Surname Saturday: SHELTON

Shelton was my maternal great-grandmother's maiden name. I can trace back six generations in this line, from Winn Parish, Louisiana; to Alabama; Giles County, Tennessee; Adair County, Kentucky; and Virginia:

1. Addilee Tennessee Shelton, 1890 - 1977
2. Levi Marion Shelton, 1863 - 1941
3. Jacob Shelton, 1822 - 1874
4. Mark Shelton, 1784 - 1853
5. Stephen W. Shelton, 1760 - 1828
6. James Shelton, 1739 - ?

The hand-colored photo to the right is of Levi Marion Shelton and his wife, Sarah Ann Spikes (1871 - 1935). It was taken in Louisiana sometime in the 1920s or early 1930s. They had 12 children, nine of whom survived into adulthood.

© Amanda Pape - 2010

Not-So-Wordless Wednesday: Charles Guokas Jr. and Gov. "Pa" Ferguson

This is a photograph of my maternal grandfather, Charles Guokas Jr. (1903-1967) and then-former-governor (1915-1917) James Edward "Pa" Ferguson (1871-1944). As previously mentioned, my grandfather was a secretary to Texas Governor Miriam Amanda "Ma" Ferguson, Pa's wife, from June 1933 to the end of her second term in January 1935.

This photograph was taken in downtown Houston, Texas, where my grandfather spent most of his life (with the exception of his years of state service in Austin). You can see the sign for the historic Rice Hotel in the background - which was built on the site of the former capitol of the Republic of Texas. Who knows, maybe these two had just had lunch in its Senate Room, or stopped by its Old Capitol Club for a drink. Not sure what the weird line is across the photograph.

© Amanda Pape - 2010

Tombstone Tuesday: Jane Barr Carroll, 1822-1896

Jane Barr Carroll is my great-great-great-grandmother. She was born in 1822 in Pennsylvania. By the 1850 census she was married to Louis Huffman Carroll and living in West Elizabeth, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Daughter Margaret Melzina, my great-great-grandmother, was born in 1846.

On the 1860 and 1870 censuses, the family is living in Carroll, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Son Harvey Louis was born in 1858. In 1870, Margaret and her husband Joseph William Wolfe and their daughter Emma are living with them, as well as a 12-year-old girl named Olive Pancost--not sure how or if she is related.

In 1880, Jane and her husband and son lived in Monongahela in Washington County, Pennsylvania, with daughter Margaret Carroll Wolfe and her growing family next door.

Jane died on November 19, 1896, in Monongahela, and is buried next to her husband in the Monongahela Cemetery in the same plot as Joseph and Margaret Carroll Wolfe and their infant daughter Myrtle Jenny Wolfe.

© Amanda Pape - 2010

Sentimental Sunday: Dairymen's Country Club, Wisconsin, late 1930's

From left: Bob (1926-2008), Betty (born 1927), and Fred Pape (born 1929) at Dairymen's in Wisconsin, probably in the late 1930s. Dad remembers going here a lot as a kid, swimming and fishing.

© Amanda Pape - 2010

Surname Saturday: WOLFE

Wolfe was my maternal grandmother's maiden name. I can trace back seven generations in this line, to Washington County, Pennsylvania, and Frederick County, Virginia:

1. Sara Melzina Wolfe (1908-1997)
2. Louis Henry Wolfe (1872-1929)
3. Joseph William Wolfe (1845-1918)
4. William C. Wolfe (1820-1855)
5. Isaac C. Wolfe (1792-1870)
6. George Wolfe (1774-1804)
7. Jacob Wolfe (1734-1815)

The photo above is of Louis Henry Wolfe (top row, left) and Joseph William Wolfe (top row, right) and Louis' four children, Lloyd (1906-1993, top row, center), Sara (bottom row, left), Neva Marie (1912-1995, bottom row, center), and Edith Elizabeth (1910-2006). It was taken sometime after 1912 but before Joseph's death on October 30, 1918. I'm guessing around 1916, as Marie was born in November and she looks about three or four years old here.

I believe the photograph was taken in the front yard of the home of James Shannon Wolfe (1870-1949), Louis' older brother, who lived at 1405 Allston Street in Houston, Texas, on the 1910 and 1920 census. In fact, Louis and the children were living with Shannon and his family in 1920. Furthermore, the photo below was taken at the same time, and shows Joseph, Louis, and Shannon:

What I don't know is who the young boy in the background is in the first photograph - the one standing behind the fence. Shannon had a son, Shannon Jr., but he was born in 1902 and would be older than Lloyd, yet this boy looks younger. Maybe just a neighbor passing by who decided to be in the picture.

© Amanda Pape - 2010

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday: UNK [Wolfe?]

This is one of the many photos I scanned while at my parents' home a few weekends back. This photo was/is in very bad condition, and we don't know who it is.

It's definitely someone on my Mom's side of the family. Since the coat the man is wearing looks almost military, I think it is probably from my maternal grandmother's side (Wolfe and Shelton). My maternal grandfather's parents were from Lithuania and my maternal great-grandfather, Charles Guokas Sr., did not immigrate until 1880 or 1890.

If I had to make a guess, I would say this is my great-great grandfather, Joseph William Wolfe, 1845-1918. On September 2, 1861, Joseph enlisted as a private with Company D of the 79th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, which saw quite a bit of action in the Civil War. He rose to the rank of corporal and served through July 12, 1865. Apparently he eventually applied for a pension in December 1868 as 1883 pension rolls for Washington County show him receiving $4 a month.

The Annual Report of the Adjutant General of Pennsylvania [National Guard] for the year 1893 shows that Joseph was a member of the Tenth Regiment Infantry, enlisting as a private on December 17, 1888, promoted to corporal in June 1892, and to first lieutenant on May 26, 1893.

Guess I'll have to do some research on the uniforms of these groups for that period.

© Amanda Pape - 2010

ETA:  I now (November 2013) think this is a photo of Joseph's son, my great-grandfather Louis Henry Wolfe (1872-1929).  Louis was in the military too - he was in the Army, a private in Company C of the 6th Infantry, from May 4 to October 28, 1898, and then again from January 11, 1901 to January 11, 1904.  This photo was probably taken in 1898, when he would have been 17 years old.

Tombstone Tuesday: Louis/Lewis Huffman Carroll, 1822-1885

Louis (or Lewis) Huffman Carroll was my great-great-great grandfather. He was born March 4, 1822, near Lebanon in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, the son of Thomas and Dorcas Huffman Carroll. By the 1850 census he was married to Jane Barr and living in West Elizabeth, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Daughter Margaret Melzina, my great-great-grandmother, was born in 1846.

On the 1860 and 1870 censuses, the family is living in Carroll, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Son Harvey Louis was born in 1858. In 1870, Margaret and her husband Joseph William Wolfe and their daughter Emma are living with them, as well as a 12-year-old girl named Olive Pancost--not sure how or if she is related. In 1880, Huffman (the name he was using by that point), Jane, and Harvey lived in Monongahela in Washington County, Pennsylvania, with daughter Margaret Carroll Wolfe and her growing family next door.

Huffman is listed as a boatbuilder on the 1850 census, and as a carpenter on the next three censuses. He died on January 6, 1885, in Monongahela, and is buried next to his wife in the Monongahela Cemetery in the same plot as Joseph and Margaret Carroll Wolfe and their infant daughter Myrtle Jenny Wolfe.

© Amanda Pape - 2010

Sentimental Sunday: Elizabeth & Gerrie Guokas

This photo is of my great-grandmother Elizabeth Banavich* Guokas, holding my mother, Geraldine Guokas Pape. I'm guessing that this photograph was taken in spring or summer, 1929, because my mother was born in late 1928, and her grandmother died on November 6, 1929. It's likely that it was taken in Houston, Texas, because they all lived there at the time. In fact, the 1930 census shows my mother, her two siblings, and her parents living with my widowed great-grandfather, Charles Peter Guokas Sr.

*There's a lot of confusion about the spelling of Elizabeth's maiden name. I've seen it on various documents as Banavich, Bonewitz, and Bovits. There's also some confusion about the year she was born - it was either 1872, 1875, or 1877.

© Amanda Pape - 2010

Surname Saturday: DIENES

Frederick Dienes (1828-1896) was my great-great-grandfather. He is from Hesse, Germany, but so far I have not been able to trace his surname there (due more to concentrating on other lines at the moment). He arrived in New York City on the Splendid via Le Havre, France, on August 11, 1849. By 1854, he was in Springfield, Illinois. He was naturalized in 1856 and married Regina Matheis (1837-1916) in January, 1858.


Frederick and Regina had ten children:

• Katherine "Kate" (1858-1924), who never married;
• Philomina "Minnie" (1861-1935), who married John Rink;
• Frederick J. (1863-1927), who married Minnie Schul;
• Paulina "Lena" (1865-1935), who married John H. Gauer;
• Amelia (1867-1885); who died at age 18;
• Laurence G. (1869-1935), who married Elizabeth Wallenborn;
• Henry Valentine (1872-1891), who died at age 19 of typhoid dysentery;
• Marie Clara (1874-1916), who died of "organic heart disease;"
• Elizabeth Camilla (1877-1946); my great-grandmother, who married Frederick Henry Massmann; and
• Joseph, who was born and died in May 1880.

The photo above was probably taken in the Chicago area between 1896, when Fred Sr. died, and 1916, when Clara and Regina died. Regina is the short woman in the front. The siblings are, from left to right, Fred Jr., Clara, Kate, Elizabeth, Pauline, Minnie, and Laurence.

© Amanda Pape - 2010

Tombstone Tuesday / Wordless Wednesday: Myrtle J. Wolfe, 1882

Myrtle Jenny Wolfe, born in January 1882, died in February 1882, is buried to the right of her father, Joseph William Wolfe (her mother, Margaret Melzina "Maggie" Carroll Wolfe, is buried to Joseph's left), in the Monongahela Cemetery, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Myrtle was the fifth of these great-great-grandparents' eight children.

As I have strained my iliopsoas and/or piriformis muscle (no idea how) and can't sit for long, this post will be for both Tombstone Tuesday and Wordless Wednesday, as I have no other information about Myrtle.

© Amanda Pape - 2010