Influencer: Percy Hunter and Bridge Safety ~ 52 Ancestors #5

This week's theme is Influencer.

 

A very early post on this blog was about my great-grandfather, Percy Earle Hunter (1873-1937) and his occupation as a civil engineer. 

Percy E. Hunter, 1895

For many years, he was president of the Independent Bridge Company in Pittsburgh, a company that literally built one of the bridges over the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh (the Liberty Bridge), among many other bridges.

Between 1915 and 1937, Percy obtained several patents for annealing boxes, welding apparatuses, bridge structures, and other manufacturing tools.

It appears that he influenced the development of safety railing for bridges and other structures.

Percy E. Hunter has 29 patents to his name, discovered at the Patent Public Search (searching for Applicant Name = Percy AND Applicant Name = Hunter).  (You can also search for patents at Google Patent Search by entering Percy Hunter in the Google Search box provided.)

Witness to History: James Adsit and the Great Chicago Fire ~ 52 Ancestors #4

This week's theme is "Witness to History."

I have written about my second great grandfather, James Monroe Adsit a few times, at First Chicago Banker; when I shared his death certificate; about his New York roots; and also when I listed his children. (He had seven children, three grandchildren, and only one great-grandchild, my dad.)

A biography from Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois: with portraits (1899) states that he arrived in Chicago on April 2, 1838. He was definitely there by 1839 when he is listed in a city directory.

James Monroe Adsit
Born February 5, 1809, Spencertown, Columbia County, New York
Died September 4, 1894, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois

62-year-old James was a witness to the Great Chicago Fire in October 1871. In fact, he was right in the middle of it!

Currier & Ives lithograph from Library of Congress

Handed down in the family is a worn and torn newspaper clipping that had been saved in an envelope for many years. I now keep the paper unfolded, in an acid-free folder in an archival box.

Mr Adsit / Chicago Fire - 1871

Unfortunately, I don't know whose handwriting this is but the envelope and the enclosed newspaper were so important that it has been handed down in the family for over a century!

Favorite Photo: For Jack From Mama ~ 52 Ancestors #3

This week's theme for this year's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is "Favorite Photo."

I have many photos that I have previously shared under the Wordless Wednesday prompt. Here are a couple that I haven't previously shared.

This is a tiny envelope, about 2.5" x 3.5". On the front is written: "For Jack from Mama."

And on the back is my mother's handwriting identifying the individuals in the photos as James Hunter and Mary (Freeland) Hunter, who are my second great-grandparents. This suggests that the handwriting on the front is my second great-grandmother's, Mary (Freeland) Hunter. Inside this small envelope are four tiny pictures.

I previously shared portraits of them when they were younger.

Origins: John Morgan ~ 52 Ancestors #2

This week's theme for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is "Origins."

Because my ancestors have been in this country (or on the North American continent) for at least a couple hundred years, it's unclear where all of my immigrant ancestors came from. I do know that many came from England, Scotland, Ireland, and a few came from the Netherlands. 

However, my Loyalist ancestors who were in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, in the latter half of the 18th century didn't all arrive in Guysborough from the former British colonies, now the United States of America. Some may not necessarily have been Loyalist, just immigrating to Canada to make better lives for themselves and their families.

John Morgan "is said to have been a Welsh millwright, and one of the first mills in which he was interested is said to have been on the Hadley property, on a brook east of the old Stiles Hart place." [1]

This is a good clue that my 4th great-grandfather, John Morgan very possibly came to Nova Scotia from Wales, which is now a part of the United Kingdom, but is its own country and has a distinct culture.

Family Lore: Justice Samuel Sewall ~ 52 Ancestors #1

The first week's theme for this year's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (from Amy Johnson Crow) is "Family Lore."

Living in New England, we learned about the Salem Witch Trials in school. We also lived close enough to Salem, Massachusetts, that we visited the various historic sites as children. From a young age, we were told that we descended from Justice Samuel Sewall, one of the well-known judges at some of these witch trials.

This family lore is true; we do descend from Justice Samuel Sewall. He is both my 7th great-grandfather and my 8th great-grandfather. (See the ancestral line below.)

1729 painting by John Smibert