More From the Rabbit Hole

Curiosity gets the better of me once again.

I recently purchased a genealogy on a cabinet card. Here's the front of the card:

As you see, it's not in great shape. Someone put a little tape frame around it that's been peeling off over the years.  The subject is an African-American man, standing in a very typical pose for the time, leaning on a chair. All mildly interesting, but here's what got me really interested in the card – the back:

Study it for a moment, then let's compare notes. It will be easier to read if you click on it.

Here's what I came up with: First, there's some faint pencil writing in the background, about the only readable parts of which are "8.95," "as is," and what appears to be a repetition of the name "Cocknell." It appears this photograph has been sold before.

Then, there's the circular "Grandfather Picture."

And finally, there's the list of names and relationships.

A list of names like this should be fairly easy to find in the census. How many Cocknell families could there be with a father named Tom, and sons named Ben, Jim, and Eugene?

Answer: none.  Back to the drawing board.

Okay, let's study the card more closely. Notice the last letter in "Father."  At least once, this person wrote a lower-case "R" that looks like an "N".

Is this family's name "CockRell" instead of "CockNell"?

Bingo!  Here's the Cockrell family in the 1910 Census of Matagorda Co., Texas.

Thomas Cockrell, the father, is 45 years old. He was born in Texas (space limitations prevent me from showing that portion of the record) and he's been married to Armitie for 20 years.

Armitie, who is 36, was born in Texas, but her parents were from North Carolina. She was married to Thomas Cockrell when she was about 16 years old.

They have three sons, Benjamine, Jim, and Eugene, aged 20, 19, and 18 respectively. The 3-3 you see in Armitie's line, just before Texas, means she had three children, all three of which are still living.  And the "Mu" you see in each record, right before the age, stands for "mulatto."

So this is "our" Thomas Cockrell and he was born in about 1865.

Going back to the genealogy on the back of picture,

because of Thomas Cockrell's age, and the chronology of the development of photography, it seems clear that Thomas Cockrell is the man in the picture, or "grandfather."  "Grandfather" is Thomas's relationship to the person who is recording the genealogy – a child of either Ben, Jim, or Eugene.

What can we learn about Thomas Cockrell? In the entire 1870 Census there is only one Thomas Cockrell that was born in Texas in about 1865; and, as it turns out, he lives in Matagorda Co.

This Thomas was 2 years old in 1870, making his year of birth about 1868, rather than 1865, and he lived with his mother, Amalia Cockrell, who was 22. The lack of other candidates, the proximity of the age, and the proximity of the place of residence all strongly suggest that this is the Thomas in the picture.

Thomas and his mother live with Richard and Nancy Cook and their daughters, Nellie and Elizabeth. Thomas's mother, Amalia, is their housekeeper. Was she also a relative, being helped with employment and shelter in the absence of the boy's father? Possibly.

Can we take this back further? Can we find out anything about Amalia?

Well, here we run into a big problem.

You may remember from the story of Victoria Leutwein that the U.S. Census began recording everyone's name in 1850; but there's an important exception to that.  If, in 1850 and 1860, you were not a free person, you were recorded in a "Slave Schedule," like a sack of wheat. No name; just your sex and your age:  two determinants of your "value".

Here's an 1850 Slave Schedule from Matagorda Co. (click on it!):

 

As you can see, James B. Hawkins owned two girls that were 2 years old. Either could have been Thomas's mother, Amalia. Or she might have been on another plantation. We've reached a dead end, for now.

[Just as an aside: when the newly-freed slaves were finally recorded by name in the 1870 census, Matagorda Co. seems to have an unusually high number of people who were reported as born in Africa. The legal importation of new slaves to the United States ended in 1808, but Texas was a part of Mexico until 1836. Then again, slavery was abolished in Mexico in 1829. It's curious. ]

So recapping what we know so far:  Thomas Cockrell, the subject of our portrait, was born in about 1865-68 to a former slave named Amalia. In 1890 he married a young woman named Armitie and by 1910 they had three sons: Ben, Jim, and Eugene.

To that I can add that Thomas and Armitie had two more children after 1910: Tomy in 1912 and Armanty in 1913. 

Thomas died in February 1919.

Thomas and Armitie's children had children of their own (thus the "Grandfather" on the picture]. And some of their descendants still live in Matagorda Co.

I wonder if they'd like their picture back. I'll let you know.

Downton Abbey

If you've been following Downton Abbey, you'll enjoy these:





Hat tip to Andrew Tobias.

Other Blogs

Some bloggers post and post and have nothing worthwhile to say. (C'est moi!)

Other bloggers have just a few posts, and each one is worth reading. Case in point: Rob Shook.

Here's his post on the gay agenda.

And then there's his post, Considerations for 2012. Good advice for us all. And it got me wishing my brother Ted would start a blog.

On the Democratization of Literary Criticism

From an Amazon.com review of the book, Native American Photography at the Smithsonian:

I got the book for my husband per his request and as usually after so many days or weeks he decides he does not want it anymore but wants something different and back and forth we go. He drives me up a wall. I did see a few pictures and I thought they were nice pictures. 

 Four stars.

Clueless? Apparently.

According to Steve Benen, there is some controversy over whether this is authentic, but the Santorum campaign is not denying it. The undenied story is that the Santorum campaign sent the following holiday greeting to Jewish supporters in South Carolina (click on it to make it almost legible):

The quote from the Gospel of John is especially touching.

Reports are that the Jewish Santorum supporters in South Carolina were not offended. In fact, they are a couple of very nice guys.

The Susan G. Komen-Planned Parenthood Debacle

Despite their protestations to the contrary, the closer you look at the Susan G. Komen for the Cure mess this week, the more it looks like a couple of twisted ladies at the top wanted to take the organization in a whole new right-wing direction.

Gail Collins has a few of the details and a prognostication I agree with: "A lot of the old Komen donors and supporters probably won’t be coming back."

In the past few weeks we've seen this thing called the social media rise up and – within just a couple of days – put an end to things that were better off not started: the Komen thing, and the SOPA/PIPA thing.

That's pretty impressive, but also worrisome. Is this a new form of democratic expression, or a new form of mob rule? If mob rule, then right now the mob seems to be a little brighter than our meritorious leaders. But what will happen when Republicans learn how to use computers for something besides Quicken? I shudder to think.

Classic Correspondence

Tobias pointed me to this one. It is a MUST READ. You will still be alive if you don't read it, but it will be a life much less worth living. Your choice.

To kick things off, I'll quote the introduction:

In August of 1865, a Colonel P.H. Anderson of Big Spring, Tennessee, wrote to his former slave, Jourdon Anderson, and requested that he come back to work on his farm. Jourdon — who, since being emancipated, had moved to Ohio, found paid work, and was now supporting his family — responded spectacularly by way of the letter seen below (a letter which, according to newspapers at the time, he dictated).

Rather than quote the numerous highlights in this letter, I'll simply leave you to enjoy it. Do make sure you read to the end.

And here is the most understated scarcastic letter I've ever read.  And do make sure you read to the end.

Some Morning Humor

Lucky you. I've been up since 3 a.m.

“The State Department issued a new travel warning yesterday, urging U.S. citizens to avoid Syria. Yeah, it was part of a new set of warnings called, ‘Things you were probably doing already.’” – Jimmy Fallon

“Beating Newt Gingrich in a popularity contest is like beating Stephen Hawking in ‘Dancing with the Stars.’” – Bill Maher 

“Mitt Romney, whose father was born in Mexico, is now talking up his Mexican heritage. Not to be outdone today, Newt Gingrich said he once cheated on one of his wives with a woman named Juanita.” – Jay Leno

“Mitt Romney is coming under fire because even though he is a multimillionaire, he only paid 15 percent in taxes. That’s not a tax, that’s barely a tip.” – Jay Leno

“Rick Perry dropped out. He said while it’s sad he won’t be president, he can always run again next year.” – Bill Maher

“Actually, Rick Perry pulled out of the presidential race yesterday – which is bad news for the guys on death row in Texas. He’s coming home and he’s not in a good mood.” – Jay Leno

“Mitt Romney is going to release 2010 and 2011 tax returns. Not to be outdone, Newt Gingrich is going to release his 1988, 1994, and 2005 wedding vows.” – Conan O’Brien

‎”After disappointing showings in Iowa and New Hampshire, Newt’s campaign looked terminally ill – which is generally when he moves on to something better.” – Stephen Colbert

“You’re not a Washington insider? You, the former Speaker of the House and Freddie Mac consulting millionaire, are THE Washington insider. When Washington gets its prostate checked, it tickles you!” – Jon Stewart (on Newt Gingrich campaigning as a Washington outsider)

“Today, the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins visited the White House. President Obama told them he loves hockey as much as any black guy who grew up in Indonesia.” – Conan O’Brien

4.5 Million Hits on One Post a Month (sigh)

Long-time readers will remember Margaret and Helen, "Best Friends for Sixty Years and Counting...."

They're not posting as often as they did, but when they do it's worth the read.

For example, The Passion of the Newt.

Can Mitt Win the Big One?

As I was researching the Leutwein story, I checked out St. John's German Lutheran Church in LaPorte, Indiana, where Victoria's father was pastor for a short while.

I found a picture of it, but the church no longer exists (although there is still a St. John's Lutheran Church in LaPorte, presumably a successor church).

In the course of my studies, though, I came across the website of Trinity Lutheran Church, which had this helpful list for our edification:

Popular Cults and Movements
Seventh Day Adventism
Islam
Jehovah's Witnesses
Mormons
The Eastern Religions (Hinduism, Buddhism)
Christian Science
The Lodges ( e.g., Masonry)
Cultural Worldviews-Feminism, Evolution, Egalitarianism, Abortion, Homosexuality

This is Mitt's Republican base.

Leutwein Epilogue

Thanks for the comments and emails concerning the previous post about Victoria Leutwein and her family.

Since putting the story up, I've come across two more items that may interest you.

On June 6, 1903, the passenger ship Graf Waldersee set sail from Hamburg for Boulogne, Plymouth, and New York. Among those aboard was one Isabella Leutwein of "Calamazoo." Our Isabel never made it to South West Africa. It is possible the military situation there made it unsafe for her to proceed on her most excellent adventure.

And on May 15, 1954, the Chicago Daily Tribune ran this obituary:

Down the Rabbit Hole

I'm afraid this is going to turn out to be a long post, but I'll keep it as short as I can. If you're only interested in my brilliant insights into the political issues of the day, you can skip it entirely and miss nothing. It's a rabbit hole.

I have a useless interest in portrait photography at the end of the 19th century, particularly in "cabinet cards," which are what you got if you took the family down to the local photographer. So I roam eBay, looking for interesting cabinet cards. Recently I came across this attractive portrait:

This is fairly typical of a studio pose by a good photographer of the time.  I liked the photo, but even more interesting was what was written on the back on the cabinet card:

The seller on eBay identified her as "Victoria Sentwein," and indeed that was my first reading of it. But when I could find no record of a Sentwein of any sort in the census records, I went back for a second look. That's when I noticed that the S in Sentwein did not match the S in Schools. Was that an L? Could her name be Lentwein?

No, not exactly: it was Leutwein; that first N is actually a U. The 1930 Census of Chicago lists Victoria, still a public school teacher, staying at the Hayes – a 500 room residence hotel:

End of story? Not quite, because Victoria came from a very interesting family. A 1904 newspaper article tells us about her father:

For the love of an Indiana girl, Prof. Carl Leutwein, ... brother of Col Theodor Leutwein, governor of German South [West] Africa, gave up friends in his native land, a lucrative position in the German army, and his only chance of again returning to his country.


Prof. Leutwein is residing at 801 North Rose street, and a few chapters in his varied career are interesting and romantic. He is well known about Michigan, having taught French and German in the University of Michigan for 10 years, and been instructor of German in Kalamazoo college for several terms.


Prof. Leutwein was born in Germany 50 years ago and is a graduate of Heidelberg university. Later he entered the German army and served several years. In consequence of his many advantages and good family his promotion was rapid. At the age of 25 years he ranked as major and was allowed three year's leave of absence.

Met a Yankee Girl

Prof. Leutwein came to this country. He traveled for a time and a year later wandered into the little city of Laporte, Ind. There he met Miss Jennie Hammond, pretty, sweet and buxom. An ardent cour[t]ship followed and Miss Hammond became the wife of Major Carl Leutwein. Wishing to remain in Laporte Major Leutwein secured a position as pastor of the German Lutheran church, of that city. Unmindful of his leave of absence the days sped rapidly by. Then one morning the major awoke to the realization that he had overstayed his time and that according to the rules and regulations of the German army he could never again return to his country. [Or he would be arrested for desertion?] He secured positions as instructor of German and French in several of the large universities about the middle west, but later went to Ann Arbor, where he was engaged as instructor for 10 years.

Pro. Leutwein has not seen his brother or any member of his family whom he left in Germany since he came to this country 25 years ago.

Col. Leutwein is governor of over 2,000,999 square miles of territory in South [West] Africa and diamond fields have recently been discovered in his territory which are said to be larger and finer than those in Kimberley.

..."My brother, Col. Theodor Leutwein was the next oldest son in my father's family and he was chosen to take my place in the army. Now he is governor of German South [West] Africa. We have always been very different, however, and I believe he is much better fitted to be a soldier than I am. ... He has always loved fighting; I do not. I love books, not fighting. I have my children, my books and am happy. I would not change."

Col. Theodor Leutwein

About Victoria's uncle, Col. Theodor Leutwein, I won't say much, though we'll come back to him soon. If you're interested, you can read his Wikipedia entry, or just google the name. He spent a good part of his career in German South West Africa, now called Namibia, where he was responsible for "pacifying" the native population. He was not brutal enough for his superiors in Germany, and command was transferred to Lt. Gen. Lothar von Trotha.  What ensued is now known as the Herero and Namaqua Genocide.

All that happened in 1904.

Victoria had several siblings, including a younger sister, Isabel or Isabella. We have three frames of Isabel's life, starting in July 1897, when the Fort Wayne (Ind.) News ran a short piece about her:

Interesting girl. Isabel was probably born in 1874, which would have made her about 25 years old at the time, but both Victoria and Isabel gave different ages or years of birth in every census, always making themselves younger than you would predict from the last, and we can't be sure the first record was correct.

It's easy to imagine Professor Leutwein's concerns about Isabel. I can almost hear the nuns in The Sound of Music singing, "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Isabella?" Letters were no doubt exchanged with his brother in German South West Africa. Until, in February 1903, the Kalamazoo Gazette ran this story ...

Don't miss that last paragraph.

Whether Isabel made it to Africa, or was still in Germany when her uncle Theodor returned there in 1904, I've been unable to determine. The third frame from her life to be presented here was taken in 1910. At that time, the U.S. Census finds her in Redfield, South Dakota, married 5 years to Emmett C. Ryan. She has a daughter, Maurine; another child died in infancy. In 1922 Emmett Ryan would be the (unsuccessful) Democratic candidate for Congress from South Dakota.

Isabel died in April 1958 in Washington, D.C., where she had been living with her daughter since Emmett C. Ryan died.

Finally, there was poor Carl Leutwein Jr., younger brother to Victoria and Isabel.

The "sister who saw the Kalamazoo woman in Chicago" was undoubtedly our Victoria.

That's as far down the rabbit hole as I've gone. There are more tunnels and chambers to be followed and explored.

Beautiful Victoria, with the ornate handwriting, never married. How did Victoria's picture wind up on eBay?

I suspect I'm the only living person who cares.

Mitt Just Can't Help Himself

I've been watching tonight's Republican debate over on CNN.

Mitt just made a claim to be the son of immigrants because his father was born in Mexico.

Does he have an inner voice that says, "No, Mitt! Don't say that!"?

Apparently not.

Musical Interlude

Paul Krugman is an interesting guy. On his NY Times blog, among very wonkish posts about economics and very angry posts about politics, he sprinkles music videos that he likes. Usually, our tastes don't match. This one, which he correctly calls "strange but wonderful," is different.

But He's Very Popular with Rabies Sufferers

Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo says "If you want to know why the GOP establishment is freaking out, check out this chart."

I didn't know the GOP establishment was freaking out, but am glad to hear it. The red line is Newt's UNfavorability rating in the real world. And he looks like a winner in South Carolina tomorrow. We'll see.

A Perfect Storm

Rick Perry has withdrawn from the presidential campaign. Touted by our political media as a formidable opponent when he entered the race, he turned out to be, as many have said, George Bush without the brains. [That, Anneliese, is a good example of "scarcasm."] It seemed Perry couldn't open his mouth without needlessly insulting a foreign country, most recently Turkey.

In his withdrawal speech, Rick Perry endorsed Newt Gingrich.

Even before Perry's withdrawal, Newt was riding a rocket ship in the South Carolina polls, and now leads Mitt Romney.

But Newt will get no sleep, because tonight at 10:35 CST ABC News will broadcast an interview with his second wife, Marianne, in which she will claim Newt tried to talk her into an open marriage.

“I said to him, ‘We’ve been married a long time,’” Marianne Gingrich says, in an excerpt from the interview released Thursday morning by ABC News. “And he said, ‘Yes but you want me all to yourself. Callista doesn’t care what I do.’”

Oh my!

Meanwhile, we're starting to get a notion of why Mitt Romney said he might release his tax returns in April. He apparently wants to release only his 2011 tax returns, which have not been prepared yet. We won't be able to see what he did with his money in prior years, for which returns have already been filed.

What does it matter? ABC reports:

For weeks, Romney has cited a desire for privacy as his reason for not sharing his tax returns -- a gesture of transparency that is now expected from presidential contenders.

"I can tell you we follow the tax laws," he said recently while on the campaign trail in New Hampshire. "And if there's an opportunity to save taxes, we like anybody else in this country will follow that opportunity."

Uh-oh.

But tax experts tell ABC News there are other reasons Romney may not want the public viewing his returns. As one of the wealthiest candidates to run for president in recent times, Romney has used a variety of techniques to help minimize the taxes on his estimated $250 million fortune. In addition to paying the lower tax rate on his investment income, Romney has as much as $8 million invested in at least 12 funds listed on a Cayman Islands registry. Another investment, which Romney reports as being worth between $5 million and $25 million, shows up on securities records as having been domiciled in the Caymans.

Official documents reviewed by ABC News show that Bain Capital, the private equity partnership Romney once ran, has set up some 138 secretive offshore funds in the Caymans.

Poor Rick Santorum, who advocates assassinating Russian scientists, is finally declared the winner of the Iowa caucuses – just in time to hear Perry endorse Newt. The news about the open marriage interview broke last night, so Perry already knew about it, but endorsed Newt anyway. Consider that.

But don't count Santorum out yet! The Republicans are bat**** crazy, and there's no telling who their next messiah will be.

Hey, there's always Ron Paul.

Now, to make this absolutely delicious, there's another Republican debate tonight! Who will rabies strike next?

Not to be missed. Oh, what a great idea it was for the Republicans to have a debate every 2 or 3 days!

And the South Carolina primary is Saturday.

Update: Couldn't watch the debate for more than 25 minutes. First question was to Gingrich about the interview with his second wife. Gingrich was shocked! shocked! that the CNN moderator would lead off the debate with such a question. It was all about the media attacking Republicans and protecting President Obama. Red meat for the crowd.

Republicans are bat**** crazy.

Nothing is Forever – Kodak Falls

Eastman Kodak was a giant among American companies.  There were upstarts: Fuji, Ilford, Agfa, and others. None had the prestige of Kodak, which was earned over 131 years of producing superior products. From its earliest days it had a reputation as a great place to work, and it set the standards for the film industry.

And then came digital.

Eastman Kodak has finally filed for bankruptcy. They will continue operating under bankruptcy protection.

It's Not Class Warfare – It's Math!

Andrew Tobias recommended this video, saying it had "no shouting, no ominous music – or soaring music, for that matter – just quiet common sense."  It does a good job of describing reality. Remember reality?

Don't worry, he stops with the "I do not feel disappointed ... " sentences before you want to drive pencils into your ears.

A Good Summary

In case you missed it, Stephen Colbert is running for President of "the United States of South Carolina," and is polling better than Jon Huntsman. What's Colbert up to?

Jason Zinoman in the NY Times sees "a longtime thematic undercurrent of 'The Colbert Report': Mr. Colbert is a serious performer playing a silly character, while the media and political world are deeply silly but pretending to be serious."

Yup.

Amazing Historical Footage

While cruising YouTube this morning, I came across this amazing footage of an interview with Czar Nicholas II, conducted in 1916.



How fascinating that it is so well preserved.