Sunday, April 25, 2010

Pictures of Nina and Chester Hammond

Nina and Chester are buried in Harrison, MT

Nina and Chester are on the right hand side. I am not completely sure who the others are, maybe Florence and her daughter Thelma??


Nina and Chester Hammond at their home in Pony, MT

Nina Mae Coen

Nina Mae Coen was born in Wisconsin on April 17, 1879 to parents Levi Carlton Coen and (some dispute this fact) Sarah Anna Wood. There is some question as to Nina's mother being Sarah Anna but I believe (with good documentation) that she was. Nina had one sister Maud S Coen who died at the young age of 6. She had one brother named Claud Carlton. And then half siblings Ray and Roy Coen, and William C. Coen. There may have been more brothers and sisters I am still working on them. Nina's mother, Anna, died when she was just 3 years old.

At the age of 15 Nina married John Hower. There is another connection with the Hower's but again I am still working on them. Nina and John had a daughter Florence. By 1900, when Nina was just 22 her and Florence, who was 2 at the time, were living back with her father, Levi. Levi having moved to Minnesota by this time. I believe it was in the next two-three years that she met Ralph Henry.

After Ralph Henry disappeared in 1916, I lose track of her till 1930. I believe that around 1923 she met and married Chester Hammond. Florence was grown and married by the time that Ralph disappeared. Doug and Goldie go to live with her half brother William C. Coen. Which just left Bill and Buster at home with her. Both were gone by 1930. Bill having left to go to Columbia and Buster finding work on a farm. Chester and Nina met in Montana and that's where they lived out their years.

Toward the end of their life they lived in Pony, Montana. Some of the grandkids have memories of going to see them at their home. Chester never had any children of his own. But enjoyed his step-granddaughter Ronee Adamson. I guess the boys were too rowdy for him. Chester fought in WWI, which is where I think he lost his leg. At the end of their life they were both placed in nursing homes in Enos, Montana. Nina died March 19, 1963 and Chester the same year. Either right before or right after Nina passed away their small home in Pony was vandalized. One of the things taken was the contents of Nina's hope chest. I shudder to think of her personal items being taken with no thought as to the precious memories lost to her and her family. I am almost glad that she did not know as I am sure she would have been heartbroken that family treasures there were taken. And that her home had been so brutalized.

I am not sure when the Coen Family Bible was passed on to Bill but it is one treasure that wasn't stolen. My dad, Bob Adamson, is the current owner of that familly jewel. My dad gave me the opportunity to copy the pages that were filled out in the Bible. What a valuable treasure I have found it to be. Anyone wishing copies of these precious pages please feel free to ask.

I am continuing my search to the missing years of Nina. I think that between the years 1916 and 1920 she moved to Montana. I presume this only. She could have moved later but my belief is that she did so between those years. As I find missing information I will update you all here. She was a facinating women, with lots of hardship. I can only imagine the pain she went through leaving one husband and then losing another to mysterious means, in a time when women depended on men for their survival. She had 6 children, grandchildren and numerous great grandchildren, that she loved deeply. And I am sure they brought her great comfort.

There is more information to get out there it is just a matter of time.

Uri Mulford

I found a book on Amazon authored by Uri Mulford. It's titled:

Settlement of Steuben County, New York: A sketch of early times

Go HERE to take a look! I also found that the entire text can be viewed for FREE, thanks to the New York State Historical Literature site! Go HERE to see the full text. Caution: My computer had no problem with this but the site does warn that some of the downloads on their site may be very big. Probably don't want to try it if you have dial up!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Hello from Mindy

Hello all,

Wow, I have to confess I was a little worried that no one would be interested in our blog but the feedback I have gotten so far....well, ROCKS. :) Thank you all for your support in Laura and I's dream.

I posted some pictures of Nina and the kids. I will post more as I get them scanned. I have undertaken to scan all of Bill & Wavel's pictures into the computer to make them more available for my family. So I will definitely have some good ones soon. If you see one a picture that you want a copy of (or more) let me know. If anyone has any pictures they would like to contribute please get in touch with me. And if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. LOL...I guess what I am trying to say is get in touch with me....

Also, I have been in contact with the Lindley Town Historian in Steuben County. Kitty Pierce has given me so much info that I am so excited to share with you all. Starting with the induction of our distant cousin, Uri Mulford, into the Steuben County Hall of Fame. This is a big deal! I will post pictures of Uri later this week and talk a little bit more about him. And give a brief explanation of how he is related. Very exciting stuff.....

She also wanted to know if I would add their blog to ours, so you all can see some of where we come from. Lindley is important to our history as the town is named after our ancestor Colonel Eleazer Lindsley. When the town was made there was a clerical error which is why the "s" was left out. I will add it to the side. So check it out. I go there often..... It's a great blog.

I plan on posting Nina's story soon, so keep coming back often. Hope you all have a great day!!

Nina and the Kids


Nina and Chester Hammond and Goldie in the background
Bill, Robert, Wavel, Lyle, and Richard Adamson



Douglas Henry (laura's grandfather) and Dorothy Augusta (Kelsey) Adamson

Nina Mae and Florence

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Ralph Henry Adamson

Ralph Henry Adamson and Nina Mae Coen are Laura and mine connecting ancestors. Let's start with Ralph because for me he started it all. I just needed to know more about him and it spiraled from there. I think if it wasn't for Ralph's story, Laura and I probably wouldn't have met.

Ralph Henry was born in Rathbone, Steuben County, New York in abt 1873. He was born to John Adamson and Kate. In Steuben County, Ralph was surrounded by family. I am sure that he had cousins galore there. John Adamson owned and operated a lumber mill and a farm in Steuben County. Ralph worked there with his brother Arthur, whom we will learn more about later. He had two other siblings a sister named Ida M. and a brother named Walter G. I believe sometime in his late teens, early twenties he migrated with his brother Arthur out of New York. They went west. I am not sure where exactly he met Nina Mae (I am still working on the specifics). But by 1905 he had made it to Hagali, Minnesota. Since Nina was from Wisconsin and had been living in Minnesota with her first husband, John Hower. I have strong feelings this is where they met. I am pretty sure that they married sometime between 1900 and 1903.

Nina Mae had a daughter from her previous marriage, Florence. As far as I can tell Ralph raised Florence as his own. I am unsure the extent of involvment from her biological father. In 1903, Ralph and Nina had a son Elmer. Elmer died at the young age of 9, unknown causes. He was born in Minnesota and died in North Dakota. Before getting to North Dakota though they lived in South Dakota. Where they had two more children: Douglas Henry b. abt 1903-1905 and Goldie (May?) b. abt 1906. They then moved to Keffler, McKenzie, North Dakota around 1910. Somewhere on a little homestead near there Nina gave birth to Walter John "Buster" Adamson. Buster as he was known to everyone was born 5 Jun 1910. Then on 21 May 1912 they had their youngest son Kenneth Vern "Bill". Bill was born in Beach, Golden Valley, North Dakota.

The reason I find Ralph so intriguing is because in 1916 he disappeared. There are numerous family stories as to what happened to him. One thing I am almost positive about is that he didn't "walk out" on his family. In those days, that sort of stuff happened but I don't believe that that is what happened with Ralph. Many have different versions of the same story though, that he went to work and just didn't come home. I am currently in the process of trying to find newspaper articles or anything that might aid me in my search for the truth of what happened to Ralph. I will keep you undated as I find information. One such rumor was that he was living in Sun Valley, NV in the 1960's. While there was a Ralph Adamson living there at that time, I have proved that it was not our Ralph Adamson. I know that not knowing haunted my grandfather, Kenneth or Bill as he was known to family. He thought about going to Sun Valley to see but decided that if it was his father he had made the choice to leave them. I wish I could have reassured him and his siblings that that was not the case. But what did happen?????

I will be posting pictures of Nina and the kids soon. I don't have any pictures of Ralph though. What a find that would be! As far as I can tell any pictures there might have been of Ralph was stolen from Nina shortly before or immediately after she died. Watch for Nina's story soon also. Then I think I will touch on the kids before going back farther.

Just for general information: Douglas Henry is Laura's Grandfather, and Bill is mine.

Hello from Mindy

Genealogy Genuis.....(blush). Well I don't know about that but it sure is fun stuff to do. I am so excited for this blog. And am hoping for interaction from all our family. The more I hear from you, the more I compile. I am hoping to someday have enough to write a book on our wonderful family. Like Laura said we are from Steuben County, New York. I am hoping to share all I have learned with you all. Such wonderful history we have. We come from a famous Colonel that fought with General Washington and General LaFayette. Colonel Eleazer Lindsley is the farthest I have made it but only for the time being. I however think I will start closer to us and to give everyone a good idea of who we are. And so we all know a little bit more about the people closest to us.

I will be, eventually, posting a link to a full description of our family tree. Which is quite large. I am unable to put it all on the blog at one time.

Please if you see something that is wrong, don't hesitate to let one of us know. And we will work to find the truth. I have a lot of information and am sure there are mistakes in there. Genealogy is long process that takes lots of work and time. I try to verify all my information where possible. But even some of my resources have mistakes in them.

I don't have pictures for a lot of the people that I will talking about. But I hope you still enjoy the history that comes with each telling. I appreciate anything anyone may be able to contribute. Like Laura said let one of us know. I hope that you all enjoy this blog as much as we are going to enjoy creating it for you.


Monday, April 12, 2010

Welcome!!

We are Laura and Mindy - distant cousins. Mindy lives in Nevada, I live in California. We found each other on a genealogy site and have become good friends! Mindy is our genealogy genius, I like to blog.....together we hope to create a one-stop place to share our Adamson family information, post pictures, plan reunions, etc. If you think you may be related, please leave a comment so we (I mean, Mindy) can research it! Please follow us and visit often!!

How many super-cool people have stopped by?