Research Log - 100 Years Ago

1916

January

World War I in progress
1 - 2nd Rose Bowl Game played, Washington State beat Brown 14-0
5 - Veneta Smith born daughter of Elzo & Mayme (Jones) Smith
6 - Meryl Anderson born in Illinois son of Elmer & Edna (Wilkin) Anderson
7 -  Germans take Verdun
9 - Edna Gurley md. Henry Erkman in Wayne City, IL
13 - Mahala (Benefield) Hord Smith Smith died in Neoga, IL
18 - meteorite hits house near Baxter, MO
23 - Sylva Lathrop born in Illinois daughter of Mont & Daisy (Caudle) Lathrop
25 - Laura (Speer) Button died in Louisville, KY, buried Cave Hill Cemetery
26 - John Butler born Wayne City, IL son of Morton & Mary (Robertson) Butler
28 - Louis Brandeis appointed to Supreme Court
29 - Delia Robinson married Elmer Wilkin

February

4 - Douglas Fitzgerald born son of Howard & JoAnna (McDonald) Fitzgerald
21 - Battle of Verdun begins
26 - Charlie Chaplin signs with Mutual Film Company
27 - George Dulaney born Rhodes Co., IA son of William & Ida (Lathrop) Dulaney
29 - Leap Day

March

8 - U.S. invades Cuba 
9 - Pancho Villa invades Texas
11 - Ruby Gurley age 14 of Wayne City, IL  received a certificate of final examination:

Orthography 98 [spelling]
U.S. History 82
History of Illinois [left blank]
Reading 91
Physiology 90
Grammar 90
Arithmetic 80
Penmanship 86
Geography 88
Civics 70
Average 86+

15 - General Black Jack Pershing chases Pancho Villa into Mexico with 15,000 troops
22 - James Lathrop gave a sworn affidavit regarding his grandfather Erastus Lathrop's estate:

I, James B. Lathrop, being first duly sworn, upon oath says:
That I am 90 years old.  That I was born in the town of Greensburg, Decatur County, Indiana in the year 1825.  That I have lived most of my life in said town (now city) of Greensburg; that Erastus Lathrop was my grand-father, on my father's side.  That he entered from the United States government, the SW1/4 of Sec. 1, T10N, R9E, containing 160 acres.  Also the NW1/4 and E1/2 of NE1/4 Sec. 26 T11N, R9E containing 160 acres all in Decatur County, Indiana.

That a short time after entering said land my grand-father died leaving surviving him as his only heirs at law, a widow, my grand-mother, Delia Lathrop and the following named children, viz; Maria Robinson (wife of Braxton Robinson) Ezra Lathrop (my father), Augustus Lathrop, Harvey Lathrop, Nelson Lathrop, Miranda Lathrop (who afterwards married Benjamin Randel), Erastus Lathrop, Electy Ann Lathrop (who afterwards married Abner Hobbs) and Russell Lathrop.

That after the death of my said grand father, my said grandmother married a Baptist Preacher, by the name of Stephen O. Brown.  They lived together only a short time.

That my said grand mother died in Decatur County, Indiana, in the year 18__.  That there were only two Lathrop families that came to Decatur County, Indiana.  That my said grand-father was the head of one of said families and his brother Ezra was the head of the other family.  That the said Ezra Lathrop died in Decatur County, Indiana leaving surviving him only two children, viz:  Elkanah Lathrop and Harriet Sidner (wife of George W. Sidner).

That shortly after the death of my said grand-father, the said Maria Robinson and Braxton Robinson, her husband, conveyed their interest in the above described real estate to the said Augustus Lathrop, I have no doubt that the conveyance dated Oct. 30th 1824 and recorded in Deed Record A page 174 is the date and record of said conveyance.

That all of said real estate was partitioned among the said widow and children of the said Erastus Lathrop, deceased, in the Circuit Court of Decatur County, Indiana, I have no doubt that the partition thereof shown to have been made in 1827 and recorded in Complete Partition Records "A" beginning on page 218 and in Order Book __ page __ of said court is the record of said partition of the estate of my said grand-father.

That in the partition proceedings of the real estate of the said Erastus Lathrop, deceased, there was set off as dower to my grandmother, widow of the said Erastus Lathrop, deceased, and who prior to the time of said partition had married Stephen O. Brown, about 70 acres off the south side of the SW1/4 of Sec. 1, T10N, R9E.

That my father Ezra Lathrop, Jr. bought out all of the interests of his brothers and sisters in and to that part of said Sec. 1 set off as dower to his mother, Delia Lathrop Brown.

That the conveyance made by Erastus Lathrop to Ezra Lathrop Jr. dated Aug. 19, 1837 and shown recorded in Deed Record F page 601 of the records of deeds of Decatur County, Indiana, is no doubt the record of the conveyance made by him in the dower interest of his mother, Delia Lathrop Brown, in said real estate.

That the conveyance of George W. Sidner and Harriet Sidner, his wife, to Elkanah Lathrop, dated February 4, 1846 as shown of record in Deed Record N on page 151 of the records of Deed of Decatur County, Indiana is erroneous in purporting to convey any part of Sec. 1, T10N, R9E.  The grantor in said conveyance, Harriet Sidner and the grantee Elkanah Lathrop were brother and sister and the only heirs at law of Ezra Lathrop.  That the said Ezra Lathrop never had any interest in Sec. 1.  He was a brother of my grand-father, Erastus Lathrop.  My grand-father, Erastus Lathrop traded his brother the said Ezra Lathrop 80 acres of land in Sec. 26 in T11N, R9E for a wagon.

He goes on to validate the deeds of the dower section by Erastus' children to Ezra Lathrop.

30 - Montreal Canadiens beat Portland Rosebuds in Stanley Cup

April

10 - Professional Golfers Association of America formed in New York City
20 - Wrigley Field opens, Cubs beat Reds 7-6
23 - Curtis Lewis md. Zula Wilkin
24 - Easter Rising in Dublin, Ireland

May

5 - U.S. invades Dominican Republic
7 - Elizabeth (Cooper) Parkhill died in Dahlgren, IL, buried in Odd Fellows Cemetery
8 - Velma Robertson born Wayne Co., IL daughter of John & Rose (Moore) Robertson
11 - Dorothea Pearson born Clay Co., IL daughter of Charles & Nina (Inman) Pearson
13 - 42nd Kentucky Derby, Johnny Loftus aboard George Smith wins
16 - 41st Preakness Stakes, Linus McAtee aboard Damrosch wins
19 - Escadrille Americaine (Lafayette) transferred to Verdun
19 - Norman Rockwell's first cover for the The Saturday Evening Post appears
20 - tornado in Codell, KS
30 - Dario Resta wins Indianapolis 500
31 - Battle of Jutland between British and German fleets

June

Ben Reece born in Illinois son of Arthur & Laura (Summer) Reece sometime in June
3 - U.S. creates ROTC
4 - Lowell Colclasure born Clay Co., IL son of Clarence & Marybelle (Fitzgerald) Colclasure, twin
4 - Dolores Colclasure born Clay Co., IL daughter of Clarence & Marybelle (Fitzgerald) Colclasure, twin
6 - Cleveland, Ohio approves women's suffrage
7 - Theodore Roosevelt endorses Republican Charles Hughes for President
10 - Maynard Myers died in Oklahoma buried Blanchard Cemetery
10 - Belmont  Stakes, E. Haynes aboard Friar Rock wins
10 - Arabs revolt against the Ottoman Empire
14 - Democrat Convention convenes in St. Louis, Woodrow Wilson campaigns on peace ticket
15 - Boy Scouts of America formed
17 - Farrel Beal born Big Horn Co., WY son of George & Elnora (Zeller) Beal
23 - Harold Erkman born Wayne City, IL son of Henry & Edna (Gurley) Erkman
23 - Rosalie Gurley born Wayne City, IL daughter of Elston & Golda (Lathrop) Gurley
24 - Mary Pickford receives million dollar film contract 
26 - Cleveland Indians put numbers on their uniforms for one game

July

1 - Coca-Cola markets current formula 
1 - Honus Wagner oldest man to hit inside park home run
1 - Battle of the Somme begins
2 - Evea Olive (--?--) Mitchell born 
15 - Boeing Company formed 
30 - Germans blow up munitions plant on Black Tom Island, N.J.

August 

4 - Denmark cedes Danish West Indies, which include the Virgin Islands to U.S. for $25 million
25 - National Park Service formed 
28 - Germany declares war on Romania; Italy declares war on Germany

September

1 - Loran Anderson born 
1 - Bulgaria declares war on Romania
6 - Marshall Musgrave born in Illinois son of Robert & Rella (Maulding) Musgrave
6 - first supermarket, Piggly Wiggly opens in Memphis, TN 
8 - Emergency Revenue Act - doubles rate of income tax, creates inheritance and munitions profit taxes
15 - tanks used in Battle of the Somme
17 - Red Baron wins his first aerial battle, Manfred von Richtofen
28 - Henry Rice md. Alice Lathrop in St. Louis, MO
29 - John D. Rockefeller becomes the world's first billionaire

October

2 - Ronald Robertson died Illinois, 1 year old son of Chalon & Jessie (Williamson) Robertson buried in Laird Cemetery
4 - Alvin Allen born in Illinois son of Hiram & Itha (Fitzgerald) Allen
4 - Helen Robertson born in Colorado daughter of Amos & Lula (Cravens) Robertson
7 - World Series begins Brooklyn Robins vs. Boston Red Sox
8 - Floyd Smith born son of Floyd & Lena (Berry) Smith
12 -  Boston Red Sox win the World Series
28 - Marie Gentle born Bluford, IL daughter of Calvin & Grace (Whitlatch) Gentle

November

1 - First 40-hour work week begins in New York factories
5 - Kingdom of Poland created 
5 - Everett Massacre, Everett, WA - union dispute with police
7 - James Cash died Pulaski Co., KY
7 - Jeannette Rankin elected first woman to Congress; Woodrow Wilson elected president
15 - Mary (Alsop) Montgomery died in Gibson Co., IN
15 - America's first flying ace reports German troops massing at Beaumont Hamel, receives Military Cross
27 - Cecil Holler died, 14 year old son of Willis & Martha (Spry) Holler, buried in Orchard Hill Cemetery in Clay Co., IL
28 - Eldren Smith born son of John & Sophia (Schmidt) Smith

December

11 - David Lloyd George becomes British Prime Minister
13 - Nancy Warren md. Alva Wilson in Clay Co., IL  
15 - French defeat Germans at Verdun
21 - Hannah (Carpenter) Robertson died Wayne Co., IL buried Farnsworth/Mt. Zion Cemetery
23 - Gale Piper born Carbondale, IL son of Harry & Nettie (Lathrop) Piper
31 - Merit Lathrop md. Fern Petty in Lawrence Co., IL

Sometime during 1916

Glenn Henon born ca. 1916 son of William & Ollie (Wilfong) Henson
Audrey Wilfong born ca. 1916 son of Chester & Laura (Freese) Wilfong
Ruth (Parks) Matney died in Carrollton, MO
Zelma Robertson born daughter of John & Rose (Moore) Robertson
Basil Richardson born Illinois son of Earl & Grace (Shaw) Richardson
Melvin Richardson born Illinois son of Delbert & Anna (Osborn) Richardson
Lola Lee md. Clyde Colclasure in Clay Co., IL
Laland Lathrop born Urbana, Champaign Co., IL son of William & Nora (McCulley) Lathrop
Harry Erkman graduated from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky
Harry Erkman went into World War I 
Edna Trapp md. Warner Dempsey
Thelma Dove born 1916 in Illinois daughter of William & Delia (Lane) Dove
Cynthia (Boswell) Maulding died Wayne Co., IL
Charles McAllister born in Oklahoma son of James & Alberta (Speer) McAllister
Opal Musgrave born in Illinois daughter of Robert & Rella (Maulding) Musgrave
Herman Colclasure born in Illinois son of Abraham & Mary (--?--) Colclasure
Pauline (--?--) Fitzgerald born in Illinois
Charles Peters born in Illinois son of Herman & Mary (Lathrop) Peters
Kenneth Fenwick bor
Ruth Lewis born in Indiana daughter of James & Ella (Good) Lewis
Alleyne Myers born in Oklahoma daughter of Horace & Mattie (Hunt) Myers
Gilbert Hickle born in Illinois son of Chauncy & Martha (Reece) Hickle
Amos Gentle born in Arkansas son of Lee & Florence (--?--) Gentle
Milburn Moore born in Illinois son of Clyde & Georgia (Green) Moore
Fredda (--?--) married Orville Henry
Clarence Maulding born in Illinois son of Charles & Ethel (Earles) Maulding
Arvilla Speer born in Oklahoma daughter of Roger & Tessie (--?--) Speer
Clifford Gorman born died 1916 in Sullivan Co., MO son of Solomon & Hulda (Riddle) Gorman
James Hogue born