Old Newspapers Can Be Quite Interesting

Welcome! It’s good to see you! Put some water on the stove and have some tea. English Breakfast is always good. Settle in and join us for a short journey into time. Here we go…

I. Magnin & Co. Advertisement, Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California), July 27, 1934

Do you like fashion? If you do, are you a high fashion type or not? Let us know in the comments below.

I. Magnin & Co. was a high fashion/luxury department store that started in San Francisco, California in 1876 and expanded to Arizona, Washington, and Oregon. The company was the brainchild of Dutch immigrants Isaac Magnin (1842-1907) and Mary Ann (Cohen) Magnin (1850-1943). At the point in time that the above advertisement had been printed, Isaac had died and Mary Ann had been retired for about 34 years, although she often visited the store until her death in 1943. When Mary Ann retired, the company was run by three of their sons: Emanuel John (1870-1944), Grover Arnold (1885-1969), and Samuel (1866-1945). A fourth son, Joseph (1865-1953), ventured out on his own and founded the Joseph Magnin Co., which was another luxury department store. The two companies were rivals. For a brief period, the two companies operated less than a block apart. The company was sold a final time in 1994 and was liquidated. The San Francisco store was converted into the expansion of Macy’s Union Square. Fun fact: The great granddaughter of Mary Ann and Isaac was noted JFK (and others) conspiracy theorist and radio talk show host Mae Brussell (1922-1988).

Woman’s Neck Broken, Perrysburg Journal (Perrysburg, Ohio), April 10, 1914

This one was a little depressing.

Ida May (Reitzel) Swartz was born on April 22, 1878 to Chester “Louis” (1855-1938) and Susan (Lusher) (1858-1910) Reitzel in Perrysburg, Wood County, Ohio. Louis was a farmer. She was the firstborn of 11 children. On September 12, 1897, Ida married Charles “Edward” Swartz in Wood County, Ohio. Edward was the son of John Lucian and Elizabeth (Sergeus) Swartz. The 1900 and 1910 U.S. Federal censuses, recorded Edward and Ida living on farms in Perrysburg Township, Wood County, Ohio where Edward was a farmer. It’s unclear if they lived on the same farm in both census years, however it can be noted that the farm in 1910 was just down the road from her parent’s farm. Ida and Edward had six children. Ida lost Edward when he died on February 10, 1911 in Perrysburg. He died from sepsis after an appendectomy operation. Ida was a widow at 32 years old. Fate’s cruel hand struck again on November 10, 1911, when Ida lost her son, Floyd Chester (1898-1911) to typhoid fever and intestinal hemorrhaging.

On April 4, 1914, tragedy struck when Ida was driving a horse and buggy with three of her children as passengers. Apparently, Ida suffered an epileptic seizure and fell from the buggy. She suffered a skull fracture and probably a broken neck in the fall. She was 35 years old. Those poor children. She was laid to rest at Fort Meigs Cemetery in Perrysburg, Wood County, Ohio. She was buried in the same lot as her husband and child, Floyd.

Dr. F. L. Goddard’s Sanitarium, The Alaska Daily Empire (Juneau, Alaska), August 8, 1924

Need some rest to convalesce from life for a bit? Come on down to Dr. F. L. Goddard’s Sanitarium and Hot Springs on the western side of Baranof Island, near Sitka. You can still visit the hot springs today! In the meantime, let’s learn a little bit about Goddard.

Fred Leland Goddard was born on July 7, 1862 in Buckland, Franklin County, Massachusetts to Peter Mason (1836-1912) and Mary (Howes) (1828-?) Goddard. Peter was a cotton broker. The family was listed in the 1880 U.S. federal census as living in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, where the 17 year old Fred was working as a clerk in a store. Thanks to the tragedy of the 1890 federal census’ destruction, we next find Fred on the 1892 Washington State Census. He was working as a physician (It is currently unknown where he received his education) and he was married. He had married his wife, Mary Clunas (1865-?), on April 9, 1890 by the Presbyterian minister Thomas MacGuire in Pierce County, Washington. They would go on to add three children to their family. In 1900, the Goddard family was living in Steilacoom, Pierce County, Washington. Fred was working as a physician at Western State Hospital. Around this time, he was also the superintendent of Western State Hospital.

In 1905, The Goddard family moved to Alaska. Fred also held at least one patent. In 1908, he patented a rather brutal-looking straight jacket/stretcher. At that time, he listed his residence as Douglas, Alaska, which is right across the river from Juneau, Alaska. The 1910 U.S. federal census, places the Goddard Family in Sitka, Alaska (Future home of the former governor of Alaska Sarah Palin) with Fred once again working as a physician. And then 1920 comes. The U.S. federal census that includes the Goddard family lists their residence as the Goddard Sanitarium. So, after some researching, we found out that Goddard Sanitarium was located at the site of naturally occurring hot springs located southwest of Sitka and still on Baranof Island. The 1930 U.S federal census tells us that the Goddard’s lived in Goddard Village, Sitka District, Alaska. Fred is a physician, as always, and seems to have built quite a large establishment for mental rehabilitation. Fred died on January 10, 1932 at his beloved sanitarium and his body was shipped to Tacoma for burial in Tacoma Cemetery. It’s unclear what happened to the hospital after Fred died, but we do know that you can still visit the site and rest in the hot springs. So, come on in, the water is perfect!

College Girl Dairy Expert, The Coulee City Dispatch (Coulee City, Washington), October 19, 1923

That is a great way to overcome a threat of illness and further your education! With the large population, one could only imagine that Seattle, Washington was a hotbed for tuberculosis for many years. Communicable diseases are no joke, no matter what they are. Anyway, let’s learn more about Adah.

Adah Elizabeth Proctor was born October 11, 1902 in Seattle, King County, Washington to Canadian immigrant George Rufus (1857-1912) and Oregon-born Julia Ellen (Martin) (1863-1956) Proctor. George worked as a boat builder and, at times, a tailor (Like his father was). George and Julia had at least 7 children, with one dying at a young age. Adah grew up in Seattle. Specifically, in the 1910 U.S. federal census, Adah and her family were recorded as living in the Interbay section of Seattle, which is very close to the area of Piers 90 and 91, where George worked. Sadly, George died in August of 1912 in Fort Steilacoom (later called Western State Hospital), Pierce County, Washington. The cause of death was “Organic Dementia and Exhaustion. He was about 55 years old. This left Julia with the burden of raising all those children of varying ages alone. Julia never married again. In fact, she was buried next to her husband when she passed away in 1956. They are buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Seattle.

It is unknown where Adah or any of her siblings received their educations or were housed between 1910 and 1920, but in 1920, Adah is listed as living as a boarder in the home of the Daniel Trefethen family in the West Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle. Nice neighborhood, then and now. How she came to live with that family is unclear, however it wouldn’t be long before she enrolled in the State College of Washington (later the Washington State University) in 1920. Her goal, as mentioned in the above article, was to learn more about raising purebred animals, especially Holstein cows. She graduated in 1924 with a degree in Agriculture. She made animals, especially all breeds of cattle, her focus and she graduated high in her class.

Adah pops off the radar for a little bit, but jumps back on when she marries a Texas-born man named Madison Benjamin Sturgis Jr. (1896-1976) in Houston, Harris County, Texas on December 24, 1926. Madison was a U.S. Navy veteran who served during World War I and had been raised on a farm in Arkansas. They were married in the parsonage of the First Methodist Church of Houston by Rev. Frank Smith. They honeymooned in Houston. At the time, Madison was working as the Assistant Professor of Agronomy (the science of soil management and crop production) at Texas A&M and Adah was working as an Assistant Chemist for the state of Texas. They lived in Bryan, Brazos County, Texas at the time. They would go on to have at least four children.

The couple pops up again 1930 via the U.S. federal census, at which time the Sturgis family was living on Highland Road in Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. Madison was working as a researcher at Louisiana State University (officially called Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College) and Adah was a homemaker.

By the 1940 census, the family had bought a house on Leeward Drive in Baton Rouge. We won’t give the house number here because it is privately owned, but we can say that it is a beautiful house. The Leeward Drive home would become the family’s home for many years (although the true amount of years is unclear). At that time, Madison was still a professor at Louisiana State University. It also appears that sometime around 1930, Madison received his Ph.D and although we can’t find any record of this, we know this to be true. Adah was still at home raising the kids. The couple pops up periodically in the 1940s (mostly Madison, who continued his professorship in the Dept. of Agronomy at LSU.) Sometime in the 1940’s, Adah went back to full time work, this time working as a chemist for a chemical plant. A late 1950s Baton Rouge city directory places the couple in the Leeward Drive home, both working the same jobs that they had for many years. Somewhere after 1965 or so, Madison retired and it can be guessed that Adah did as well. Madison died on June 25, 1976 in Baton Rouge. He had just turned 80 years old the month prior. Adah passed away sometime in the 1980s The couple is buried together at Greenoaks Memorial Park in Baton Rouge. Oddly enough, there are a few conflicting dates and places of death given for Adah. Her grave stone states that she died on March 5, 1988. However, we are going to have to go with what the statements of the Social Security Death Index, which say that she passed away on August 11, 1982 and her last residence was in Baton Rouge. If you know the key to this mystery, please let us know in the comments below. Either way, rest in peace to a strong woman who went to college to better her health and herself.

F.E. Spencer & Co. Advertisement, The Daily Morning Journal (New Haven, Connecticut), April 6, 1904

While we are pretty sure that this owl is wise, it sure looks creepy, doesn’t it? Not much is known about this company and the building in New Haven, Connecticut that housed the company no longer stands and was made into public parking lot some time ago. We do know that the company sold paints and painting tools to artists and such.

So, what does the owl signify? Your guess is as good as ours, but we do know that the owl and the scroll in his mouth were used by Owlite Brands, which, we are assuming, was a brand carried by F.E. Spencer & Co.

If anyone knows anything else about this company and would like to share, please let us know in the comments below. Thank you!

Rushing Work On Chicago’s New Post Office, Lehi Free Press (Lehi, Utah), September 15, 1932

Located in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, this building was the Main Chicago Post Office from 1932-1997. The main post office was moved to a modern facility right across Harrison Street to the south in 1997. The original structure of the Old Main Post Office was actually built in 1922 and was located east of the approx. 60 acres that would used in 1932 for the new nine story expansion building (see article above.) The Old Main Post Office building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. After a few years of indecision concerning the fate of the building, the U.S. government auctioned the building in 2009 to a private developer and was sold again in 2016. During this time, the building was slated for redevelopment, however nothing substantial happed to the site until the 2016-2019 transition. Long story short, the building is now home to the corporate offices of Uber, PepsiCo, Walgreens, Cisco, Ferrara Candy Company, and Cboe Global Markets, among others. Ultimately, the renovation was very tasteful and respectful to the building’s history. Check it out!

Thank you for joining us on our brief trip back in history. Be safe and remember to love one another.

During our genealogical research, CMS Research & Genealogy comes across many stories that have nothing to do with our current project. We have tons of them and will be sharing them all with you on this blog. All the more reason to come back and visit us again!

January 16, 2024

CMS Research and Genealogy

CMS Research & Genealogy