As a seasoned family history researcher, I can say from experience the use of genealogy research sites and online databases has never been better than now. And with all sorts of new technology designed especially for family researchers becoming available every day, online genealogy research in 2011 and future years will see drastic improvements.
I first began my foray into online family research in 1997, when ancestry.com was still relatively new, and when familysearch.org was not yet available. Actually, my very first trek on the genealogy trail took me to the Family History Center at the local LDS Church, where I searched the International Genealogy Index (IGI) and requested the loan of microfilmed copies of several books and various records located in Salt Lake City. The information I received during that first visit, and from a later review of the microfilmed documents I had requested, was enough to get my own family research off to a fantastic start. I will be forever grateful to volunteers at that Family Research Center who were not only expert researchers themselves, but were so willing to help a novice like me. That was fourteen years ago, and technology has definitely changed the research world. Now anyone who has an internet connection, which is practically everywhere, and a PC, laptop, MacBook, notebook, i-phone, or similar device, can make use of all sorts of websites and databases that contain a mind-boggling amount of family history data.
During the past two weeks, I wrote a series of posts that began when I found the name Carlotta Nelson Fairchild on a grave marker in a cemetery in Goodman, Mississippi. The Fairchild part of the name is what peaked my interest, since two of my children have Fairchild ancestors in their family trees. Interestingly, initial research for a possible connection to Fairchild names that I already knew suddenly took me in a totally different direction. Once I learned that Carlotta had married someone from New Orleans, I wanted to know more. And it was with little more than articles from newspaper archives (the Times-Picayune, in this case), census records, and references in an online book or two, that I was able to reconstruct and write about Carlotta's life and the lives of her huband and children.
The most amazing part of this project were the details revealed in newspaper articles, specifically the society pages of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Not only did the articles chronicle a plethora of parties and other social events, they often provided in-depth details about engagements, marriages, births, and christenings. Without information available in the newspaper articles, discovering details about Carlotta and her family members would have taken months, if not years, to find. In fact, some of the very personal information revealed in those articles might have been available only through interviews of individuals who knew the family well, a task that would have been impossible so many years later.
Although the newspaper archives provided much of the substance for my posts, census records definitely made up the foundation for my research. Initially, I searched census records available for Mississippi on ancestry.com for "Carlotta Nelson" and "Carlotta Fairchild" , beginning with 1900 and continuing through 1930. When I came up with nothing, I opened up my search to include census records for all states. Bingo! Carlotta Fairchild was shown on the 1910 U. S. Census record for New Orleans, Louisiana, where she was living with her husband and his adult children in a household that had five servants. I was both surprised and amazed that Carlotta, the daughter of Danish immigrants, whose father was a dry goods merchant in the tiny turn-of-the-century hamlet of Goodman, Mississippi, was a society matron living in the Garden District of one of the Old South's grandest cities. Although I had found nothing to connect Carlotta Nelson Fairchild to the Mississippi Fairchild family that I was researching, I knew at that moment that Mrs. Louis Howes Fairchild had a story that needed to be told.
The rest of Carlotta's story appears in previous posts on this blog. If your haven't already read the story, I invite you to do so. The introduction to this series of seven posts can be found here.
Showing posts with label Carlotta Fairchild. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carlotta Fairchild. Show all posts
Friday, January 21, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Louis Howes Fairchild - 1849-1918
This is the fifth in a series of posts about the life of Carlotta Nelson Fairchild, born in Goodman, Mississippi in 1874.
According to most accounts, Louis Howes Fairchild was still very much involved in business affairs, at least in his successful automobile business, until he was over 65 years old. An article published in the Times-Picayune newspaper on March 16, 1916, confirms that he already had a health problem, when it reported his retirement from Fairchild Auto Company, citing his health was "a factor." This means that Fairchild had been ill for more than two years before his death occurred on November 22, 1918. Although Fairchild's death may have been anticipated by the adults in the family, it still would have been a tragic event for the entire Fairchild family, especially for young Christine. Barely six years old when her father died, it is likely at the time that she did not fully understand the finality of her father's death.
Death was not a stranger to the Fairchild family in the early 1900s. Mary Winnemore Fairchild, Louis's first wife, had died in 1905, and Lydia Fairchild (Mrs. Edward Turner Howard) had become a young widow when her husband died unexpectedly in New York after an appendectomy. And on August 12, 1912, one of the couple's daughters, Blanche (Mrs. Sidney Johnston White) died in New York, where she had become ill while vacationing in Belle Terre, Long Island, with her husband and sisters, Lydia, Hazel, and Marguerite.
Although Louis Fairchild was effectively retired when he died, he still owned investment properties and likely had retained some type of interest in his lucrative automobile business. But without a copy of his will or "succession," as it is known in Louisiana legal terms, it is difficult to know how solvent Louis Fairchild was at the time of his death. An indication of Fairchild's financial standing, however, is the fact that properties he owned at 902, 904, 906, 908, and 912 St. Charles St., and a 2-story garage located at 632 St. Joseph St. were scheduled to be sold at auction in late 1919. The Notice of Auction, published in the local newspaper, cited "Succession of Louis H. Fairchild" as the reason for the auction. All real property included in the auction, excepting one parcel, was community property that had been purchased during his first marriage to Mary (Maggie) Winnemore. The one parcel, however, had been purchased prior to his second marriage. This information indicates that Carlotta, as his second wife, would not have had an interest in the real property owned by her husband, with the possible exception of their personal residence and maybe the Fairchild beach cottage located in Waveland, Mississippi. With little or no ownership interest in Louis Fairchild's estate, the year following her husband's death must have been one of financial insecurity for Carlotta.
The first evidence that Carlotta's life was undergoing a transition in the years after Louis Fairchild's death is shown in the U. S. Census of 1920, conducted in the City of New Orleans. According to the information included in that census, Carlotta was a 46 year old widow, the mother of an 8 year old daughter, Christine, who headed a household on Calhoun Street. Carlotta and her daughter lived in a rented house on Calhoun Street, one they shared with two "boarders," a 39 year old mother named Margaret Moll and her daughter, 22 year old Margaret Moll. Carlotta's occupation was shown to be that of "trained nurse," in a "private home." Carlotta's life, it appears from the census record, was indeed unsettled, since it appears she had to seek employment after her husband's death.
Next: Life Without Father
Source: Year: 1920;Census Place: New Orleans Ward 14, Orleans, Louisiana; Roll: T625_624; Page: 24A; Enumeration District: 247; Image: 861. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Time-Picayune. Archives newspapers, 1900 - 1918. Accessed online January 13, 2011
According to most accounts, Louis Howes Fairchild was still very much involved in business affairs, at least in his successful automobile business, until he was over 65 years old. An article published in the Times-Picayune newspaper on March 16, 1916, confirms that he already had a health problem, when it reported his retirement from Fairchild Auto Company, citing his health was "a factor." This means that Fairchild had been ill for more than two years before his death occurred on November 22, 1918. Although Fairchild's death may have been anticipated by the adults in the family, it still would have been a tragic event for the entire Fairchild family, especially for young Christine. Barely six years old when her father died, it is likely at the time that she did not fully understand the finality of her father's death.
Death was not a stranger to the Fairchild family in the early 1900s. Mary Winnemore Fairchild, Louis's first wife, had died in 1905, and Lydia Fairchild (Mrs. Edward Turner Howard) had become a young widow when her husband died unexpectedly in New York after an appendectomy. And on August 12, 1912, one of the couple's daughters, Blanche (Mrs. Sidney Johnston White) died in New York, where she had become ill while vacationing in Belle Terre, Long Island, with her husband and sisters, Lydia, Hazel, and Marguerite.
Although Louis Fairchild was effectively retired when he died, he still owned investment properties and likely had retained some type of interest in his lucrative automobile business. But without a copy of his will or "succession," as it is known in Louisiana legal terms, it is difficult to know how solvent Louis Fairchild was at the time of his death. An indication of Fairchild's financial standing, however, is the fact that properties he owned at 902, 904, 906, 908, and 912 St. Charles St., and a 2-story garage located at 632 St. Joseph St. were scheduled to be sold at auction in late 1919. The Notice of Auction, published in the local newspaper, cited "Succession of Louis H. Fairchild" as the reason for the auction. All real property included in the auction, excepting one parcel, was community property that had been purchased during his first marriage to Mary (Maggie) Winnemore. The one parcel, however, had been purchased prior to his second marriage. This information indicates that Carlotta, as his second wife, would not have had an interest in the real property owned by her husband, with the possible exception of their personal residence and maybe the Fairchild beach cottage located in Waveland, Mississippi. With little or no ownership interest in Louis Fairchild's estate, the year following her husband's death must have been one of financial insecurity for Carlotta.
The first evidence that Carlotta's life was undergoing a transition in the years after Louis Fairchild's death is shown in the U. S. Census of 1920, conducted in the City of New Orleans. According to the information included in that census, Carlotta was a 46 year old widow, the mother of an 8 year old daughter, Christine, who headed a household on Calhoun Street. Carlotta and her daughter lived in a rented house on Calhoun Street, one they shared with two "boarders," a 39 year old mother named Margaret Moll and her daughter, 22 year old Margaret Moll. Carlotta's occupation was shown to be that of "trained nurse," in a "private home." Carlotta's life, it appears from the census record, was indeed unsettled, since it appears she had to seek employment after her husband's death.
Next: Life Without Father
Source: Year: 1920;Census Place: New Orleans Ward 14, Orleans, Louisiana; Roll: T625_624; Page: 24A; Enumeration District: 247; Image: 861. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Time-Picayune. Archives newspapers, 1900 - 1918. Accessed online January 13, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Carlotta Nelson Fairchild - A New Life in New Orleans
This is the fourth in a series of posts about Carlotta Nelson, a daughter of Danish immigrants who was born in 1874 in Goodman, Mississippi.
Carlotta was first married to R. E. Anderson, a man who was eleven years her senior, on June 17, 1897 in Holmes County, Mississippi. As far as I can determine, the marriage produced no children and ended when Anderson died in 1901. According to his tombstone in the Nelson family plot in Hillcrest Cemetery in Goodman, Anderson was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Based on family customs during that time period, it is likely that Carlotta's marriage to Mr. Anderson was an arranged one.
No information is available about what Carlotta did after her first husband's death, or where she lived. It is possible that she left Holmes County after her husband died, although I have been unable to find information that fills the gap between 1901 and 1909 when she married Louis Fairchild. Without that information, it is impossible to know the sort of life Carlotta lived during the years she was married Anderson or during the eight years that followed his death. But one thing was certain, Carlotta's new life as Mrs. Louis Howes Fairchild was destined to be very different from her life in Holmes County, Mississippi.
When Louis Fairchild and Carlotta Nelson Anderson married on June 8, 1909 at Trinity Church, Fairchild already was a well-established businessman and civic leader, working as a "cotton broker" at the New Orleans Cotton Exchange. During the halcyon days when cotton truly was "king," one can safely assume that Fairchild's position produced ample income to live a privileged life in the Crescent City.
Archived copies of Times-Picayune society pages provide much insight into the life of the Fairchild family during the early half of the 1900s. Louis Fairchild's daughters, well-educated and properly introduced to New Orleans society, had many friends and were frequent guests at parties and weddings. Lydia, the oldest of Fairchild's daughters, had served as Queen of Mardi Gras and later had married her King Rex, Edward Turner Howard, a wealthy philanthropist with deep New Orleans roots. According to an article in the New York Times, the marriage of Queen Lydia and King Rex (Edward) was the only time in New Orleans history that a Mardi Gras Queen had ever married her King.
Another daughter, Mary H. Fairchild, had been married to her husband, Leonard K. Nicholson, for about four years prior to her father's marriage to Carlotta. In November of 1910, just a few months after Louis and Carlotta celebrated their first wedding anniversary, Hazel, the youngest Fairchild daughter, was presented as a debutante to New Orleans society. That same fall, Edmond, Louis Fairchild's only son, married his bride.
In 1910, the Fairchild family lived in a residence located at 916 St. Charles Street, now St. Charles Avenue, a long street that runs from downtown New Orleans through what is known as the "Garden District." The Fairchild house was located near Lee Circle, within a short walk of the New Orleans City Hall, Carondolet and Baronne Streets, and the bustling businesses and stores of turn-of-the century downtown New Orleans. Nearby, at 700 St. Charles Street, Louis Fairchild and his son, Edmond, owned and operated Fairchild Motor Car Co., Inc., a thriving local automobile dealership
By 1912, the New Orleans cotton market was booming, automobile sales were growing, and Carlotta was pregnant with Lou. According to available information, Louis Fairchild also owned large brick residences at 902, 904, 906, and 908 St. Charles Street, a two story parking garage at 632 St. Joseph Street, and a summer beach house at Waveland, Mississippi.
is's child. Life was good for the Fairchild Family.
Next: A New Fairchild Daughter
Source:
Footnote.com. Times-Picayune. Archived newspaper copies 1900 - 1940. Accessed online on January 11, 2011.
New York Times. Archived news articles, Accessed online January 11, 2011.
Carlotta was first married to R. E. Anderson, a man who was eleven years her senior, on June 17, 1897 in Holmes County, Mississippi. As far as I can determine, the marriage produced no children and ended when Anderson died in 1901. According to his tombstone in the Nelson family plot in Hillcrest Cemetery in Goodman, Anderson was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Based on family customs during that time period, it is likely that Carlotta's marriage to Mr. Anderson was an arranged one.
No information is available about what Carlotta did after her first husband's death, or where she lived. It is possible that she left Holmes County after her husband died, although I have been unable to find information that fills the gap between 1901 and 1909 when she married Louis Fairchild. Without that information, it is impossible to know the sort of life Carlotta lived during the years she was married Anderson or during the eight years that followed his death. But one thing was certain, Carlotta's new life as Mrs. Louis Howes Fairchild was destined to be very different from her life in Holmes County, Mississippi.
When Louis Fairchild and Carlotta Nelson Anderson married on June 8, 1909 at Trinity Church, Fairchild already was a well-established businessman and civic leader, working as a "cotton broker" at the New Orleans Cotton Exchange. During the halcyon days when cotton truly was "king," one can safely assume that Fairchild's position produced ample income to live a privileged life in the Crescent City.
Archived copies of Times-Picayune society pages provide much insight into the life of the Fairchild family during the early half of the 1900s. Louis Fairchild's daughters, well-educated and properly introduced to New Orleans society, had many friends and were frequent guests at parties and weddings. Lydia, the oldest of Fairchild's daughters, had served as Queen of Mardi Gras and later had married her King Rex, Edward Turner Howard, a wealthy philanthropist with deep New Orleans roots. According to an article in the New York Times, the marriage of Queen Lydia and King Rex (Edward) was the only time in New Orleans history that a Mardi Gras Queen had ever married her King.
Another daughter, Mary H. Fairchild, had been married to her husband, Leonard K. Nicholson, for about four years prior to her father's marriage to Carlotta. In November of 1910, just a few months after Louis and Carlotta celebrated their first wedding anniversary, Hazel, the youngest Fairchild daughter, was presented as a debutante to New Orleans society. That same fall, Edmond, Louis Fairchild's only son, married his bride.
In 1910, the Fairchild family lived in a residence located at 916 St. Charles Street, now St. Charles Avenue, a long street that runs from downtown New Orleans through what is known as the "Garden District." The Fairchild house was located near Lee Circle, within a short walk of the New Orleans City Hall, Carondolet and Baronne Streets, and the bustling businesses and stores of turn-of-the century downtown New Orleans. Nearby, at 700 St. Charles Street, Louis Fairchild and his son, Edmond, owned and operated Fairchild Motor Car Co., Inc., a thriving local automobile dealership
By 1912, the New Orleans cotton market was booming, automobile sales were growing, and Carlotta was pregnant with Lou. According to available information, Louis Fairchild also owned large brick residences at 902, 904, 906, and 908 St. Charles Street, a two story parking garage at 632 St. Joseph Street, and a summer beach house at Waveland, Mississippi.
is's child. Life was good for the Fairchild Family.
Next: A New Fairchild Daughter
Source:
Footnote.com. Times-Picayune. Archived newspaper copies 1900 - 1940. Accessed online on January 11, 2011.
New York Times. Archived news articles, Accessed online January 11, 2011.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
The Story of Carlotta Nelson Fairchild - Introduction
This past Tuesday, I posted a photo on Cemeteries of Dancing Rabbit Creek of the grave stone that marks Carlotta Nelson Fairchild's burial place in Hillcrest Cemetery in Holmes County, Mississippi. I photographed Carlotta's headstone while visiting this old cemetery off U.S. Highway 51 North, near the town of Goodman, early last year. My actual purpose of the trip to Hillcrest Cemetery was to visit the graves of my paternal grandparents and great-grandmothers and to photograph all the headstones of my deceased Porter and Branch ancestors who are buried there. After I completed what I had set out to do, I walked among the other graves, intrigued by the Confederate section of the cemetery, where many of the community's young men lay buried, and by so many old and unusual monuments.
As I neared the top of the hill where the earliest burials at Hillcrest began, I immediately was drawn to a family plot that contained the grave sites of members of the Nelson Family. The plot was surrounded by a wrought iron fence, rusty but still in fairly good condition. Based on the substantial size of the monuments located in the plot, I thought the Nelson family must have been among the more prosperous citizens of Goodman around the turn of the twentieth century.
But what really caught my eye was the word "Denmark," inscribed on the markers, which told me that Nelson family members had been born in Denmark. The fact that someone buried in Holmes County, Mississippi, in the very small hamlet of Goodman, was born in Denmark is significant. Of the hundreds of thousands of people who migrated through Mississippi during the 1800s in their search for land and new lives, the Nelson family would be in a very small minority of settlers who would have been born in Denmark.
How and why the Nelson family would have chosen Holmes County and Goodman as a place to settle fascinated me, to say the least, and I wanted to know more. So I photographed the gravestones of those buried inside and near the family plot, including Carlotta's. Those photographs led me on a research journey that ended just this week. I hope you will follow me here as I tell Carlotta's story.
Next: Carlotta Nelson's Beginnings
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