This month the U.S. Postal Service is
delivering questionnaires to every household throughout the
United States and its territories in preparation for "Census
Day," April 1, 2010. Mandated by the Constitution of
the United States and completed every ten years since the
first Federal Population Census in 1790, the tallies from
the census allow for regular and equitable reappointments of
political representation throughout the expanding
population. But as every genealogist knows, the
results are far more than a head count; census records
can be invaluable tools for making connections across
generations. It is through such records that we
learned more about Burns Harlan's ancestors.
The son of Gay Spiker's sister, Kate, cousin Marion "Burns"
Harlan is remembered as much for the fishing hooks attached
to his hat as the camera seemingly glued to his hand.
Rarely seen without one or the other, many of the stories
about this affable man centered on his hunting and fishing
escapades while many of the family photos were from his
personal albums.
A 1940 graduate of Glenville High School (click
here to see yearbook photo), Burns regularly submitted
news articles and photographs to various newspapers and
magazines. Two of his photos, featuring a very young
Mark Spiker, appeared on the front and back covers of the
West Virginia Conservation Magazine (now known as the West
Virginia Magazine) in November 1959 (click
here to view image as well as pics of Burns' parents,
Tharos & Kate.)
Fortunately, Burns wasn't ALWAYS BEHIND the camera;
occasionally he was in FRONT of it. Paula Nolan has
shared some pictures of Burns from her own collection.
(Click
here to view Paula's album.)
And if you're a regular reader of the Spiker Family Gazette,
you may remember two of Dean Spiker's stories, cataloged in
the Spiker Family Library, that
mention his generous and adventure-loving spirit.
(Read "A Little About Bob" and "Our
Home on Bear Run.")
It has been said that Burns worked for the Parkersburg
Sentinel and was at one time a Constable in Wood County, WV
(although we do not yet have documented citations of
either occupation.) He married Evelyn White later in
life and took care of his mother, Lucy Katriah "Kate" Zinn-Harlan,
after the death of his father, Tharos, in 1938.
According to Dean Spiker, Burns' father had been known
throughout the community only as "Doc Harlan." Very
few people knew his first name. Even his own family
called him "Doc" which filtered down to his nieces and
nephews who knew him only as "Uncle Doc."
While living in the area, Doc Harlan "doctored" many of his
relatives throughout their lives. He was even the
personal physician for his mother-in-law, Alice Zinn (Gay
and Kate's mother.) He signed her death certificate (view
it here) as "T. Harlan," the only other name by which he
was known.
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Certainly, "Tharos" is an unusual name.
Perhaps that is why it wasn't commonly uttered. But it is no
more unusual than the manner in which he and his 15 (at least)
siblings' names were chosen. This is where the Census
information revealed an interesting piece of "forgotten" family
history.
Tharos' father was Burns Harlan. Burns married
America Ingle in 1845. According to the census, they had at
least six children...Curtis, Dollar, Esther, Floret, Gordon*, Hudson and Isabel. (*Gordon's name was not listed on the census but
is suggested elsewhere in our genealogy research; we presume he died
between censuses.)
Read the list again and you'll see a pattern emerge. It
is believed that they named their children in alphabetical
order, with America and Burns representing the letters "A"
and "B" and their children representing letters "C" through
"I". We
are uncertain why Burns later remarried (perhaps America
passed away) but it appears Burns continued the "alphabet
name game" throughout his second marriage to Margaret Anne Honner ("M"), and their nine children, Nelson, Odell, Ploris, Quiroz, Rolvik, Saxper, Tharus (Marion Burns'
father), Ustfra and Willis. (We are still looking for
the "V".)
No one can recall cousin Burns speaking of his father's
siblings, let alone discussing the alphabetical theme.
It was only through researching the census records that it
was discovered.
Fortunately, being able to access prior census records has
permitted us to fill in many of the missing pieces in
our family history. And, depending on the questions
asked (no two censuses are alike), we've been given a
snapshot of the nation at ten year intervals, learning more
about vocation, crime, taxes, mortality, education,
transportation and other statistics collected through the
censuses that affected our ancestors.
Your responses to the 2010 census are confidential. At
least for 72 years. Since 1952, in keeping with the
Census Bureau's commitment to confidentiality, census data
is not released to the public until after 72 years following
the official census day. As such, the most recent
census data currently available is for 1930. The 1940
US census will be released in April 2012 (and there will
probably be a swarm of family historians racing for the
first look).
By the time our responses to the 2010 census are released to
the public, what will our descendants learn about us?
Considering there are only ten questions it certainly won't
be nearly as much as we've learned about our ancestors.
Perhaps we should consider playing a "name game" with our
own kids...just to make it more interesting.
Or perhaps we can make it easier by recording our own history
now so that others won't have to rely on a census to guess
who we are.
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Submitted by Bobbi Spiker-Conley -- Paula Nolan ran across a
couple recipes given to her by Aunts Alice (
Submitted by Bobbi Spiker-Conley -- Haley Conley's poem titled
"Fairy Tale Broken" was accepted for publication in the 2009-2010
edition of the Mangrove Review. This is the third time
Haley's works have been featured in the Florida Gulf Coast University
literary and arts magazine; four of her photographs appeared in the 2008
Anniversary edition and three of her fiction short-stories appeared in
the 2006-2007 edition for which she also received the Mangrove Review
Award for "Most Accomplished Works Produced by Current FGCU Students."
Congratulations Haley. We're very proud of you and your
accomplishments.