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01/14/2023

Bad things happen to John W. Parham on Friday the 13th. The mechanic from Macon, GA, seemed to experience hardships in successive Friday the 13ths, but still maintained a peachy, Georgian stoic coolness. Source: “The Evening Sun,” (Baltimore MD), 05 Jul 1924, Sat · Page 15

12/10/2022

This weekend’s PSA is brought to you by the 6 May 1920 issue of the “The Elk Mountain Pilot” (Crested Butte, CO).

12/07/2022

The sass displayed by this 15-year-old Wisconsinite girl is already stuff of legend. I have it on good authority that she belted out from across the room, “I do as I please!” when the 1880 census taker inquired about her occupation. And by “good authority,” I mean “no authority.” Anywho… who is this girl who has given countless family researchers a moment of levity? Did she live by her mantra into adulthood?
Catherine Adeline Cudney was born 17 Apr 1865 to Ezekiel and Ann (Jones) Cudney in Wisconsin. Both parents were born in Canada and Ezekiel worked as a farmer. Catherine was the 6th of at least 9 children (prob why she did what she pleased). By 1880 - when the census taker captured Catherine’s sass for posterity - the family lived in Orion, WI. Living next door to the Cudneys were the Bobbs, and at least three of the Cudney daughters married a Bobb – including Catherine. On 6 Feb 1883, Catherine married William Winfield Bobb (1854-1938). In 1900, Catherine and William lived in Eaton, WI with their 5 sons (ranging in ages from newborn to 16 y/o) and 1 daughter. In 1909, Catherine and William divorced in Pueblo, CO. By 1910 Catherine worked as a housekeeper in Pueblo, and William had moved to Turlock, CA with four of their children. In 1920, Catherine lived in Pueblo with two sons who had moved back from California. By 1930, 64 y/o Catherine owned a home in Turlock, CA and was a proprietor in the rooming house industry. One of her sons and his wife rented a unit from her. In 1940, she lived at the same location with a son and rented a unit to another son and his wife. Catherine appears to have soon moved back to (or visited) Colorado, as she died 30 June 1942 in Limon, CO, and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Colorado Springs. The second photo is of Catherine, William, and their children. Now, y’all go forth and do as you please.

10/20/2022

As many of you know, I partook in DDP’s inaugural apprenticeship program in July. This is the case we worked, and now we’re able to publicly share that Downtown Phoenix John Doe’s name is Frank R. Beck. That’s what it’s all about - restoring names to the unidentified and bringing closure to families. Excited to continue this work with DDP.

09/14/2022

THE LEGEND OF HAMBURGER DAN. In late 1937, at a hamburger joint located at 1701 Washington Street, Waukegan, IL, 16 y/o Dan Rodrick intentionally wolfed down 25 hamburgers and entered Waukegan lore as “Hamburger Dan.” The feat took the high school sophomore a shade under an hour, and he ate 4 ¾ burgers more than the second-place finisher. It took three glasses of water to wash down them tasty burgers. The competition, created by hamburgery proprietor William Masonic, required competitors to eat 25 hamburgers within an hour. If successful, then they “could tear up their checks, or eat them if they preferred.” Who was Hamburger Dan?
“Dan Rodrick’s” given name was Daniel Rodriguez, born about 1922 in Illinois to Simon and Arcadia (Salinas) Rodriguez. His father immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico in 1910. In 1930, Dan lived with his father and five siblings - of which Dan was the youngest – in Shields, Lake County, IL. In the 1930 U.S. Federal Census, Simon’s listed as a widow; therefore, Dan’s mother likely died when he was quite young. Prior to moving to Illinois, the family lived in Kansas for a period - all of Dan’s siblings were born there. The family eventually moved from Shields to Waukegan, where by 1935 three of Dan’s siblings had died – Nicholas, Marina, and Manuel. I was unable to learn how Nicholas died; Marina died after a “long-illness”; and six months after Marina, Manuel also died after a “long-illness.” They were all very young – 20 y/o, 19 y/o, and 16 y/o respectively. The family appears to have lived at 42 Spring Street when they all died - the same address at which Dan lived when in 1937 he entered Waukegan lore as “Hamburger Dan.” Unfortunately, his paper trail ends at this point. But I will update y’all Gen Shredders if I uncover more. Second image is the man himself, burger in hand.
Sources for photos: Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois), 01 Sep 1937, Wed, Page 1, Newspapers.com; Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois), 01 Sep 1937, Wed, Page 34, Newspapers.com;
Unfortunately, due to character limits, I’m unable to include source information beyond the photos. I consulted more than a dozen sources for the info above.

09/07/2022

Nelma Andrews was born in 1928 to Henry Pickney and Nellie (Cox) Andrews in Dover, Stewart County, TN. Nelma’s father worked as a county clerk, and she lived at 19 Water Street with her parents and two brothers. Nelma had two playmates Charlie Henry Crow and Oma May Hilliard who lived nearby – Oma on the same street and Charlie just around the block on North Main Street. The area in which they lived abutted a steep embankment along the Cumberland River, and on the morning of 30 Mar 1931 3 y/o Nelma slipped and rolled into the river. Three-year-old Oma waded into the river as Nelma floated downstream and seized her by her dress collar. Four-year-old Charlie hauled butt up the embankment and cried out for help. His pleas were heard by James Lennis Byrd who rushed down the embankment and pulled both toddlers out of the water. Nelma was attended to by Charlie’s uncle, Dr. C.R. Crow who successfully revived her. Nelma appears to have made a full recovery.
CODA: Unfortunately, Nelma died four years later, on 15 Aug 1935 – one month shy of her 7th birthday. The attending doctor on her death certificate is the same doctor who revived her four years prior – Dr. C.R. Crow. Oma’s family eventually moved to Washington D.C. where she attended George Washington University. In 1948, she married Roger Kreeger Higgins with whom she had several children. Oma died 25 Sep 2018 at age 91, in Washington D.C. Charlie served in WWII, where he sustained battlefield injuries. He survived the war and became a doctor – like his uncle who saved Nelma. Charlie died 15 Apr 2015 at the age of 89. James Lennis Byrd was born 7 Feb 1904 in Dover; in 1940, he took ill for quite some time and died 6 Jul 1940 at age 36.

09/04/2022

Made my pilgrimage to the holy land today. Owned and operated by .

08/29/2022

BIGAMY, BOOTLEGGING, and the BELLE of CHESTER. In August 1929, the unidentified remains of a young woman were found in Chester, V.T. The body was soon identified as a local woman who had gone missing, named Catherine Packard. An autopsy showed the deceased woman had poison in her system, and a note found with the body read: “I am sick of life and I am going where I will be happy.” Catherine’s husband identified the handwriting as his missing wife’s. Dental records and clothing also convinced police that the body was indeed Catherine’s. A year later, George remarried to Margaret MacFarland. However, also a year later, a very much alive Catherine turned up in Manchester, N.H. She had run off to Erie, P.A. with Robert “Romeo” King. George sued for divorce from Catherine and remarried Margaret – this time legally. So, who was the unidentified woman whose headstone read: “Catherine Packard”? Two years later, the “Belle of Chester” was identified as Charlotte Moore Buswell. In 1925, a friend dropped her off at a train station and she was never heard from again. A local sheriff later discovered that she had joined a “rum-running and narcotics ring near Lake Bomoseen.” Oh, and that su***de note? The note with the handwriting that George identified as belonging to Catherine? Well, it was written by…Catherine. But she could not explain how or why it ended up with the body. I know…cray cray. Worthy of a podcast. First image is of Catherine and George; second and image is headline from the Rutland Daily Herald.

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