bensonmemoriallibrary-blog - Tumblr blog

[bensonmemoriallibrary-blog]

Memorial Day

Author: Jessica Hilburn, BML

In honor of Memorial Day, Charlotte and I at Benson Memorial Library have set up a display of service-related books and articles. Included are selections from our collection of materials from the 2009 visit of the Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall. 

On display and available for reading we have featured photos of local veterans who visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, “Viet Nam Wall Speech” by Dr. Richard Petroski, a speech given by a Korean Conflict veteran, and newspaper clippings. 

Included in the collection is also a list of local servicemen who were killed during the Vietnam War. They are listed below in a table including name, rank, age, birth, residence, death, location of death, assignment, burial location, and wall location.

We honor and remember all our servicemen and women and their families from all times, peace and war this memorial day. 

Thank you for your service.

“America is hope. It is compassion. It is excellence. It is valor.” - Paul Tsongas

[bensonmemoriallibrary-blog]

WW1 poster. Knowledge Wins! American Library Assoc. (US). Artist: Dan smith. (James Vaughan).

[bensonmemoriallibrary-blog]

Titusville Region in WWII

Author: Jessica Hilburn, BML

Hello readers!

We are taking a brief hiatus from the obituary posts. Don’t worry, they are still diligently being digitized, but we thought a change of pace may be nice as well!

This week in doing some commissioned research, I came across an Honor Roll list of men from the Titusville region and surrounding areas who passed away during service in World War II. The list is from the December 7, 1945 edition of the Titusville Herald. I broke it down by name, date of death, age, location of death, and home location. Home location refers to the location of either the serviceman’s parents or spouse as listed in the article.

Here is the link to the spreadsheet: https://goo.gl/oyCZqA

There is some more specific information about each of these men, including service branch, division, etc. If you are interested in a specific man, I would be more than happy to send you some more information. My email is listed below!

I will also be posting some 1940s-era Optimist yearbook photos in relation to a yet-to-be-disclosed summer project. So look forward to that! And I would be happy to take any requests for that project as well - parents, grandparents, etc.

Finally, if anyone has any interesting stories about their parents, grandparents, or relatives relating to service in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, or Desert Storm and would like to share, shoot me an email! I am a graduate student in history and do a lot of research and write journal articles and would be more than happy to do some oral histories for you if you’re interested. If there is a demand for this in Titusville, I would also be willing to set this up as a regular thing to document your memories (of anything, not just war-related)! All of our memories and personal histories are worthwhile, so if you are inclined to have them be recorded, let me know! As a side note, I am particularly interested in Vietnam because it is the topic of my Master’s Thesis, but I’m totally willing to do oral histories on anything and everything!

Anyone with any specific questions, stories, or anything else, feel free to email me at: jessica.hilburn@ccfls.org

[bensonmemoriallibrary-blog]

A Deed of Blood: Mother Attacks Daughter with Hatchet, Rouseville, 1874

Author: Jessica Hilburn, BML

A Thousand Ways to Die in the Oil Region, Episode 4

While digitizing some obituaries this morning, I came across an obituary card referencing a woman who drowned in a well after attempting to murder her daughter. I had to know more. So, I looked up the September 21, 1874 edition of the Titusville Morning Herald and found the following eloquently written, but horrifying article:

TITUSVILLE MORNING HERALD - SEPTEMBER 21, 1874

ROUSEVILLE

A Deed of Blood - A Partly Deranged Woman Attempts to Brain Her Daugher With a Hatchet and Not Succeeding Drowns Herself in A Well - A Terrible and Sickening Recital.

[Correspondence of the Herald]

Rouseville, September 19

A shocking tragedy was enacted on the Sharp farm, near this place today, the horrifying details of which are such as to cause the heart to turn sick, and the blood cold with horror in the veins of the listener. Mrs. Beltzer, a German woman, attempted to kill her daughter, aged fifteen years, with a hatchet. She struck the girl several times on the head and neck, with the deadly weapon, inflicting dangerous and ghastly wounds, and would no doubt have

COMPLETED HER BLOODY WORK,

had it not been for a younger daughter, fourteen years old, who came to the rescue of her sister, and succeeded in getting the hatchet away from the infuriated woman, who, when she found that she had been baffled in her murderous attempt at the life of her child, ran out into the yard and threw herself into the well, which stood in front of the house. The wounded and bleeding girl seeing what her mother had done, ran to the

MOUTH OF THE WELL,

and begged her not to drown herself, and asked her if she would not get into the bucket and be drawn up. Receiving an answer in the affirmative, the poor girl, bleeding and faint though she was, exerted her little remaining strength in an endeavor to save her mother from a horrible fate. Her efforts proved unavailing, however, for the poor woman had fainted and fallen forward into the water

AND WAS DEAD

before aid could be summoned to the rescue. Some weeks ago she had given birth to a child, since which time she had been in a very delicate state of health, and temporary insanity, was no doubt, the cause of her attempting the life of her child. The unfortunate girl is being tenderly cared for and may possibly recover.

[bensonmemoriallibrary-blog]

Fire, Disease, Horses, & Death by Grief

Author: Jessica Hilburn, BML

A Thousand Ways to Die in the Oil Region, Episode 3

April 5, 1873: William Barry was burned beyond recognition in an accident on the Jamestown Railroad at Oil City. He was only able to be identified by a pistol which he carried. He was 17 years old.

September 21, 1876: Eda May Bates died in Titusville of diphtheria. She was 14 years, 8 months, and 7 days old.

October 3, 1873: Sanford Bates was killed in Sparta Township when his horses ran away, crushing him against a gatepost.

May 13, 1874: Little son of Reverend J.M. Bear (R.M. Bear), Pastor of the M.E. Church on Oil City’s South Side, was killed by a train in Oil City.

          July 30, 1875: Mrs. R.M. Bear, wife of R.M. Bear of Conneautville and Oil City, died of grief over the death of her youngest child, a boy, who was killed by the cars in Oil City.

[bensonmemoriallibrary-blog]

#thingstodothisweekend

[bensonmemoriallibrary-blog]

Writer Yann Martel is best known for his 2001 book Life of Pi, about a teenage boy adrift at sea with a Bengal tiger. Now Martel has a new novel called The High Mountains of Portugal. It’s made up of three interlocking stories that cover almost a century. Like Life of Pi, The High Mountains of Portugal is about journeys and it also features an animal (this time a chimpanzee).

Martel spoke to NPR’s Ari Shapiro about storytelling, faith and why he likes to use animals in his writing.  

Author Yann Martel On ‘That Deeply Unreasonable Phenomenon’ Of Faith

[bensonmemoriallibrary-blog]

[bensonmemoriallibrary-blog]

The Barr Family Tragedies

Author: Jessica Hilburn, BML

AKA: Episode 2 of A Thousand Ways to Die in the Oil Region.

Just after the oil boom, Dr. George W. Barr moved to Titusville with his wife and children in mid-1865. Little did he know the tragedy that would befall him in his new home.

On September 4, 1865, George and his wife Lavinia’s son, George Jr., died of hydrocephalus, or “water on the brain.” George Jr. was 3 years, 5 months, and 7 days old. When her oldest son died that September, Lavinia was seven months pregnant with her third child.

Lavinia gave birth to her second son, Charles, soon after. However, a mere seven months after George Jr. died, the same fate was to befall her newborn child. On April 3, 1866, infant Charles died at 5 months, 27 days old.

Sadly, the tragedies of the Barr family did not end there.

Two years later, on September 30, 1868, thirty-four year old Lavinia died in Titusville.

A beacon of light in an otherwise dark family story, George and Lavinia’s first child, a girl named Iris, eventually graduated from Allegheny College in the late 1800s.

In an interesting twist, George Sr. remarried after the death of his first wife. His new bride’s name? Lovinia. Lovinia Hanford was the widow of Walden Cooper and already had one child. George and Lovinia would go on to have a daughter together, Eva. Eva and Iris, her half-sister, were 18 years apart in age.

George Barr’s obituary did not appear in our records.

[bensonmemoriallibrary-blog]

Old postcard from 1947. You never know what you’ll find in the library!

[bensonmemoriallibrary-blog]

Forgotten, but Beautiful: Old Names

Author: Jessica Hilburn, BML

Just some names I have come across in the obituary records today that I found both underused and beautiful:

Ketinah (child in 1874)

Tryphenea (died 1931)

Amerens (born 1931)

Eyla (born 1923)

[bensonmemoriallibrary-blog]

I wonder what would happen if I made a library display called “Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better” That was just books either written by or about women in fields typically dominated by men.

[bensonmemoriallibrary-blog]

Black History Month ideas

#BlackHistoryBooks 8: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

This critique of the current criminal justice system is not an easy read but it is an important book. It gives a look at the prison population and how it relates to our nation’s history. Cornel West called this book “an instant classic.” It is definitely worth checking out.

[bensonmemoriallibrary-blog]

Black History Month ideas

#BlackHistoryBooks 17: The Men We Reaped: A Memoir by Jesmyn Ward

Acclaimed novelist Jesmyn Ward’s memoir about growing up in Mississippi was a critical darling in 2013. She tells the story of five young black men who died in her town while growing up, including her own brother. It’s a powerful book, beautifully written.

[bensonmemoriallibrary-blog]

Black history month ideas

#BlackHistoryBooks 14: Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

In case you hadn’t heard, Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming has won ALL OF THE AWARDS this year. Woodsoon has been writing amazing books for years, so we’re happy to see her getting the A-list attention. In beautiful poems, Woodson describes growing up in South Carolina in the 60s and 70s. It’s wonderful to step into someone else’s head!

[bensonmemoriallibrary-blog]

Weird 1800s Deaths in Titusville

Author: Jessica Hilburn, BML

A short update of weird or different deaths that we have come across while digitizing our obituary records for Titusville, PA!

2 September 1868: Man dies of fractured skull when he fell down the stairs at a beer saloon in Titusville.

18 December 1867: Man killed in a train wreck in New York

Late 1800s: Child poisoned when given opium instead of rhubarb due to a drug clerk’s error.

July 1866: Man killed by a falling beam at Boyd Farm

30 September 1867: Man accidentally shot self and died

6 February 1934: Man died in a field

27 March 1875: A Swedish man was killed by a falling beam while pulling down the old Parker Refinery

10 November 1865: Man died of typhoid pneumonia at Pithole.

Will post more as we go, so check back in later!

This post will be part of a series called A Thousand Ways to Die in the Oil Region.

[bensonmemoriallibrary-blog]

“I Have a Dream” 50th Anniversary

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech during the march on Washington for jobs and freedom, Darien Library staff members all got together to recite his famous speech.