Anna Elizabeth O'Connell Faulkner: From Lincoln To Kennedy (52 Ancestors #13)

Anna Elizabeth O'Connell Faulkner was my great grandmother. And my namesake. She lived to be 100 1/2. She was born when Lincoln was president and she died a year before Kennedy was shot. Thinking about this just really boggled my mind. Her life straddled two centuries. When I think of all the technology, the inventions, the comforts of life that occurred in her lifetime I'm sort of blown away.

Let me paint a picture, if I may.

Anna was born Sept 4, 1861 in Dutchess County New York. Anna was the youngest of  twelve children born to James and Mary Dempsey O'Connell. James and Mary immigrated to New York from Ireland, with their first three children, about 1842. Their fourth child was born in Kings County New York in 1844.

By the time Anna was born the family was settled in Dutchess County New York.  Abraham Lincoln had just become the 16th President of the United States. Daily life was still pretty primitive. The family was living in an uninsulated wood frame house with an outhouse for life's necessities. The home was most likely heated by a fireplace or wood stove. Candlelight or oil lamps illuminated the evening hours. I imagine baths were taken in the kitchen, once a week, with cool water after the third or fourth bather took their turn.

One of my favorite films, "Streets Of New York", opens with a portrayal of life in New York in 1862.

What was life really like at the start of the civil war? To us it seems such a quaint, far away time, but it was a thoroughly modern world in 1861. Was Anna aware of the times? Was her life any more difficult because of the war? Three of her brothers enlisted, but I imagine she was too small to know what was going on.

Poughkeepsie Female School

Although Anna had 11 brothers and sisters, she was still able to attend school and graduated from the Poughkeepsie Female School. I have not been able to find out much about this school, except that in it's time it was a very impressive institute. I believe they instructed girls through the eighth grade.

After her graduation Anna went on to teach school. I do not know at what grade level she taught.

Anna went "West" to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1881. I do not know why. Her father had died several years prior. Her mother, along with two brothers and two sisters also took the long journey west.

Upon arrival in St. Paul Anna became a bookkeeper for the large wholesale dry goods outfit Lindeke, Schurmeier and Warner.

St Paul MN c. 1893

In 1891 Anna married Dr. Lloyd Anson Faulkner and the couple moved to Duluth MN, where Dr. Faulkner started a Natural Science Establishment called Dr. L. A. Faulkner & Co. Purveyors of gems, iron and copper mined from Lake Superior.

In 1892 the couple had the first of their five children, the artist Raymond Lloyd Faulkner. Dr. Faulkner, naturally, attended to the birth.

By 1900 the young family of five had returned to St. Paul, residing at 165 Forbes Av.

Let's look at life in 1900 America. William McKinley was just elected the 25th President of the United States. Women were not yet allowed to vote. People were enjoying music in their own homes thanks to wind-up phonographs. Indoor plumbing was still just a curiosity. Electricity was beginning to appear and replace the dangerous gas light in many homes. Houses were now being heated centrally with coal and hot water.

Anna must have been amazed at all the technological advances being made at the time!

washing machine ad c.1910

1917. The world was at war. This was Anna's second war. This time she is old enough to remember.  The Faulkner's now had five children. Three boys and two girls. Anna's first born was drafted. Anna's second son lied about his age to enlist. Automobiles were replacing horses, people were listening to the radio in their own homes. Plumbing moved indoors, at least for cold water! Iceboxes helped keep food fresher longer. The washing machine became a wash day savior.

The world had become a rapidly changing place, I wonder what Anna thought of it all?

1920's publicity still

The 1920's arrived and the world, as Anna knew it, was shrinking rapidly. Both of her sons arrived home safely from the Great War. The 18th and the 19th amendments had been ratified in rapid succession. Anna now had the right to vote, to be an equal to her husband in the deciding of the country's direction and rule. Plumbing moved completely indoors. Electricity arrived in the home and new time saving appliances were introduced. Among the explosion of new inventions were the electric refrigerator, stove and vacuum cleaner! The telephone became a new way to communicate with friends and neighbors. Airplanes made it easier than ever before to travel across country. Moving pictures became all the rage.

In 1928 penicillin was discovered, effectively eradicating so many common diseases that previously resulted in certain death.

America was riding high and Anna was right there in the middle of it.

Hooverville of the 30's

Then the world came crashing down.

October 29, 1929. Black Tuesday.

Anna, 68 years old, had raised her children and sent them out into the world. At a point in her life when she should have been preparing to settle in for a quiet retirement with her husband, her life was thrown upside down. Her husband continued to practice medicine, taking payments for services any way he could. I don't know how the Great Depression affected her or her life for certain. I can wonder and imagine as to the struggle it may have been after the decade of living large and easy.

In 1933 Anna's husband died of cancer. Anna, at 72 years old, moved in with her daughter and son in law.

This seems like a good place to end our story, but there was so much more to come!

no caption needed

1942, the world was at war ... again. This was Anna's third war. It was now time for her third son to serve his country. Franklin D. Roosevelt was in office. The 32nd President of the United States. Women were wearing pants in public. There were pay phones on every corner. The atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.

MLK

The 1950's arrived with a joie de vive not seen since the early 1920's. Television arrived and became a commonplace fixture in the modern home. TV dinners were replacing home cooked meals on weeknights. The civil rights movement was gaining momentum. Air raid and civil defense sirens were now a part of the fabric of life. The pastoral farmland of the nation was rapidly being eaten up by new housing. Air traffic was commonplace.

Jan 20, 1961. John F Kennedy was sworn into office as the 35th President of the United States.

Anna was 99 years old.

In September 1961 she celebrated her 100th birthday.

Anna O'Connell Faulkner on her 100th birthday

Anna Elizabeth O'Connell Faulkner died on April 18, 1962. She lived through 3 wars, 19 Presidents, and an unprecedented technology explosion, the likes of which we may not see again.

Oh, and she had a glass eye ......

Four generations Anne Faulkner holding Anne Faulkner

Lloyd Anson Faulkner, M.D.: Eclectic Doctor and Mineral Merchant (52 Ancestors #27)

Lloyd Anson is the man that lit the fire under my Finding Faulkner series. After my dad died and I inherited the genealogy files he had kept, I came across a file marked "Operation Grampa". Lloyd Anson was my father's "Grampa". Seems he was trying to learn more about the man. Happy to oblige, I dug in ...... which took me on the journey of a lifetime, and concluded with me actually finding our Faulkner, our original immigrant. So wish my dad were still here to share this with. But this is a sketch about Lloyd.

Lloyd Anson Faulkner, middle child, was born in the brand new state of Minnesota on September 30th 1862. Son of Harrison and Jennie Whitford Faulkner. He was welcomed into a family that already consisted of older brother, Arthur Edward and half brother, James Nichols. His younger brother, Louis Nelson would follow soon after.

Lloyd at 16

Lloyd's parents divorced in 1878, when he was 15. He and his brothers continued to reside with their mother until her death in 1888.

511 State Chicago

In 1884 Lloyd and his mother moved temporarily to Chicago, IL so that Lloyd could attend Bennett Medical College. While Lloyd attended classes, mother Jennie worked as a nurse.

Lloyd Anson graduated on April 1, 1885 as an Eclectic Physician. According to Wikipedia: "Eclectic medicine was a branch of American medicine which made use of botanical remedies along with other substances and physical therapy practices, popular in the latter half of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries." 

Graduation Announcement
from Chicago Tribune

The very next month Lloyd and his mother returned to Minnesota, residing in St Paul with brothers Arthur and Louis.

Dr Faulkner opened his practice in Duluth, on Superior Street. He held office hours daily, even Sunday!

In 1888 Jennie Faukner died, Lloyd was only 25. I do not know the cause of death, but it must have been hard on Lloyd, being a doctor, not being able to prevent or prolong it. (Well, perhaps he did prolong it, one can hope anyway.)

Lloyd continued to practice medicine, and in 1891 married Anna O'Connell, who had moved to St Paul from New York several years earlier.

The couple's first son Raymond Lloyd, was born before their first anniversary. Daughter Mary Edith would follow in 1894. The couple now resided in Duluth and Lloyd had opened a side business dealing in gems and minerals obtained from Lake Superior. This new venture was called the Natural Science Establishment.

Their second son James Harrison came along in 1897.

By 1900 the family was back in St Paul, where the final children, a set of twins, were born. Louis Lester and Catherine Lila, delivered, like all the other children, by their father Dr Lloyd, joined the family in 1902.

Lloyd Anson Faulkner was a lifelong member of the AOUW, Ancient Order Of United Workmen. Perhaps his father was a member as well, I have yet to discover any more on this.


1905 brought the death of Lloyd's father Harrison. For the next two decades the family seemed to move around a lot, always remaining in Minnesota. Perhaps Lloyd was a traveling physician at this time. The family moved between Blue Earth and Crow Wing, with stops in Rice and Sibley. Or, based on the dates of the census records, Dr Faulkner may have done the travelling, taking his family with him for the summer months.

At any rate, things settled down by 1920. Dr Faulkner was back in St Paul, his office was in the Baltimore building and the family resided on Hague Ave. In August of that year Lloyd's brother Louis died of a horrible disease easily curable with modern penicillin, which would not be discovered for another 9 years.

Children's marriages were celebrated on at least three occasions. The family may have traveled to Chicago in 1914 for the wedding of the oldest son, Raymond Lloyd; and again in 1928 for the marriage of youngest son, Louis Lester. The oldest daughter Mary Edith was married by 1930, most likely in St Paul.

Raymond and his wife Marion would give Lloyd a grandson and a granddaughter.

Sometime after 1930 Dr Lloyd Faulkner began to feel tired, run down. He was in his late 60's. Perhaps it was time to retire? I do not believe Dr. Faulkner ever got that chance, he actively practiced medicine until July of 1933. On December 18th 1933 at 10:51 in the morning Dr Lloyd Anson Faulkner passed away after a valiant fight with prostate cancer.

He is buried in Acacia Park Cemetery, in Mendota Heights, Minnesota.

He looks a lot like my dad.

Posthumously Lloyd Anson Faulkner became grandfather to two more grandchildren. A grandson from youngest son Louis Lester and a granddaughter from youngest daughter Catherine Lila.

"Operation Grandpa" concludes.

Finding Faulkner: Part Three | Minnesota Bound

It started, as good quests always do, with a family tale.

After the excitement of learning my 2nd and 3rd great grandfathers names died down, I set in to discover what I could of Lloyd Anson Faulkner's father Harry. My father's quest had ended there. He had not gone any further in his research, best I could tell.  My dad had had a photo of L. A. Faulkner, his grandfather,  hanging in his house - he looked eerily like my father as an older man. Perhaps that was some of the fascination for him in researching this man. The photo now hangs in my house and I, too, am fascinated. 

L.A. Faulkner, M.D. was born in Minnesota where he lived out his life. Starting there I began my hunt. To retell this tale I found it necessary to pull out all my old notes, memory tending to write things differently .... 

This was all so many years ago that my timeline might be off. I wish I had been writing this as I went along, but I never imagined the quest would take me through so many years, so many states, so many lives ......

I had enough information to do a basic Ancestry search. I knew L.A.'s wife was Anna and that he was born about 1862 somewhere in MN, living there all his life, he died in St Paul in 1933.  I immediately got returns for census records and was able to start building his family. There were 5 children born to them, my grandfather and his twin sister being the youngest. As the family began to build, other documents began to appear.  The Minnesota death index, the Minnesota marriage index and the Minnesota cemetery inscription index, which revealed not only where L. A. was buried, but confirmed the information I had been given about his parents names - including his mother's maiden name! 

"Par. Harrison and Jennie Whitford Faulkner".

I immediately emailed the cemetery and sent away for the death certificate.

While I was waiting I added  L.A.'s father Harrison and mother Jennie to my Ancestry tree and did some searching on the Minnesota Historical Society's website. I found Harrison's death certificate/date of death (which I had not know previously), and by adding that to his Ancestry profile I found  the Minnesota cemetery inscription index for him. The index revealed where he was buried and confirmed the information I had on the name of his father - with a bonus - the name of his mother!! And her maiden name!! (I was starting to really love Minnesota for their record system!)

"Harry-Harrison Faulkner. Sp. Jennie Whitford. Par. James & Jane McBride Faulkner. Mar. 1855. Born Goshen, Orange Co., N.Y." 

I emailed the cemetery and sent away for the death certificate.

I bided my time filling out the tree with spouses of siblings, children, anything Ancestry would give me. Remember, I had never had any relatives from this side of the family before. This was very exciting! From the cemetery inscription index (above) I learned that Harrison was born in New York. That would agree with the tale that started this quest, but how did he get to Minnesota? And why? Did he come with his parents? And where were his parents? There was one James Faulkner that I could find in Minnesota, and about a half dozen of them in Orange Co, New York. I needed more information.

I didn't have to wait long.

Both cemeteries responded quickly, and Maple Lawn, where Harrison is buried turned out to be a gold mine. Larry, the cemetery secretary and local historian went over and above. Typical Minnesotan congeniality! He went out of his way to dig up the obituary and funeral notice for Harrison Faulkner. And even sent me a vintage post card from the church where the funeral was held! Larry also introduced me to a database his friend John had put together. His friend John Dalby. The Dalby Database was a spectacular find for me at this point in my research.

But everything faded into the background as I read Harrison Faulkner's obituary:

OBITUARY OF THE LATE HARRISON FAULKNER

----------------------------

Was of a family Distinguished for Being Early Settlers.

----------------------------

"The late Harrison Faulkner, whose funeral took place in Faribault Wednesday afternoon, came of a family with some distinguished members. His great grandfather, who was of Scotch lineage, immigrated to what was in his time the colony of New York, early in the eighteenth century. James Faulkner, father of Harrison Faulkner, settled in Michigan 1833, on a tract of land where he spent the remainder of his days, near Grass Lake. He had been a colonel in the war of 1812, and was at one time in command of Staten Island, N.Y. before moving to Michigan.

Col. Faulkner lived for a time in Tennessee, and was owner of a large plantation, and of a good many slaves, but when he removed to Michigan he took only a few slaves with him, whom he freed soon after. They would not leave their old "massa." 

Harrison Faulkner was born in Goshen, Orange co., N.Y., in 1825. He studied medicine for two years, but gave up that profession. Working on a railroad, he was the first fireman on the Michigan central railroad. Then he went to the lead mines at Galena, Ill., and remained there a number of years. In 1855 Mr. Faulkner married Miss. Jennie Whitford, and in 1856 he came to Minnesota, being one of the first settlers of Faribault, as his grandfather had been one of the early settlers in New York, and his father one of the early settlers of Michigan.

Mr. Faulkner for a time followed the trade of carpenter in this city. He was a man of honest, upright character in all his dealings. he was well educated, as were all his brothers and a pleasing gentleman to converse with, having seen much, and observed and thought much about what he had seen. He will be missed not only by his family, but by the early settlers of the city.

Mr. Faulkner leaves three sons; Arthur E. of St. Paul; Dr. Lloyd A. of Lonsdale, and Louis N. of New York City. Louis Faulkner is a distinguished stone carver, having been an instructor of the Armour Industrial school in Chicago, and employed in work on some of the finest mansions in the east.

Harrison Faulkner was the last of his family - all his brothers and sisters having preceded him to the grave, at advanced ages."

Oh. My. Gosh.

In a matter of minutes I had gone from knowing zip about Harrison and his father James, to learning not only WHERE James lived, but that he was in the war of 1812, and a colonel at that! And I learned that Harrison had brothers and sisters - plural! There might just be other Faulkner descendants out there!

Insane happy dance ensued!

Looks like I'm off to Michigan ......

Finding Faulkner: Part Two | Operation Grampa

It started, as good quests always do, with a family tale.

The title made me laugh. My dad had been trying to uncover more information on his grandfather who had died a year before he was born. Knowing how tight-lipped my grandfather was about anything past, I didn't doubt that he never spoke of his own father. (dead is dead). My father knew that "Grampa" was a doctor in Minnesota. He knew that his name was Lloyd Anson Faulkner. He was attempting to discover more about his medical schooling, and trying to unearth his school records.

He had notes from people he had contacted, books he had referenced, libraries and other places he had called. Looks like he started out believing his grandfather went to Rush Medical College in Chicago, but through a series of phone calls and letter writing (this was done pre-internet!) he had traced his way to a man that gave him the answer: Bennett Medical College. Upon further investigation he learned that Bennett was now part of Loyola University. From his notes it appears that he was successful in speaking to someone at Loyola, but as to the outcome, all that followed was a xeroxed page from a yearbook and a copy of a letter sent.

I don't know if he ever got the answers he was looking for.

What caught my eye was the piece of yellow legal pad paper with my mother's handwriting on it. She had written down some notes as to Lloyd's parents. When I asked her about it she told me she was taking notes during a conversation my dad had had with his cousin. Since his cancer diagnosis in the late 1990's my dad had been stepping up his communication with her. They were both only children, their parents were twins, and I suppose my dad just wanted to gather as much family info as he could before he was gone.

Well, as far as I was concerned I had just found the Holy Grail! There on the paper were the names of Lloyd's father and mother (with maiden name!), his grandfather and his siblings! Birth and death dates and burial info.

After doing the Superior Dance (oh, like you have never done it) I set in to research this new found family of mine. (Later, it would turn out that someone had done some bad genealogy - but we'll get to that in due time.)

Shelving "Operation Grampa" for the time being I set my sights on finding my 2nd and 3rd great grandfathers......