Last night over at Geneamusings, Randy Seaver had for his Saturday Night Genealogy Fun a game of ancestor roulette. The ancestor he landed on was his great-grandmother about whom he had this to say:

I called her “Nana” – as did my mother. She was the earliest born person that I remember being with.

She was born in 1868, so I was impressed by that. The earliest born person I remember is my Great-Uncle Milt who was born in 1900. I had some great-uncles born in the 1890’s whom I probably met but don’t remember. My Uncle Milt had no other family living besides us. He never had children and his only brother, my grandfather, had only my mother. So, Uncle Milt would join us for Thanksgiving and other holidays. When he passed away, I went with my mom to his house and it was like stepping into another time. I came away with a penny from 1919, an old fountain pen and three old 78 records. None of those things have survived to present day, I am sad to report.

Compared to 1868, 1900 is not that long ago. My grandmothers were born in 1904 and 1905 and I knew them better than Uncle Milt. Through the stories of my grandmother Naomi Carman Garrison especially, the early twentieth century was not so far removed.

What about my grandmother? Who was the oldest person she knew? My mind went immediately to her grandmother Catherine Hornef Carman. This was not likely the oldest person in her family my grandmother ever met, but she is the only one my grandmother told me about. It is not much, but this may be all that is ever “remembered” about my 2nd great-grandmother. My grandmother told me she remembered her grandmother as a large, happy German woman and remembered her cooking in the kitchen. My grandmother was only seven years old when her grandmother passed away, so one can forgive the vagueness.

Some things I have learned about Catherine Hornef Carman since:

• She was born 1 July 1845 in Otterberg, Germany to Jacob Hornef and Katharina Faber.
• She was christened at the Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche in Otterberg shortly thereafter.
• They immigrated to Philadelphia when she was a baby and they left Germany “secretly.”
• She had two sisters Eva Amelia who married Andrew Mahla and settled in Marcus Hook and Mary who has proven elusive.
• Her sisters were both born in Pennsylvania.
• She was married in 1862 to Elon Carman at the First Independent Christian Church in Philadelphia.
• She died 9 April 1913 and is buried in Mt. Moriah cemetery in Philadelphia¹

This is how I discovered what became of Catherine Hornef’s sister Eva Amelia. I still don’t know what happened to her sister Mary.

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DIED SUDDENLY
Chester Times
Chester, PA
Saturday, April 12, 1913

Mrs. Catherine Carman, a former resident of Marcus Hook, died suddenly a day or two ago of apoplexy, at her home in Philadelphia. She was the sister of Mrs. Andrew Mahla ¹ and is very well remembered by Hook folks. Mrs. Carman will be buried on Sunday and it is likely some of the borough townspeople will attend. Mrs. Mahla was notified at once by telephone and was greatly shocked at the news. She left immediately for the distressed home, at 150 East Wilt street. The internment will [sic] of Mrs. Carman will be in Mount Moriah Cemetery. She was a woman of many fine qualities and her death is deeply mourned.

I thought I would try something fun and post pictures of family pets on Fridays. Pets have always been important members of our family and as I’ve been going through old photos I have found they show up more often than some of my ancestors.

Naomi Carman & cat, circa 1910’s

This is the oldest pet photo I have come across so far. Probably taken in Philadelphia where my grandmother lived.

Jacob H. Carman Death Certificate
Transcribed by Alex J. Conrad from photocopy of original

Place of Death: Hoyes Mechanics Home, Phila., Pa
Usual Residence:Hoyes Mechanics Home, Phila., Pa
Name of Deceased: Jacob H. Carman
Sex: M
Color or Race: W
Widowed
Wife: Lena
Date of Birth: May 26 1863
Age: 78 Years 9 Months 24 Days
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Penna.
Occupation: Bricklayer
Father’s Name: no record
Father’s Birthplace: no record
Mother’s Name: no record
Mother’s Birthplace: no record
Informant: Official Record, Hoyes Mechanics Home
Burial date: 3/28/42
Burial place: Mt. Moriah, Phila., Pa.
Date of death: March 20th 1942

This post is part of the Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month.

Today’s prompt is: “Working girl: Did your mother or grandmother work outside the home? What did she do? Describe her occupation.”

As far as I know, my father’s mother did not work after she married, but like most everyone else in her neighborhood she worked in the hosiery factories before then. My mother was a Registered Nurse and worked in a hospital before I was born and in a nursing home when I was in high school, and later in home health care.

It was my mother’s mother who I always thought of as a working woman. She did stay home with my mother for about a decade, but the rest of her pre-retirement adult life was spent working.

She worked at a book bindery and at least part of her time was spent packing boxes for shipping and she became an expert at that. If you needed items packed in a box wasting the least amount of space, she was the woman to ask. She could eyeball it and get it all in there on the first try.

I recently rediscovered this interesting piece of ephemera in my family documents:

It details all the pays scales and benefits negotiated for by her union. It even has raises built in with separate tables of pay for 1965, 1966 & 1967. This being the 1960’s there are different pay scales for men and women, even if they had the same job title, e.g. Male Helpers, Female Helpers, Journeymen, Journeywomen. Someday I plan to scan the whole booklet. It’s a fascinating look at the time period and industry.