Maiden Aunts Carrie and Eliza Lysle ~ 52 Ancestors #26

A newspaper's social column in newspapers a hundred years ago was how you knew who was in town and who was traveling to visit family.

"The Misses Lysle Visit Here," Pittsburgh Post Gazette (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania),
2 April 1913, p. 16, col. 3; digital images, Newspapers.com.

The Misses Lysle Visit Here

   Miss Caroline and Miss Eliza Lysle, of Washington, D. C., are at the Hotel Schenley. The Misses Lysle have spent the winter at the Chalfonte, Atlantic City, and are in Pittsburgh for a fortnight, before returning to Washington to re-open their apartments for the spring season.

Edwin A. McAlpin Had Stories ~ 52 Ancestors #25

My second great uncle, Edwin Augustus McAlpin, was born on June 9, 1848, to David Hunter McAlpin (1816-1901) and Frances Adelaide Rose (1829-1870).

Edwin A. McAlpin, Courtesy Wikipedia

 

His New York Times obituary (13 April 1917, p. 13, col. 5) suggests that he probably had many stories to share.

William S. Ashby Struck by Lightning, 1883 ~ 52 Ancestors #24

William Shrewsbury Ashby was born November 18, 1859, in Barren County, Kentucky, to Napoleon Bonaparte Ashby and Juliet Shrewsbury, the eldest of their six children. He was a first cousin of my great-grandmother, Mary Bowman (Ashby) Adsit (1863-1956) so my first cousin three times removed.

Napoleon Ashby was in Russellville, Logan County in 1850, but by 1860, he was married and living in Barren County where it appears all of his children were born. (His younger brother, Daniel Morgan Ashby, my second great-grandfather, lived in Barren County for many years.)

By 1880, Napoleon B. Ashby's family returned to Russellville. His six children were living with him: Willie S. (age 20), Linda (18), Henry C. (16), Mary (14), Emma (12), and Benjamin M. (10). Two boarders in the household were Willie Hughes and Permelia Hall, age 78, who should have been listed as his mother; she was twice-widowed Permelia (Christian) (Ashby) Hall, whose death date I still have not identified.

1880 US Census, Russellville, Logan County, Kentucky, ED 164, p 443B,
dwelling 232, family 232, Napolion [sic] B. Ashby household.

By 1883, son William was setting out on his own. I can't imagine how hard it must have been for his parents and younger siblings when they heard the following news.

Louisa May Greeley, Health Teacher ~ 52 Ancestors #23

Louisa May Greeley was born in December 1895, in Winnetka, Illinois, to Morris Larned Greeley and Anne Sophia Foote. She was half first cousin of my grandfather, Lowell Townsend Copeland.

She attended Wellesley College, graduating in 1918 with a BA degree from the "department of hygiene."

Wellesley College Yearbook, 1918, p. 115

The one other yearbook page that I find her on is the Running page. I have placed a blue star to identify who I believe is Louisa.

Wellesley College Yearbook, 1918, p. 172

Creativity: William Scott Pyle Jr ~ 52 Ancestors #22

Obituary, 17 February 1938, New York Times, p. 21, col. 6

W. Scott Pyle, Artist and Paint Originator
American Who Experimented With Plant Colors in Europe Is Dead at The Hague

   W. Scott Pyle, American artist, died in The Hague, The Netherlands, on Sunday [February 13, 1938] after an operation, according to word received here yesterday. He had gone abroad in June, taking some of his paintings with him for exhibitions in Switzerland and The Hague.
   Mr. Pyle left Princeton in his sophomore year to study painting, first under William Chase, then at the Academy of Munich and with Frank Brangwyn. He had exhibited at the academy shows in Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, Washington and also in the art museums of Detroit and Toledo.
   Until the last few years he was living in Europe, where he took a leading part in lengthy experiments with paints made from plant colors, which were finally manufactured by the Goetheanum in Switzerland.
   His clubs included the Princeton, University and Racquet and Tennis.
  Surviving are his widow, Mrs. Mietra [sic: should be Maria] Waller Pyle; a daughter, Joan; his mother, Mrs. William Scott Pyle, and a sister, Mrs. Albert Spalding.

William Scott Pyle, Jr. was born on June 22, 1888, in Monmouth, New Jersey, to William Scott Pyle (photo here) and Mary Ann Vanderhoef. He was their third child. The oldest, James Vanderhoef Pyle, died in 1887 of Diphtheria.

His older sister, Mary Vanderhoef Pyle, married famed violinist Albert Spalding. Because their father had died by the time they wed in July 1919, William Junior gave his sister away.

He was the first cousin of my grandfather, Charles McAlpin Pyle, making him my first cousin twice removed.