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Thomas Edison invented a light bulb that was reliable and long-lasting in 1879.  In 1882, with the help of the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of New York, Thomas Edison installed electric lights in parts of Manhattan.  Most homes continued to use gas and candle light for many years after this. By 1925 about 50% of all American homes had installed electric lights.   While indexing the 1919 Janesville Daily Gazette I find interesting articles.  Sometimes they pertain to family but not always.  This article does not pertain to family but it certainly illustrates how dangerous electricity was in the early days of its use.   The article reads: The city council has awarded damages to the extent of $5,000 to Edward Draeger for the death of his wife, due to electric shocks when she attempted to turn on one of the city's incandescent lights a few weeks ago.  After a search, I was not able to locate any more information about this accident.  I think the city got off pretty easy. Refere

The sixty-seven-year-old impoverished widow of George Martin, Susannah North Martin of Amesbury, was hanged as a witch on July 19, 1692 on the basis of the testimony of the accusing circle of girls of Salem Village and other neighbors. Although she maintained her innocence to the end, a previous history of witchcraft accusations and the momentum of Salem's accusations carried her to the gallows. Susannah Martin figures in historian Carol Karlsen's account of the Salem outbreak as an example of a woman who was easily targeted as a threat to the orderly transmission of property down the paternal line because of Martin's role in an ongoing court dispute over her father's will.  Women were not supposed to step outside of their assigned roles.    There are 23 depositions/testimonies at the Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project ( http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/n92.html ), University of Virginia Library,  related to Susannah Martin.  Here is the depos

Michael Goodman immigrated as a child to Wisconsin from Ireland with his family.   The family lived south of LaValle, Sauk county, close to Michael’s uncle, Thomas Goodman.   Michael’s father, Peter, and his uncle Thomas worked at the pig iron foundry in Ironton.   After processing, the iron was shipped to Lake Michigan, but when the port facilities did not materialize the foundry closed.   This is probably what prompted a move to Janesville by the Peter Goodman family where Michael eventually became a livery man.   Because horses and wagons were the primary mode of transportation in the 1800’s livery stables were an integral part of the community.  A livery stable offered horses, teams and wagons of all sorts for hire.  Funeral Cortege in front of livery stable in Janesville, Wisconsin   As automobiles became available in the early 1900’s livery stables slowly converted to include the use of cars for taxiing individuals.  Michael Goodman’s livery stable was no different.  He was the f

  This 1865 photo shows Main Street in Janesville, Wisconsin.   The store, Lamont & Fuller, can be seen in the foreground.  Lamont  & Fuller dealt in groceries, crockery, flour, feed, butter, cheese and fruits.   Their store was located at 8 North Main Street.   The sidewalks are constructed of wooden planks, and the road is dirt.   There doesn’t seem to be any pattern to the traffic, or to the parking, either.   I wonder how a pedestrian ever crossed the street without bumping into a horse or dragging a long skirt in manure.  Considering that the first white settlers arrived in Janesville in 1835, this photo shows a great deal of development in just 30 years.     The photo is from a stereopticon image available online; (1860 - 1920) Main St. Janesville, Wis. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e1-bec8-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99   The information about Lamont & Fuller is from “ Holland's Janesville city direct

Oswald J. Hitz [1] married Sarah J. Harper in December of 1883.  While researching Sarah Harper an interesting incident was discovered that involved her father, Manadier D. Harper.  The event is known as the Great Hanging of 1862 at Gainesville, Texas.    Rising tensions in Cooke county, Texas were the result of increased migration to the area following an expansion of the Butterfield Overland Mail route, a semi-weekly mail and passenger stage service that traveled from St. Louis, through northern Texas, terminating in San Francisco.  The new migrants to the area did not own slaves which caused the numbers of slave owners to dwindle.  By 1862 only 10% of the population of Cooke county owned slaves.  Cooke and surrounding counties voted against secession which focused the fears of the slave holders in the county on the residents of the county that did not own slaves.  A rumor circulated that 1,700 men had joined a Union League and were going to attack Confederate militia arsenals.  Due