Methodist Camp Meeting 1896

Both Catherine and Mathias Martin belonged to the Lutheran Church in their native Germany, but joined the Methodist Church after coming to America.  Catherine's obituary states that "she was converted to God under the labors of George Miller and ever since was a member of the Evangelical Association."  Their son John S Martin was also an active member of the Methodist Church.

John S. Martin, his family, and his mother Catherine "Kate" Martin would attend annual Methodist Camp meetings.  These yearly meetings were held at Tindall's Grove.  In the 1896 photo shown below, the Martin family is in front of the John Martin Cabin at the Methodist Camp Grounds.  Showing the original black and white photo on top and the colorized version below.

Back row standing: John S. Martin holding Wilber, ?not known?, Christina Weiss, Mary Martin, ?not known?, Ahart Martin, Christina Martin Wittick

Front row: Elizabeth Martin, Emma, Elmer, John, Catherine Martin (mother of John)

The following article from the Dispatch newspaper (Moline, Illinois) features the program for the 1903 Methodist Camp Meeting.  As noted in the news article, John Martin was on the executive committee.  The camp meeting would last for a week.  The daily program was the same throughout the week with different people preaching each day.

The Dispatch (Moline, Illinois)
8 Aug 1903

Related Posts:
Mathias and Catherine (Castner) Martin 
John and Elizabeth Martin Family 
German Immigrant Ancestors 
In Living Color

"Churches, Schools, and Theatres Are Closed"

After reading the above headlines to a news article, one would think they were reading from a newspaper published today about the present-day Coronavirus Covid-19 Pandemic we are experiencing.   Our churches, schools, theaters, restaurants, sporting events, etc. are closed.  The public is being warned to practice hand washing,  "social distancing", and self-isolation to stop the spread of the virus.  

But, the above news article is not from present day.  The news article is actually from an Oklahoma newspaper written over a 100 years ago during the Spanish Flu Pandemic.  The Spanish Flu is said to have killed between 50 and 80 million people worldwide.

1918  Spanish Flu Commentary

American-Democrat (Anadarko, Oklahoma)

10 Oct 1918

The above newspaper was published in Anadarko, the county seat for Caddo County, Oklahoma.  In October 1918, we had family members living in two adjacent counties: the Leffel family lived in Grady County and the Baldwins lived in Kiowa County. The Spanish Flu would have caused great  concern to our family members and most likely caused the death of our great-grandfather, Charles Leffel.

On June 4, 1919 in Chickasha, Grady County, Oklahoma, our 68 year old Great-Grandpa Charles E Leffel died of influenza.  Since the Spanish Flu was still claiming many lives in the area during 1919, it's most likely that the influenza Charles died of was the Spanish Flu.

The above newspaper article in it's entirety can be found on Newspapers.com, if you have an account click here  

Related Links:
Charles E Leffel 

Wikipedia article about the Spanish Flu   

1902 McNeil Reunion in Color

Grandma Sarah Margaret Cole McNeil

1902 Family Reunion

Last June I posted an article about the 1902 McNeil Reunion that took place in Smith County, Kansas.  I was excited when I found the original newspaper clipping (that matched the old one in our family bible) of the reunion in the Smith County Pioneer newspaper.  And, even more excited to find some  photos (posted by a McNeil cousin) that were taken the day of the reunion.  The original photos were black and white or sepia and seemed to have aged with time.

I love-love-love the new colorizing tool at MyHeritage and the 1902 McNeil reunion photos were some of the first old photos I wanted to colorize.   As you can see from comparing the the original and the colorized versions of the reunion photos, the colorized versions are much improved.

This first photo is of all the family members who attended the 1902 reunion.  According to the newspaper article of the McNeil Reunion, the photograph was taken on the front porch of the Nate McNeil home in the afternoon by Photographer Stone.  Grandma McNeil (Sarah Margaret Cole McNeil) is right in the center of the photo, resting her head back on the white pillow.

Original Photo of the McNeil Reunion 1902

Colorized Photo of McNeil Reunion 1902

(Back row: Martin M. Hatfield, Nancy McNeil Hatfield, Thomas C. McNeil, Mary "Stella" Reed Hoyt, George Hoyt, Addie Ball, Noah Ball, Alma Peterson Hatfield, Amos Reed, Charles E. Hatfield. Middle row: Minnie Newbrey McNeil, James "Harmon" McNeil, Verna McNeil, Susie Hoyt McNeil, Nathan H McNeil, Grandma McNeil (Sarah Cole McNeil), Levi Ball, Susan McNeil Ball, Albert Reed, Roxie Ellen McNeil Reed. Children: Clinton Hatfield, Lenard McNeil, Juanita Higby, Nellie McNeil Miller, Lester McNeil, Blanche Hatfield, Blanche McNeil Miller, Alfred Hatfield.)

The MyHeritage colorizing tool seems to help restore old faded photos.  The photo below was taken at the same time as the photo above.  It is a photograph of Grandma Sarah Margaret Cole McNeil with her six children. Her sons are standing in the back top row (L-R): Harmon McNeil, Nathan McNeil, and Thomas McNeil.  Sarah and daughters are sitting in the front row (L-R): Nancy McNeil Hatfield, Grandma Sarah Cole McNeil, Susannah McNeil Ball, and Roxie Ellen McNeil Reed.

Grandma McNeil and children
Original photo

Grandma McNeil and children
Colorized version

As you can see from the the comparison, the colorized version is clearer and more detailed than the original.  There is still some fading at the top of the photo but overall the quality of colorized photo is much improved.  Grandma McNeil is especially detailed as you can see from the below thumbnail of Grandma McNeil.

Sarah M Cole McNeil
1902

Related Posts:
1902 McNeil Reunion 

William and Sarah Cole McNeil Family
Introducing MyHeritage In Color  
MyHeritage in Color Goes Viral 

In Living Color

Recently MyHeritage.com added a new feature to colorize black and white photos. The colorizing tool from DeOldify is called "MyHeritage in Color".  I started by colorizing a few black and white photos I had previously added to my family tree on MyHeritage.

When I first saw a colorized photo of my Grandpa, I was stunned and had tears in my eyes.  My Grandpa Baldwin died almost 50 years ago and my memories of him had turned black and white just like the photos.  But, then after colorizing the photo he was right before me in living color!

Mabel and Jess Baldwin

Colorized comparison

Photos that have been colorized will have a small white icon in the bottom left corner of the colorized photo.  Some photos turned out better than others -- the technology for colorizing is not perfect.  But the colorized photos for the most part are accurate, easy (just click the colorizing button), and fast (a few seconds).  Downloading is available for the original photo, colorized version, or comparison (as I have used here.)  If there was grass or trees in the original photo, the color seems to pop, as seen in the photo below.

Jess Baldwin

Colorized comparison

Related Posts:
Introducing MyHeritage In Color  
MyHeritage in Color Goes Viral  
My Favorite Cowboy