Woman with Hat

How I would love to say to you this is my relative such-n-such.  She lived in ..... and married......and then she.....  No details.  I do know one important thing about her.  On the back it says "Aunt Ella".  Based on other photos I have seen of Ella, including one at about the same age, I know this is not Ella.  I will assume, at least for now, that the young lady pictured put who was receiving the photo on the back.  However, she has several nieces and I am not sure that I have a complete list at this point.  I just love that hat!

Vince and Carrie (Kerr) Hiskey--Niece of Ella Eckard

This photograph was taken in Humbolt, Nebraska by Thortin Photography.  It was found loose between the pages of the album.  On the back it says simply Vince and Carrie. 

Although I cannot be 100% sure I believe it to be the niece of my Great-Grandmother Ella Eckard Wood.  Her sister Margaret Ann Eckard married John Andrew Kerr and the family lived in the Humbolt area as did their daughter Carrie and her husband Vincent Hiskey.  In fact Carrie is buried at the Heim Cemetery at Dawson along with her parents and Uncle John W. Eckard and Aunt Emma Eckard Thornton.

For more information on the Heim Cemetery please check out the Pennsylvania Historical Society of Nebraska.

Minnie and Zadok E. Kelly Taken in Humbolt, Nebraska



On the back this photo is identified as Minnie and Zed Kelly.  According to the family records I have Minnie was born about 1877 in Bucyrus, Crawford County, Ohio.  Her parents were John Andrew Kerr and Margaret Ann Eckard.  Margaret Eckard Kerr was the oldest child, to my knowledge, of Christopher Eckard and Christina Gross and would have been about eight years older than my direct ancestor Ella Elizabeth Eckard.  Margaret  married John Andrew Kerr in 1876 and Minnie was their first child.  She was born in 1877 also in Bucyrus.  Records indicate she married Zed Kelly in 1900.  I am not sure when they moved further west but Zed died in April of 1946 in Denver, Denver County, Colorado.  I do not have a death date for Minnie, only that it is believed she died sometime after 1953.  Although I know they had children, I don't have any details on them at this time. 

Two of My Humbolt Nebraska Mystery Photos

Humbolt is in close proximity to Dawson Nebraska where I know I can trace my family.  Ella Elizabeth Eckard moved there as an adult and had many family members in the Pennsylvania Dutch Colony at Dawson.  I believe she met and married William V. Wood there.  I know that the first four of their five children were born there.  Neither of these photos look like the one confirmed photo I have seen from Ella's early years in Dawson.  However, I have every reason to believe that these are family members or close friends.  On the back of the photo at the left there is a faint inscription that appears to read: Miss Will Woods, March the 3 1894.  What appears to initials are B.E. and beneath that E.G. S. but that part of the inscription is very hard to read.  Both of these photos were taken by Hughes Photographers in Humbolt. Do they resemble any you have seen before?

Lillie Alberta Eckard: Half Sister of Ella Eckard: Another Bucyrus Ohio Photo

According to the back of the photo Lillie is the half sister of Ella Eckard Wood.  She was born May 14, 1878 and died March 6, 1964.    She also had a full sister, Leafy V. Eckard who was born July 3, 1882 and died March 6, 1886.  Her parents were Christopher Eckard and his second wife, Margaret Catharine Winter Eckard.  This is all the information I have on her at this time.  What do you know about her?  Does she look like the older of the two little girls below?

Who Am I? A Woman from Bucyrus Ohio.

Again, a photo from Bucyrus, Ohio.  Again, probably a connection to Ella Elizabeth Eckard and the Pennsylvania Dutch.  My educated guess is that it could possibly be either Christina Gross Eckard or Margaret Catharine Winter Eckard, both wives of Christopher Eckard.  I believe this because I am so very sure that the distinguished gentleman of the previous post is Christopher, my great-great-grandfather Eckard.  Until I am proven wrong I will go with that assumption.

To my knowledge Christina Gross Eckard was the first wife of Christopher Eckard.  He would have been twenty-seven at the time of his marriage to Christina so the possibility does exist that she was his second wife.  Christina was the daughter of Johann Gross and Dorothy Wagner Gross.  I have Christina's birth as Jan 30, 1830 in Pennsylvania.  She died in Bucyrus in 1876 when her youngest daughter, Emma, would have been only eight years old. 

Margaret Catharine Winter Eckard was Christopher's second wife.  She was considerably younger than Christina having been born in 1848.  I do not have a marriage date for Margaret but it must have been between Christina's death in July 1876 and the birth of Margaret and Christopher's first daughter, Lillie Alberta Eckard, in May 1878. 

I am descended from Christina and Christopher through their daughter Ella, one of six children from this union.  Ella was the wife of William Wood.  Their youngest son, Carl Emerson Wood was my paternal grandfather. 

A Very Distinquished Gentleman in Bucyrus Ohio

This photo shows a very distinguished gentleman I would be proud to claim as an ancestor, but who is he?  Many of the photos in this treasured album are identified as relatives of Ella Elizabeth Eckard Wood.  I am assuming that this could be her father or possibly a brother.  Ella was born in nearby Marion County Ohio and my records show that her father Christopher Eckert (Eckard) was buried in Bucyrus in 1886.  Christopher was born in Lycoming Pennsylvania January 29,1827 but was in Crawford County Ohio by the time of his marriage on April 28, 1854.  He is said to be buried in the Sherer Cemetery which is in Crawford County.

Perhaps you recognize this photo because you have one just like it, or another photo showing the same man.  If so, please comment and help me solve the mystery.

Two Little Girls, and a Bucyrus Ohio Connection

My Grandpa (Carl Emerson) Wood's mother, Ella Eckard, was Pennsylvania Dutch.  Her family reaches back to Germany and lived in Pennsylvania Dutch colonies in Lycoming, PA later in Marion County and Bucyrus Ohio.  As an adult she moved with her brother George and sister Emma to Dawson Nebraska where there was a Pennsylvania Dutch colony and family including their brother John.  This part of our family were Dunkards.

I am a member of the Pennsylvania Colony Historical Society of Nebraska as well as the Blooming Grove Historical Society.  They are a wealth of information if you have ancestors who were Pennsylvania Dutch.  Highly recommended. 

This photo of two little girls was taken by Peterman, Union Block in Bucyrus Ohio. There is nothing on the back of the photo to indicate who the girls are and there are no other photos taken by Perterman, although I do have several other photos taken in the Bucyrus area. Lovely little girls--does anyone recognize them?