Sunday Obituary - Stuby and Hardee

You never know what you will find in an obituary.
Sometimes you get very little information, such as the one for William T. Hardee:

14 April 1893  Dallas Morning News, p. 3

Waxahachie, Ellis Co., Tex., April 13 - W. T. Hardee died last night.

Well, that was helpful.

Sometimes you find a gem.
But, every once in a while you find one that really tells you what happens. Whether you want to know or not, such as the one for Andrew Stuby. Actually, I found two for Andrew and the first one gives you a taste and then the second one lays it all out.

The Alleghanian
Ebensburg, Pa.
Thursday, May 16, 1861
Volume 2, Number 39

Shocking Occurrence: A Man Cuts His Own Throat

  On last Friday, a man named Andrew Stuby, who resided in Carroll
township about two miles from the village of Carrolltown, committed
suicide by cutting his throat with a razor.  The cause assigned to the
rash act is said to be pecuniary losses growing out of the
mismanagement of business affairs. The deceased was about 50 years of
age, was married and had several children.  He formerly resided at
Number Six, this county and prior to that time, we believe, in
Hollidaysburg.

I found this second obituary while in Pennsylvania. I think it is the most descriptive and interesting obit I have found yet.

Obituary from the Democrat & Sentinel in Cambria County Pennsylvania, dated May 15, 1861 states:

Suicide - A man named Andrew Stuby, committed suicide at his residence in Carroll township on last Friday evening, by cutting his throat with a razor. He was alone at the time, his wife the only other member of the family at home, having gone to the barn for the purpose of milking. When discovered he was laying on his face, in a pool of blood, in front of a looking glass, dead. His hand still retained the razor with the rigid grasp of death. He attempted to drown himself a few weeks ago, and was supposed to be partially insane. He was a coal digger by trade and was employed until recently, by a firm in the neighborhood of Hollidaysburg. He lost about $600 recently by the failure of a former employer, a misfortune which seemed to prey upon his mind, rendering him gloomy and irritable and probably led to perpetration of the rash act. He owned considerable real estate in Carroll Township, and was in good circumstances. He was about 65 years of age, and leaves a wife, and a son about 16 years old.

Andrew Stuby's Story?
I still have lots of questions to answer about Andrew Stuby. From what I have learned so far: Andrew Stuby was born in Germany about 1800. He married Elizabeth and had one son with her named Jacob.  Elizabeth had been married before, possibly to John Stephens.  Andrew and Elizabeth are found in the 1850 census living in Juniata Township, Blair County, Pennsylvania with their eight year old son Jacob and two of Elizabeth's four children, John Stephens age 23 and Valentine Stephens age 14. Andrew and John are listed as miners. I could not find them in the 1860 census. The next time we are in Pennsylvania, I hope to do more research.

Stuby Line
Andrew Stuby b. abt 1800 Germany
Elizabeth (maybe nee Wagner) b. abt 1810

Jacob Stuby b. 1842 Pennsylvania
Margaret (nee Leslie) b. 16 Oct 1838 Carrolltown, Cambria County, Pennsylvania

George Stuby b. 9 May 1868 West Carrol Township, Cambria County, Pennsylvania
Madge Catherine Flanigan b. 27 April 1872 Diamondville or Mitchells Mill, Indiana County, Pennsylvania

Tuesday's Tip - FamilySearch.org is not all indexed

Ordering Microfilm
I decided I would check to see what microfilm the FHC had since it can now be ordered on-line. I searched for Shackelford County Texas and saw they had "Texas County Tax Rolls, 1846-1910." which included Shackelford Co. for the 1870's . I knew my ancestor Curtis Alexander Galttana lived there in 1870, but I did not know if he owned land, so I wanted to check to see.

I played around to see how to order and then I noticed a little note on the order site that said "...check for a digital copy before ordering." Humm...I had searched the name Galttana and spelling variations but had not seen anything with tax records.

FamilySearch.org records
So I went back to the home page of familysearch and scrolled down to the browse by location. I clicked on US, Canada, and Mexico and then searched Texas and there it was "Texas County Tax Rolls, 1846-1910." Digitized but not indexed.

My Ah Ha Moment
It was then that the light bulb went on and I realized not everything on familysearch is indexed. This is something I should have know but it just didn't sink in. Now, I will be going back and searching locations to see what else they have on my ancestors.

Research Time (I love researching)
So, I then happily spent time going through each year and looking for Galttana and his brother-in-law William Ledbetter.


What I found on Galttana
Curtis and his wife Synthia Galttana (spelled Goltatine on the census) are found in the 1870 census at  Besleys Creek, Shackelford County, Texas as a saltmaker. They lived next to William and Margaret Ledbetter (Synthia's sister) who owned the salt mine.

The tax records started with 1872, it is alphabetical and starts with J. So I found Ledbetter but no G's for Galttana. Then it skips to 1874, but no Galttana.

I first find him in 1875 and then every year till 1878. In 1879  and 1880 the property is listed under Mrs. C.A. Galttana. In 1881 no Galttana's are found.

So, if I ever get to the Shackelford County Courthouse I will look for property records for Curtis Galttana and maybe if I'm lucky they will have probate or orphan records for him and his children. (Or maybe one of my Texas cousins would want to take a trip to Shackelford Co. and check?? :)



Lesson
Realize not everything is indexed and you should always search the collections to see what is available. Lesson learned!