Two instances in Olde English (”blieths”) and Middle English (”blisse”) mean joy and gladness, and by adding the French suffix “-ard” a term emerges which means a person with those particular qualities. It is only a theory, however.
The word “blizzard” came into usage in America, perhaps in the early nineteenth century, but not as a reference to a snow storm. Colonel David “Davy” Crockett used the term in a memoir of his tour to the “North and Down East”. At Delaware City he boarded a steamboat to Philadelphia and at dinner with his fellow passengers was called upon to offer a toast. Not knowing the sort of people he was dining with, nor what they thought of him personally, he wrote:
. . . . .
The Washington and Jefferson Snow Storm of 1772
This historic storm, called the Washington and Jefferson Snow Storm of 1772, was one of the largest snow storms to ever hit the northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. area . At the time, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were prominent landowners and both were interested in the weather and how it affected their agricultural interests. We know this because both future presidents recorded weather details in their personal diaries.
. . . . .
The School Children’s Blizzard
This epic storm is reminiscent of an episode of Little House On The Prairie, entitled “Blizzard”. It may well have been based on the 1888 storm which came to be called “The School Children’s Blizzard” or the “School House Blizzard.”
On January 12, 1888 the weather had cleared after a late December-early January storm system dropped massive amounts of snow across the northern and central plains, which was then followed by a four-day cold blast of extremely low temperatures. Between January 11 and the early morning of January 12, many places saw temperatures rise dramatically, twenty to forty degrees.
The temperatures had risen in advance of a significant Arctic cold front being fed by Gulf of Mexico moisture. Many had been home-bound for days because of the snow, ice and brutally cold temperatures. The “balminess” of January 12 lured people out of their homes – little did they realize how quickly the weather was about to change.
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1913: The Year of Epic Weather Disasters
From beginning to end, the year 1913 was a meteorologically-challenging year. In 1912 the Mississippi River had flooded, killing two hundred people and causing $45 million in damages.
1913 would bring even more catastrophic weather events with extremes from epic blizzards to rain in near “biblical proportions” to scorching summer heat. On July 10, 1913 the highest temperature ever recorded in the United States occurred in Death Valley (134 degrees!).
. . . . . These are but a few snippets of the feature article on historic United States Blizzards. To read the entire article (complete with footnotes and sources), purchase the February issue of Digging History Magazine ($3.99). A few sample pages are available for download at this link if you’d like to see the entire table of contents. This issue features several articles, most related to snow in some way — amazing how much history one can find about snow, blizzards and such — baby cages and snowbank cradles, the ghost town of Snowball, Arkansas, Civil War snowball fights and more. An information-packed 52-page issue which includes a bibliography and a special supplement relating to an article about genealogical fraud.
Keywords: The Big Die-Up, The Great White Hurricane, Children’s Blizzard, Washington and Jefferson Snow Storm of 1772, Great Blizzard of 1888, Knickerbocker Theater Disaster, Great Appalachian Storm of 1950, Washed Way by Geoff Williams, David Laskin, School Children’s Blizzard, Davy Crockett, blizzard, historic blizzards, Blizzard surname, Snowball Arkansas, Ghost Towns, baby cages, snowbank cradles, genealogical fraud, Gustave Anjou, Fighting Civil War Boredom, Civil War snowball fights, 1913 weather events