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We have recieved an old photo that we are assuming is family. On the back of the photo is written Robert Hubert Van Vleck and Shirley Ann Van Vleck (children) and an older man Elias Ralston. I have no other info about these people. Or dates. There is no one else in my husband’s family to ask about these. I am also assuming they are in the PA NY areas, as this is where we know my husband’s father, grandfather lived.
Do these names ring a bell with anybody?
Stacey,
If I had to guess, I would probably say around 1920-1930or so. It is a black and white. No date stamped in white border. You can see part of a house in the back ground. Elias and Van Vleck are standing on what appears to be, side of dirt path/road. Tall grass around them.
Sorry I don’t have any more info to go on. I wish I did, as the Ralston’s are my brick wall.
Amy
What Ralston’s? I have Ralstons. My grandmother was a Ralston. If you search this forum, you will find several pictures of my Ralstons. I own “The Golden Thread which outlines the genealogy of the Ralston family. However, I do not have more recent Ralstons except for those who are mine, unless the book has them. (In fact, I have an 1878 Ralston Bible, however, it is from a family that emigrated in 1852 to Illinois.)
My Ralstons were in PA, near Slippery Rock.
Techteach
Hi Amy,
In the 1920 census in Susquehanna Co where your Ralston’s were living, there was a Hubert Van Vleck family. This Hubert was 50 in 1920, so he wouldn’t be the one in the photo. But, in the 1900 census, if I remember right, this same Hubert had 6 children, so perhaps he could be a grandfather to the child Robert Hubert Van Vleck in the picture. You would think with an uncommon name like Van Vleck they would be easy to find, but Robert seems to be a common first name for them. 🙂 I will have to look more. There was also an Elias Ralston in Susquehanna Co. So far, I have only found him in the 1880 census. He was born ca1869, which would make him about 51 to 71 years old in 1920’s or 1930’s. Would those ages fit your picture?
1920:
Hallstead, Susquehanna, PA; ED# 77; sheet 10A; visit 231/241
Ralston, Earl, head, 21, PA/PA/CAN, track laborer – steam railroad, wage
—– Viola, wife, 17, PA/PA/NY, none
—– william, son, 11/12, PA/PA/PA, none
1920:
Great Bend, Susquehanna, PA; ED# 75; sheet 2B; visit 40/42
Van Vleck, Hubert, head, 50, NY/NY/NY, chair maker – chair factory, wage
—– Nellie, wife, 46, PA/NY/NY, none
—– Harold, son, 24, PA/NY/NY, wheeler – chamois(?) factory, wage
—– Mary Belle, daughter, 20, PA/NY/NY, trimmer – chamois(?) factory, wage
—– Frances, daughter, 16, PA/NY/NY, trimmer – chamois(?) factory, wage
NOTE: He was also there in the 1910 & 1930 census. In 1900 census, they were still in Susquehanna, but in Harmony Twp. (I can post these too if you want them.)
1880:
Name Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age Birthplace Occupation Father’s Birthplace Mother’s Birthplace
Hugh RALSTON Self M Male W 49 PA Lumberman IRE PA
Elizabeth RALSTON Wife M Female W 44 PA Keeping House PA PA
Benjamin RALSTON Son S Male W 27 PA Works In Sawmill PA PA
Jacob RALSTON Son S Male W 18 PA Bark Peeler PA PA
Charles RALSTON Son S Male W 16 PA At Home PA PA
John RALSTON Son S Male W 13 PA At Home PA PA
Elias RALSTON Son S Male W 11 PA At Home PA PA
William RALSTON Son S Male W 8 PA PA PA
Fred RALSTON Son S Male W 6 PA PA PA
Phillip RALSTON Son S Male W 3 PA PA PA
Hugh TOWNSEND SonL M Male W 20 PA Farm Laborer PA PA
Fannie TOWNSEND Dau M Female W 20 PA PA PA
Frank HOWLAND Other D Male W 28 PA Works In The Woods CT CT
——————————————————————————–
Source Information:
Census Place New Milford, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania
Family History Library Film 1255196
NA Film Number T9-1196
Page Number 331D
Stacey
Hi Amy,
Here is one more quick census…
Your Earl Ralston’s brother (Leon) and sister (Dora) were living in the very next household to the Van Vleck’s in 1930…
1930:
Franklin St., Great Bend, Susquehanna Co., PA; ED# 58-18; sheet 4A & 4B; visit 104/108
Van Vleck, Huber W., head, 60, 1st m’d @ 21, NY/US/US, shaper – chair factory, wage
—– Nellie, wife, 56, 1st m’d @17, PA/NY/NY, none
Van Vleck, Edith F., granddaughter, 17, PA/PA/PA, none
Franklin St., Great Bend, Susquehanna Co., PA; ED# 58-18; sheet 4B & 6B; visit 105/109
Prentice, Fred C., head, 29, 1st m’d @ 21, PA/PA/PA, maintaner – steam railroad, wage
—– Dora E., wife, 26, 1st m’d @ 18, PA/PA/CAN, none
—– F. Hela(?), son, 6, PA/PA/PA, none
Ralston, Leon, brother-in-law, 20, PA/PA/CAN, laborer – electric light co – wage
Stacey
Techteach,
My Ralston’s are in the Susquehanna PA area. You and I had chatted in the Ralston- Sinkey posts. So far it seems that our lines don’t tie in. But you never know.
Stacey,
Thank you for this info. Like you I thought Van Vleck would be a little easier to search. Also didn’t think Ralston was going to be this hard.
“He was born ca1869, which would make him about 51 to 71 years old in 1920’s or 1930’s. Would those ages fit your picture?”
This could possibly be him. He does have a grandfather look. Children look to be between 5-10. Robert being oldest.
“1920:
Hallstead, Susquehanna, PA; ED# 77; sheet 10A; visit 231/241
Ralston, Earl, head, 21, PA/PA/CAN, track laborer – steam railroad, wage
—– Viola, wife, 17, PA/PA/NY, none
—– william, son, 11/12, PA/PA/PA, none”
This is my Earl. Recently we found out that Viola was a Thomopson on the 1930. William was in home of grandparents Arthur and Hattie Wellman in 1930.
I don’t think I had tried tracing Dora, Myrtle. At one time I thought about trying to get a copy of Leon’s death cert. but haven’t done it yet.
I was trying to work backwards on Earl. I have found him on 1900. No father is listed. Head of house is Anne born in Canada.
Hi Amy,
In case you don’t have this one, here is your Anna Ralston in 1930. She was incorrectly indexed as “Ralston Anna Gillion”.
1930:
New Milford, Susquehanna, PA; ED# 58-34; sheet 5A; visit 116/130
George B Gillon, head, 52, m’d @ 25, PA/PA/NY, proprietor – hotel, employer
Etta Gillon, wife, 54, m’d @ 24, NY/NY/NY, none
Harold J Gillon, son, 25, single, NY/PA/NY, advertising – newspaper, wage
Marjorie Gillon, daughter, 23, single, NY/PA/NY, book keeper – goods furnishings, wage
Anna Ralston, maid, 58, m’d @ 28, CAN/CAN/CAN, 1927-Naturalization, maid – housework, wage
P??stice Coddington, boarder, 68, single, PA/Irish Free State/Irish Free State, laborer – odd jobs, wage
Stanley R. Knickerbocker(?), boarder, 31, m’d @ 28, PA/PA/PA, telegrapher – steam railroad, wage
Lucy M. Knickerbocker(?), 27, m’d @ 25, PA/PA/PA, none
David M. S??under, 22, single, PA/PA/PA, mechanic – mill shipping plant, wage
NOTE: Anna was incorrectly indexed as “Ralston Anna Gillion”
If you are trying to go further back on the Ralstons and you don’t know when Earl died, I would suggest sending for information on his siblings. Below is the Social Security Death Index for two of them (Dora & Leon). You could try to get an obituary, death record, or social security record. All could tell you their parents’ names.
Social Security Death Index
Name: Dora Prentice
SSN: 203-03-7039
Last Residence: 18821 Great Bend, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, United States of America
Born: 2 Jul 1903
Died: 19 Dec 1994
State (Year) SSN issued: Pennsylvania (Before 1951)
Social Security Death Index
Name: Leon Ralston
SSN: 134-09-1878
Last Residence: 18821 Great Bend, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, United States of America
Born: 1 Dec 1909
Died: Sep 1973
State (Year) SSN issued: New York (Before 1951)
The link to the Susquehanna County Historical Society Request Forms is at:
http://www.susqcohistsoc.org/resform.htm
They charge $6 to look up an obituary.
You might even check into Newman Cemetery in Great Bend. The link to their FindAGrave site is at:
According to it, Fred C. Prentice; b. UNK; d. May 1966 (Earl’s brother-in-law, Dora’s husband), Fred Hila Prentice; b. Aug. 8 1923; d. May 4, 1997 (Earl’s nephew, Dora’s son), and Sgt. Robert H. Van Vleck; b. UNK; d. April 1955, are all buried there.
I don’t know if the above Robert H. Van Vleck is the one you are looking for or not. Another possibility might be that if he was a child in the 1930’s, he may still be living.
I also found a possiblity for Elias Ralston. There was an Elias living about 15 miles away in neighboring Broome County, New York. He was listed in the Binghamton City Directory for 1894 and 1895.
Williams’ Binghamton City Directory 1894; page 642
Ralston Elias, driver, bds 54 North
Williams’ Binghamton City Directory 1895; page 345
Ralston Elias, driver, bds 54 North
Hope some of this helps,
Stacey
Thank you for the info for Anna. I had assumed she was dead by 1930. So glad you found her.
Will be sending off for Leon’s death cert. I am wanting to try to get further past Earl. I also made a mistake when I said I found him on 1900 census. I meant to say 1910. Can’t find him on 1900.
Can’t say if this is the Robert H Van Vleck from photo. But this is something to work with. Thank You.
This might be the correct Elias. Earl’s wife Viola, her mother is buried in Rose Hill cem. in Broome county, according to the funeral card we also recently received.. Don’t know at this time about her father Arthur. According to 1910 census for Susquehanna PA Hattie was born in NY.
Thank you again for your help.
Amy
On another messageboard I received a reply to my Ralston Van Vleck. I am told that Elias is the grandfather to Shirley and Robert. Their parents were Myrtle Marguerite Ralston and George Lehman Van Vleck. So far after a quick census check I couldn’t find them. But will search harder later on tonight. I am just so thrilled to have a piece of this puzzle.
For those that don’t know, Amy Hines Ralston (Painted Horse) crossed over this year in April. She lost her husband and best friend in January of this year as well. We can only surmise that between the cancer and a broken heart that Creator saw fit to take her into His loving arms. She leaves behind two children, Joseph and Amanda. She also leaves behind many friends in Person county and SC where she resided the last couple of years. We will miss her wit and wisdom along with her talent for finding ancestors. Rest in peace, dear friend….we miss your smiling face. Love you, Becky and Ken
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