Olney Family Newsletter

A newsletter for and about the Olney family

This Olney newsletter is the result of my early interest in family history, and the computers that made it possible for me.

When I had a letter published in a genealogy program computer interest group newsletter one of those readers sent my name to a cousin of her husband. Many letters passed back and forth and from those a suggestion of trying to organize an Olney family gathering. One such did happen, July 1990.

Using the name list I had compiled, I have continued doing family newsletters since and a few of my recent efforts have been published as text only versions on the web.

I had hoped to be able to publish a version here more like the one I send by U. S. Mail. This editor does not have the capability of making names appear as bold letters so I have gone through the letter and made names one size larger print. I hope I haven't missed anyone The mail version in columns is easier to read as well.

Please e-mail me with your comments

OlneysofAmerica@aol.com

Winter 2000

Thanks

Thanks to everyone for all of the great material you have sent. As I start this it seems as if this may be the biggest issue ever. I have both U. S. Mail and computer e-mail messages this time. Thanks also for your contributions toward my expenses. I have no desire to make any profit from this venture, but I could not keep it going without your monitory help.

In the past I have started new issues by going back to items as they arrived following the previous one. This time however I can start with a letter I got after the newsletter was finished, but before it had been mailed.

So the first item this time comes from Winston (Bud) Olney of Oceanside, CA. He wrote more details of the death of his wife, Hazel, and how he was managing to cope. He also included clippings of a newspaper article in the San Diego Union-Tribune about himself. He wrote, "The enclosed clipping is the latest of several about a 92 year old geezer that doesn't know enough to quit. I don't understand the public interest. One would think I was right up there with Noah and the other biblical 800 and 900 year olds." The article is about his work as a volunteer with the Oceanside Police Patrol.

John Olney, of Bakersfield, CA sent a mid- August note saying he enjoys the newsletter, and then, "I have lost my wife and sister since I have been in touch." No other details.

August e-mail from LaVerne Olney, of Kingsport, TN reads, "Thanks very much for including me in your mailing list. Our first family reunion held July, 99, at Branson, MO, was a large success, with practically all the descendants of Lynn Olney (my father) attending. Interestingly, however, only 2 Olney males were present (myself and my son, Chris). I have four sisters, all of which have large extended families. If son, Chris, doesn't get to work, this arm of the family name will end. Chris is a First Officer with US Airways, flying the shuttle between NYC and Boston. I have just recently retired from the practice of Urology and now spend much of my time with my computers."

Floyd and Gladys Gage split their time between nearby Canandaigua, NY and their Lantana, FL home, "Received your Newsletter today and it was very interesting. You mentioned your home page and when I was trying to find it I found the home page of the Olney B& B. The address is <http://zekes.com/~olney/> and their e-mail address is as follows: <olney@zekes.com>. I did find your home page later. I am glad that you and Violet are doing okay. Gladys and I are fine. We were busy the first half of July when all of our children and grandchildren were here. We hadn't seen our son Alan and his wife Sandy and their four children in two years, so it was great having them here for a week before they headed to California. It was five years since they and the three daughters were together."

I had both mail and e-mail from Richard H. Olney in Cumberland, RI. I need to heavily edit both, but some of what he wrote, "We spend most of the year at this address and the cold months in Naples, FL. I dabble with genealogy, not so much of the Olney line, but with the spouses and other lines associated with our line. Expect to make a connection with the Mayflower group, as all four of my lines go back to colonial days.

Also, every couple of weeks I get to see my Uncle in Foxboro, MA. He turned 90 last March 4 and is still going strong. Lives alone, (my Aunt passed away several years ago) and gets along quite well. He's looking forward to the year 2000. He has two sons, six grandchildren, and about a dozen great grandchildren located in CT, NY, IN and AZ.

I sent an e-mail message to Dick, asking more about his uncle, since I was quite sure he had written to me. His reply, "In regard to my Uncle, his full name is Frederick Hamilton Olney, born March 4, 1909 in Mansfield, MA. His father was my namesake, Richard Hollis Olney, born in Providence on Aug.16,1880, who is listed in J. Olney's book. Fred had one brother Hendrick Atwell Olney, (my father) born May 28, 1905 and passed away Mar. 8, 1976.",

Not long after, I had a brief note from Fred. "I'm lucky to have my nephew ......... nearby to take me to my doctor appointments. Am looking forward to go on a balloon ride with him. Last year we took a small plane ride over my house so we could have pictures of my place."

I get lots of mail and messages right after my newsletter is delivered. From Mary Ellen Kelchner, of Okeechobee, FL a bit of information on her Olneys ending with a request. Edited, again,"my grandmother, Alice Cordelia Olney, b.1856 Morgan C., OH m. Theodore Gray, d. 1944 Ross Co., OH. She had 2 brothers who 'went west.' My g-uncle Franklin Olney, b. Morgan Co.,OH1854 and went to Texas. m. Docia Lowery. 3 sons. He, first County Clerk of Crockett Co., TX (created 12 Jen 1875 elected, 11 May 1891) b. Hawley, TX His brother, Willard Olney, b. 1848, Morgan Co., OH went to Oklahoma when it was Indian Territory, died there. He m. Louisa Spencer, 4 children. (Mary would like to know his death date and burial place) A sister, Louisana Olney, m. George Parker, I think they lived in Oklahoma at one time. I have a picture of Louisiana and George and their grown children dated 1908 from a studio in Edmond, OK. Children, Alice, 1873; Arthur 1879; Jesse 1877; Howard 1882. Mary would like to know more about these families. Someone may be interested in the picture.

I think it was after her newsletter was returned that I sent e-mail to Rae Olney Thompson. In her reply, "Thanks for letting me know about the newsletter. I have moved to Scottsdale, AZ. Very strange as I am getting other mail forwarded. Anyway, I would appreciate receiving the newsletter. It is very hot here, but I am enjoying my new retirement home. No, I hadn't noted that you had been in AZ. I had a house in Tucson for a couple of years around 1980. I loved the saguaros there. I live now in really North Scottsdale, right near Carefree and Cave Creek - Phoenix and Scottsdale are like a boom town - with thousands of houses going up north of the downtown areas..... the sunsets are glorious - and I love the desert."

This is part of a reply from Lila Bradley, Englewood, CO. Lila is one of those I can send the newsletter to as an attached file to e-mail. "Mel, I did receive the newsletter just fine, so you don't need to make any changes for me. Thanks. Hope all is well with you, we enjoyed the letter as usual and I need to get something sent to you sometime to include from our end. I'm working on getting retired right now and that has been my main focus but one of these days I will have a lot more time."

I never had a mailing address for Mary Olney who grew up on the Kakima Reservation. I first heard of her from Kevin Olney, in Coventry, England. He had found her in a search of names on the Internet. She seems to be a very interesting person. My last message to her was returned. Some brief exerts from several messages. "...I'm so excited to read your newsletter. I've been busy working 10 to 12 hour days...I'm a single parent, I work mainly in traffic control on road construction sites, but will jump in as a laborer if the other is slow. I'm very proud to say that all my work has paid off ... my oldest son Scott (Robert Scott Astley 19 yr.s ) is going to college this Wednesday. I wanted to send him last year but couldn't afford the pre-entry cost's. but this year, he's going with a new computer and all sort's of extra's. I'm a happy mommy. Again, thank you for thinking of me, it means more than you'll ever know. another cuzin' Mary"

Lucy Olney in Oviedo, FL sent a short note that mentioned, "It was nice that our home town honored Doc Olney and my sister, Dr. Anderson who still lives in his house was able to represent the family at the ceremony." She also says she is photographing old photos from 1800 to preserve them. When she is finished it sounds from her note, she will share for the cost of reprints.

Lucy included newspaper clipping from the New York Times with the nice long obituary for "Richard Olney, 71, a Writer of the Joys of French Cooking" Later, her sister, Mary Olney Anderson sent me Xerox copies of the same item. (I can reproduce the article, as a hard copy. SASE please for copy)

Just recently Ruby Olney, sent a newspaper review in SF Examiner & Chronicle, Sunday Jan 23, 2000. "Delicious Reading Expatriate chef-author Richard Olney's memoirs are filled with flavor"

A bit later, Mary Olney Anderson, MD of Leonidas, MI sent a copy of a newspaper article. At the top, a picture of a house, with the caption, "The Olney homestead on Pleasant Road in Leonidas is home to Margaret Feek, who lives with some of her six grandchildren. Beside the picture, Mary wrote, "Margaret Olney Feek's great grandparents settled in nearby Mendon, MI in the late 1830's - Sarah & Joseph Olney (#509). Margaret's grandfather, Elon Olney built this farmhouse in the 1870's. It's a lovely home with Olney on the roof of a large red barn."

The newspaper article has some history of the early settlers, including a bit about one Mr. Hatch who married an Indian woman. Quoting from the newspaper, "The main Indian village was located on what is now Pleasant Road near where the Olney centennial farm is located.

Margaret Feek lives there now, with her family and several cats. It is the farmhouse she grew up in. The house and several outbuildings date back to the 1870's. It's where her father lived all his life. But, for the most part "this place was run by the women" Feek said. The men died young."

Roger Wilson, whose wife is a distant cousin in my mother's family forwarded a message he found in a genealogy computer mail list requesting Olney information. This message from Nina Olney was asking for information on the Olney's in Steuben County, NY. "I know there should be a Nathaniel, Nathan, Parmenas OLNEY there from early 1820's to 1860's" Nathaniel and Nathan are my ancestors! I had seen an earlier message where Nina had asked about Olneys in Plattaburg. She had misread her information, that should have been Prattsburg. Totally different counties in NY.

Much e-mail traffic since between us. "No, I am not trying to get into ANY society, I just want to find us ALL, especially those who are lost at the beginning. There is some poor old Norman out there just waiting to be found and added to our lineage and I hope I find him. I want to produce an Olney Chronicle which gives life information as well as historical data, but reads like a novel. Something that will be a pleasure to pick up and absorb. It can be done, just will take time. I have about 25,000 Olney's now, but they aren't all connected yet. Once have them all connected, it will be verification and document purchase time."

I seldom include full mailing addresses in my newsletters, however in this case Nina has assured me she would welcome anyone with Olney connections to write direct. I have her statement of intent for using any material you may send, including privacy of living people. Feel free then to contact Nina L. Olney, P.O. Box 2334, Flagstaff, AZ 86003-2334.

Once again I have an interesting e-mail message to include and no mailing address but the message gives his location well enough. The following from T. J. Olney. "My uncle had once told me to look for the toymaker, but I see I should have looked for the toycrafter. (I assume you have some of the Olney spinning tops that are for sale at that great toy store on 1st in Seattle.) I've been up in Bellingham for 13years now. I am the grandson of the Herbert M. Olney (1897-198) that you mentioned in the newsletter. During my travels this summer, I was mildly amused that there were no Olney's left in The Dalles, at least not listed in the phone book. There is however an Olney Rd. that leads up out of town into the hills, most likely the beginning of the overland part of the Oregon trail from there. There is also an Olney Ave. in Bend, Or., one of a series of streets with names of early settlers. My family and I have tried to find out how to get up to Olney Falls, where there used to be a DNR campground. Even though the campground is closed, I imagine that the trails to the falls are still there. It is up from either Sultan or Gold Bar east of Everett on Rt. 20. If you know how to get there, please let me know. Many years ago, I went with my uncle Stephen (Poland, NY) to visit the Floyd Olney family of Westernville, NY. Those folks would be my kin at the great great grandparent level."

I directed T. J. to Dorothy Churchill. To refresh your memory, Dorothy's father, Roscoe Sheller was the author of "The Name Was Olney" the story of Nathan Olney. Dorothy had this work reprinted and likely has a few copies left. She has some other books that I can well recommend. Contact Dorothy as follows, Dorothy Churchill S Dot S Publishing

1002 Grand Astoria, OR 97103

Phone: (503) 325-2606 Fax: (503-325-5956

dchurch@pacifier.com (http://www.pacifier.com/~dchurch)

Mine was not among the original names of a message with a LOT of interesting information on Cyrus Olney, however Ruby Olney forwarded the message to me. "Judge Olney" born in central New York state, then to the mid-west then on to Oregon Territory where he undertook a law practice, eventually becoming an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in Salem." Incidentally a brother of the Nathan Olney mentioned earlier, and is mentioned in Roscoe Sheller's book (I can reproduce the item, either as a hard copy or computer file. SASE please for hard copy)

Charles S. Olney of Scottsdale, AZ wrote of his experience using the Internet for genealogy. "The Internet has become a good source for me in finding other ancestors of my great-grandfather, Martin V. Olney. First, I found a story on the Rootsweb for Nebraska that referred to my great-grandfather as a friend of the West family that moved to Nebraska from Michigan. I then corresponded by e-mail with the descendant of the West family who had submitted the story. His information helped me find my ancestors on the 1870 Michigan census (I thought they moved to Nebraska in 1871 from Indiana). Then he found information for me on my grandfather's three sisters and their husbands. I had not previously heard the names of these husbands of two of my grandfather's sisters. Apparently they both remarried after their first husbands died, and those were the names I had. I was referred to another correspondent in Bellwood, NE, who told me that descendants of one of my grandfather's sisters were still living there. I have now started e-mail correspondence with two of those descendants. There seems to be unlimited genealogy information now available on the Internet."

The following from a letter from Ruby Olney I find very interesting. "I have been enjoying a "new" grandson who was adopted by my daughter last March. He was just a year old and had always lived in an orphanage in Cheylabinsk, Russia, Russia has huge orphanages,- almost no "foster" parents. Martha went to Russia the week of the Kosovo bombings to pick up Jimmy; had to go to the Moscow US Embassy to get a visa for Jimmy to enter the US. I was worried because it was the same day that our TV was showing the large crowd of Anti-American demonstrators outside the Embassy -- but Martha and Jimmy were able to enter the Embassy through a side door and were okay. He was skinny, under-nourished, but has gained weight, is a very sharp, happy child loving trucks and animals and classical music, a great mimic and learning to talk. No problem with English, he had only understood a few Russian words."

I didn't record the last name that was signed with just the name "Mary" so I can't tell you who wrote the letter, but for sure it is interesting enough to include here. Mary wrote, "I am enclosing the envelope for copies of Allen Olney's research on Sylvanus. Sylvanus is a grandfather of Diane Berger, a coworker of mine in the Kalamazoo Michigan DDS (Disability Determination Service) We discovered we are cousins who have worked together for 16 years! I was very interested to hear that Coggeshall Olney #87 likely rode with General Harman. I have finished reading a very interesting book on the Ohio River Valley, That Dark and Bloody River, by Allan Eckert, available in paperback. While the Olneys aren't mentioned in this book, John May is described as a friend of Simon Kenton's & founder of Maysville, KY. John was killed by Indians in April 1791. I imagine it is his diary to which Allen refers."

Thanks to all of my readers that sent Holiday Greeting. I can include quite a few of the messages here and will start with the Robin Cumberland family of Ashtabula, OH. Their multicolored sheet had their family pictured at the top and then," Well, here we are at one of the higher points of the year, on a cruse to Bermuda. Actually, we were disembarking for a tour when this picture was taken. Debby's parents wanted to celebrate their 50th anniversary in a special way and invited us along! Wow. We had a great time." More of interest, "Bart turned 12 and is in 6th grade. Rachel turned 7 and is in 2nd grade. Robin completed 17 years of ministry, and is studying at Western PS Family Ctr. in Pittsburg. While he is doing that, Debby is in the process of moving from being a teller to becoming a business manager. She will be able to use more of her previous training, as well as learn more about computing."

Another greeting, this from Lila and Jim Bradley in Franktown, CO, "!t seems like we start every ".Holiday" letter with "It's been a year of change." But that seems to be the way life is these days. It was announced early in the year that Lila's company - MediaOne Group - would be purchased by AT&T. It's a little ironic that 30 years ago she started with Northwestern Bell who was owned by AT&T at the time. She went on to work for U S WEST for the last 15 years (who was not owned by AT&T) and then MediaOne Group split off from U S WEST in 1998 and now it will be owned again by AT&T. Small world! Of course Jim's company U S WEST was involved in some of this too but since he's retired it's not quite as close to home for him. Most of the rest of the year has been spent speculating what kind of changes this will bring to the employees of MediaOne Group. The deal is supposed to close in the lst quarter of 2000. We hope it does because too many careers are being held in limbo awaiting a final outcome. Jim continues to enjoy his retirement and we have started yet another major project with our home-a two-room addition with a sunroom upstairs and an exercise room downstairs."

Ken and Evelyn Olney live in Tillamook, OR. I received Evelyn's letter in mid December. She wrote, "Our youngest daughter, Sharon Shreve is going to be a Grandma. Her daughter Kristie is expecting any day now, so that will make us Great Grandparents. Kristie is in Anchorage, Alaska. The last of May our girls and grandchildren gave us a trip to Alaska. It was my first time there. Ken had been up there several times." Among several things she mentioned about their trip she told, "We went by the big pipe line and had our pictures taken touching it."

Rich and Lynn Olney's card and note tells, "We sold our house in New Boston (MI) and stayed in our trailer for a year before we bought a house in Holland, MI by one of our boy's place." They enclosed pictures taken while they were in St. Petersburg, FL. They had taken a tour bus and driven past a big sign visible from the street with the names of three attorneys, one being Olney. They drove themselves back and got a picture of both the big sign, and a smaller one by the building entrance. I did an Internet search for the name and place, and got an address and from the post office got the zip code. I wrote to Gregory L. Olney, and not long after I had a very nice and detailed e-mail account of himself and his family. "my father was very interested in the family genealogy and we too own an original copy of the Olney Memorial. We descend as follows. Thomas, Epenetus (3), John(13),Jeremiah(35), Hezekiah(89),Joseph(194), John D.(392),George W(668), Frank P(668), Lloyd, Gregory (my father). Lloyd was gassed in world war one and was forever troubled by that event. He worked for the local government in Long Beach California in the 20's, 30's and 40's and was the conductor of the symphony there. he had two children, Betty, my aunt and my father, Gregory. Betty was a banker and a mother of two and is currently retired in Huntington Beach, California. Her married name is Cops. My Dad was a career army officer, serving in wwII, Korea and Vietnam. He retired as a full colonel and was killed at age 50 in an accident. He sired two boys and two girls. I am the oldest. Citadel class of 69, 4 years in the infantry, Vietnam, left the service as a captain. 7 years farming in Iowa, law school in Florida, 3 years prosecuting and the last 14 years in private practice as a trial lawyer. my son, Joseph , is a 21 year old PFC, combat engineer stationed at Fort Hood Texas. My brother, Ronald, is a retired army colonel, west pointer, who is the head of the emergency response office in a rural county in the mid west. Our sisters are a lawyer, a nurse and both are mothers. Hope some of this is helpful or interesting. please accept my best wishes for a happy new year. Gregory L. Olney, II."

Janet Olney Lasley, Centerville, OH is one of my closer cousins. Her father was the one in our family that did the original genealogy work that connected us with Thomas Olney in Salem, MA in 1635. Her holiday letter was an update on their family.

"Julianne was engaged to Brian Burt this past summer. They met when Julianne was waitressing two summers ago. Brian just graduated from Andrews University/ Kettering Campus Physical Therapy School and is working in Fort Wayne, Indiana at an outpatient clinic. Julianne is Graduating this month from University of Dayton as a music major (voice and piano). She completed her senior piano recital in music very successfully, playing her great grandmother Lasley's signature piece by Rachmaninoff, in addition to Mozart', Debussy and Chopin. She currently has 15 piano students. Elizabeth is a Junior at Centerville High School and currently doing very well in the area of communication! She has a radio show on Saturday evenings (105.9 fm) and does the half-time announcing for the basketball games. English and history are her other best subjects and she plans to try out for musical theater this winter .. not to mention her social life ... many friends and things to do. Tom is currently working on another textbook that will be published by Allyn and Bacon. Last year he published a book titled Effective Teaching McGraw Hill Publishers. New things are happening at U.D. so he's busy fundraising for a large building project for the School of Education while being the Dean. Tom taught in London this past summer; Janet, Elizabeth and Mariana enjoyed the city and the shows. Janet just finished a big project with Sarajevo, Bosnia, bringing students and teachers to Dayton to work together on conflict resolution through the arts. It involved 19 school districts, so was a huge community effort as well. Officially, the educational component of the Dayton Peace Accords Project - it was life-changing for all involved, including us. (Janet visited Sarajevo last March with two profs from U.D.) Now she can be "just" a teacher again, at least for a while, and plans another trip to Bosnia this school year."

Bud Olney, who is mentioned back at the beginning of this issue, sent a very interesting video tape of himself being interviewed by Tom Morrow for a Living Legacies series on the Oceanside, CA PBS TV station.

One more item related to the Christmas season before I go on with some odds and ends to finish. Unless you are a very recent addition to my list of readers, you know that Ruby Parkinson Olney and Lois Olney Maitland are the real people responsible for me getting this newsletter started. I have had several pictures in the past of Lois and her late husband Fred. I have never had a picture of Ruby till this year's greeting. Making good use of my Christmas present from our son, Don, a scanner for my computer I am going to try to include their pictures as a separate item.

I was working for our daughter-in-law, Cheryl in late November when a package was left at our son's business, The Toycrafter. It was addressed to Patti Olney, but the street address was for the transit company office, in the next block. I made myself a note of the full address and wrote a letter to her. Phone calls and mail later on confirmed once again, relationship to "our" Olneys. Patti sent copies of her material that had been researched by Diane C. Ham, Mendon Town Historian. Included is a portion of a page from a history of Monroe County (NY) by Mcintosh. Pictures on the page are of Harrison Olney, Joseph Olney and Mercy Olney. I have quite a number of Olney memorabilia, and many are not directly connected to me. One such is a wall plaque that was produced by taking pages from the before mentioned history, enlarging the page and hand coloring it. The whole thing then matted and framed. That plaque is the page for the Olneys in Patti's family. The top portion has a hand drawn sketch showing the Olney farmstead in Mendon Township.

In his travels my son Don has had the opportunity to find Olney items for my collection. Recently he has been interested in the computer auctions. In this way he has added items I have mentioned before. Now this year he has added a signature of Richard Olney 1835 - 1917 who was U. S. Attorney General (1893 - 95) and U. S. Secretary of State (1895 - 97) under President Cleveland. Also from Don, two Olney places with items for my collection. One, a promissory note where the persons promise to repay $149 to the order of The Ash Flat Valley Bank, Olney, Ind. Ter. the date April 26, 1907. There is also a patch such as is worn by police officers in Olney, IL With the "White Squirrel" emblem in the center. This is a new item.

Marcia Legru, wife of Austin Olney, of Marlborough, NH sent me a Xerox copy of the cover of Olney's School Atlas, published by Pratt, Oakley & Co, of New York. Her note reads, "...which a friend of mine unearthed among some family possessions. I believe there may also have been an Olney dictionary." Another page indicates the atlas is by J. Olney, A. M. publication date, 1860.

One more tidbit of general interest, I hope, because I enjoyed it. . This via e-mail from Bob Carr in Yellowknife, NWT Canada. "Mel, I got this from Tom & Jim Goldrup, thought it may interest you. Just getting over a sort of Flu that has been attacking Canada. 4 weeks & lost 25 pounds, which I can afford. Now to keep it off. Did not feel like doing anything. They say its not the Flu that is yet to arrive. Oh Boy!! Did you know that there was a Joe Olney who lived in Texas that was friend to gunfighter Johnny Ringo. He got into a bit of a scrape with the law there and left Texas to New Mexico and then Arizona. He changed his name to Joe Hill, and was an associate of Johnny Ringo and the Clanton brothers in their feud with Wyatt Earp in Tombstone, Arizona. We found this while researching our Clanton kin in Tombstone. Even though Joe went by Hill, all of his children kept the name of Olney. He descends from Epenetus Olney, son of emigrant Thomas."

As always, replies and ideas for future issues should be sent to me at 10 Manhattan Square, Apt. 4 T, Rochester, NY 14607-3946 Phone (716)325-4437 FAX at The Toycrafter 716-654-7802 E-mail OlneysofAmerica@aol.com.

If you are ever in this area, plan on a visit with us.

All contributions toward my expenses are greatly appreciated. Readers of this web page version are welcome to contribute also. My expenses have gone up and I ask for $4.00 per year for the two issues. REMEMBER I NEED YOUR INPUT TO KEEP GOING.

Melburne A. "Mel" Olney