Betty Daniells

In several previous blogs, I have mentioned the work of my Aunt Betty Daniells in gathering genealogical information on our ancestors.  Betty spent her retirement years traveling in the U.S. and Europe, gathering data.  She did her work before the age of the computer, so everything was collected and recorded by hand.   Starting with her parents, she followed each line as far as she could.  One line, through Juliana Coleman, wife of Peter Plowman, was traced back to around 1400 where it was linked to the royalty of England.  The English have historically kept detailed ancestral records so that once a link is established, it is possible to connect dozens of generations.  Her research shows that the ancestors of the Daniells/Plowman/Coleman line includes Kings of England, France, Italy, Germany and Poland.  Our ancestors include Charlemagne, William the Conqueror, Alfred the Great, and numerous Counts, Dukes, Viscounts, and Earls.  Several of our ancestors signed the Magna Carta.  Lady Godiva is my 34th great-grandmother.

It is one thing to gather all of the data on European royalty; it is another matter entirely to display it.  Betty traced one line 76 generations to Mark Antony and at least six more lines 40 or more generations.  It was common practice in the Middle Ages for treaties between nations to include the marriage of one king’s daughter to the king’s new ally.  Lines crisscross and kings have children by multiple wives.  No standard genealogy chart handles all of this data.  One of Betty’s major accomplishments was to organize all of her data into a chart.  I have several rough drafts she made on long white window shades.  Eventually, she created a  copy where each couple’s names were typed on tabs which were attached to poster board and then laminated.  A picture of this chart, made in two pieces, is shown here.  Actually, there is a third piece which connects as an overlay.  I don’t know if anyone else has been able to create a chart displaying  this information, but I think this was a major accomplishment.  I think that Betty made a copy of this chart for each of her 11 nieces and nephews.

Betty Daniells' Ancestry Tree

I was recently able to have the chart scanned and anyone who would like a PDF copy can reach me through the comments section of this blog.

W.C. Daniells

The following poem was not written by W.C. Daniells but was found among his other writings.  W.C. was a staunch Republican, and this poem reflects perfectly what his attitude was toward President Franklin Roosevelt.  The author is unknown.

REJECTED

A stranger stood at the gates of Hell,

And the Devil himself had answered the bell.

He looked him over from head to toe,

And said, “My Friend, I’d like to know

What you have done in the line of sin

To entitle you to come within?”

Then Franklin D. with his usual guile

Stepped forth and flashed his toothy smile.

“When I took charge in Thirty-three

A nation’s faith was mine,” said he.

I promised this and I promised that,

And I calmed them down with a Fireside chat,

I spent their money on fishing trips,

And fished from the decks of their Battleships,

I gave them jobs on the P.W.A.,

Then raised their taxes and took it away.

I raised their wages and closed their shops,

I killed their pigs and burned their crops.

I double-crossed both old and young,

And still, the fools, my praises sung.

I brought back beer, and what do you think?

I taxed it so high, they couldn’t drink.

I furnished money with Government loans,

When they missed a payment, I took their homes.

When I wanted to punish the folks, you know,

I put my wife on the radio.

I paid them to let their Farms lie still,

And imported Food Stuffs from Brazil.

I curtailed crops, when I felt real mean

And shipped in corn from Argentine.

When they’d start to worry, stew and fret,

I’d get them to chanting the Alphabet,

With A.A.A. and the C.C.C.

The W.P.A. and N.L.B.

With these many units, I got their goats,

And still, I crammed it down their throats.

My workers worked with the speed of snails,

While the taxpayers chewed their fingernails.

When the Organizers needed dough,

I closed the plants for the C.I.O.

I ruined jobs, and I ruined health,

And I put the screws on the rich man’s wealth.

And someone who couldn’t stand the gaff,

Would come to me, and how I’d laugh.

When they got too strong on certain things,

I’d pack and head for old Warm Springs.

I ruined their country, their homes and then

I placed the blame on Nine Old Men.

Now Franklin talked both long and loud,

And the Devil stood, and his head he bowed.

At last he said, “Let’s make it clear,

You’ll have to move, you can’t stay here;

For once you mingle with this mob,

I’ll have to hunt myself a job.”

We continue with pictures of the teen and young adult years of the Daniells sisters.

Betty, Mary, and Eleanor

Left to right, Eleanor, Dora, Jean, Betty, and Mary

Left to right, Jean, Betty, Dora, Mary, and Eleanor

Daniells sisters, 1932

Jean and Eleanor in their band uniforms.

Mary and Betty, 1928

Jean, W.C., Mary, and Dora with Mary's twins Mary and Donna.

Front row left to right, Eleanor, W.C. and Jean. Back row, Mary, Dora, and Betty.

Betty, Iva, Mary, Dora, Jean, and Eleanor with Mary's twins Donna and Mary.

The five Daniells sisters enjoyed doing things together, and there were many opportunities for group pictures.  In previous posts, I have focused primarily on individual sisters.  Today, I will share group pictures.

Iva with Dora and baby Mary, 1911

Baby Mary and Dora with parents Iva and W.C. Daniells, 1911

Iva with Dora, Mary, and Betty, 1914

Parents Iva and W.C. with Dora, Mary, and Betty, ca 1913

Iva holds Eleanor while Dora, Mary, and Betty ride the horse.

Left to right, Mary, Betty, Eleanor, and Dora Daniells, 1917

Left to right, Iva with Jean, Dora, Eleanor, Mary, and Betty, ca 1921

Left to right, Mary, Betty, Eleanor, and Dora, ca 1918

A "band" of sisters: Dora, Mary, Betty, Eleanor, and Jean, ca 1929

Eleanor Grace, the fourth daughter of Will Carleton and Iva Bliss Daniells, was born April 30, 1916, at the Pivot near Wacousta, Michigan.  She attended school in Wacousta and then moved to Eustis, Florida, where she graduated from high school.  Like her sisters, Eleanor attended Florida State Womens College and graduated with a degree in music education.  She later earned a Masters in Music from Northwestern University.  As a graduation present for her Masters degree, her father W.C. Daniells bought her the finest violin he could find, a Claude Pierray violin made in the 1700’s.  The violin is now owned by Eleanor’s niece Katy Webster. 

Eleanor taught music at Culver Stockton College in Missouri.  She then accepted a position to teach in the Escuela Americana in El Salvador and taught there for several years.  At the end of her assignment there, her sisters Mary and Betty and I flew to El Salvador and drove back with her through El Salvador, Guatemala,  and Mexico.  We had many adventures in her four passenger Austin Cambridge. 

Eleanor never married, but she was very close to her 11 nieces and nephews. 

Eleanor taught for one year at the University of Tampa and then transferred to East Tennessee State University where she taught in the music education department until her retirement.  She then moved to Bishops Glenn Retirement Home in Holly Springs, Florida, where she had an apartment near her sister Mary.  She selected an apartment with an over-sized living room to accommodate her large Baldwin grand piano.

Besides her work at the University, throughout her life Eleanor was involved in P.E.O. and with the Presbyterian Church.  Up until shortly before her death, she played the organ at her church in Daytona Beach.  She also played the piano for chapel at Bishops Glenn.  She played the viola de gamba and the recorder in various musical societies. 

Eleanor loved to travel.  She attended music workshops all over the world and enjoyed Smithsonian tours.  Sometimes her sister Betty would join her. 

Eleanor died in 2008 and is buried in Wacousta Cemetery, Wacousta, Michigan, next to her beloved sister Betty and near her mother and four sisters.  To view a memorial for Eleanor Daniells, click on the highlighted link.

Iva Bliss Daniells and Eleanor, 1916

Eleanor, about 2 years of age

Eleanor, about 2 years old

Eleanor Daniells, all dressed up.

Eleanor takes a bow.

Eleanor and her car, Sept. 6, 1948.

Eleanor in cap and gown.

Eleanor makes a Bear Paw quilt,1986

Eleanor at the Cottage.

Betty Daniells

Estella Elizabeth “Betty” Daniells was the third daughter of Will Carleton and Iva Daniells.  She was born at the Pivot in Wacousta, Michigan, on September 30, 1912.  She attended elementary school in Wacousta and high school in Eustis, Florida.  Like her two older sisters she attended Florida State College for Women and graduated with a degree in Education.  She never married.  I believe that originally she taught English, but at the beginning of World War Two there was a need to teach mathematics to servicemen.  Betty volunteered to do this, saying that, since she had struggled with math, she could understand her students’ problems and could help them.  Apparently, the subject appealed to her since she spent the rest of her career teaching math.  Most of her career was spent teaching at Lake Wales High School in Florida.  Her strength in language was also obvious, and she was the family grammar expert.  

After retirement, Betty devoted much of her time as the family historian and genealogist.  She traveled widely in the U. S. and England collecting information, and she corresponded with numerous researchers.  I still have boxes of her data that I have not had time to organize and enter into Family Tree Maker.  She tracked each of her ancestors back as far as possible and found one line through Julia Coleman and the Plowmans that she traced back to around the first century.  The family trees became so extensive that she plotted them on window shades which could be unrolled to follow them.  According to her records, we are descended from many European kings including Old King Cole who really did exist around the 5th century in England. 

Betty died in 1995 and is buried next to her sister Eleanor.

Click on the highlighted link to view the Betty Daniells Memorial.

Betty Daniells at 3 years old.

Dora, Mary, Iva, and W.C. Daniells holding Betty.

Betty feeds the chickens.

Betty Daniells at about 3 years of age.

Betty Daniells, about 1930.

Betty in 1931 as a Freshman at Florida State Women's College.

Betty in the 1940's.

Betty, 1962

Betty with Eleanor and Mary at the Cottage.

Mary Deone Daniells Winegar

My mother Mary Deone was born to Iva Bliss and Will Carleton Daniells on December 15, 1910, in Mercedes, Texas.  She was the only one of the five Daniells sisters who was not born in Wacousta.   

When she was about six months old, the Daniells family moved to Chicago and, about 18 months later, to Watertown Township near Wacousta.  Except for her third grade year, Mary and her sisters attended Watertown Center School until she completed eighth grade.  The family spent her third grade year in Tavares, Florida.  In 1923, the family moved to Eustis, Florida, where Mary graduated from high school.

Like her sister Dora, Mary attended Florida State College for Women, now Florida State University.  She completed three years of college there but was forced to drop out due to health problems.  She moved to Wacousta where her mother was living.  Mary completed her college education and received her degree in music education from Albion College in Michigan. 

Mary Winegar reads her Bible at the cottage, 1986

In 1938 Mary married Donald Stephenson Winegar at the Pivot in Wacousta.  The newly married couple honeymooned at the cottage built by Orla and Kate Bailey and which my wife and I now own. 

Mary and Donald had four children, Donna Lorraine, Mary Elaine, James Steven, and Carleton David.  After her marriage to Donald, Mary devoted her life to raising their children and assisting Donald while he completed his education and in his ministry.

More details on Mary’s life can be found in the July 26, 2009 post.

To see a Memorial for Mary Daniells Winegar, click the link.

Iva Daniells holds baby Mary

Iva Daniells cares for baby Mary in Mercedes, Texas

Iva with Dora and baby Mary, 1911

Iva with 4-year-old Mary, Dora, and Betty, 1914

Mary, 1933

Mary Daniells

Mary Daniells

The five Daniells sisters at Dora's wedding. From left to right, Jean Lowell, Eleanor Daniells, Betty Daniells, Mary Winegar, John and Dora Panchik.

Mary Winegar on the porch at the cottage, 1992

Dora Katherine Daniells was born in 1908 at the Pivot in Wacousta, Michigan. She grew up in Wacousta, Michigan, and Eustis, Florida.  She was the first of the five Daniells sisters to attend Florida State Woman’s College, now Florida State University, and  graduated with a degree in music education.  She taught music in the public schools in Detroit and was involved in the music programs of several churches.  She helped her sister, Mary pay for her education at Florida State.  This tradition of one sister helping to pay for the next to attend college was continued until all five sisters graduated from college.  This was an amazing accomplishment in an era when few women attended college at all.

Dora married John Panchik in 1950 at the Pivot in Wacousta.  She lost her sight due to diabetes but still played the piano.  Family recordings made shortly before her death show a very powerful performance. She died in 1983.

Dora Daniells as an infant.

Dora at age 5

Dora Daniells, farm girl.

Dora

Dora in 1937, age 29

Dora and John Panchik's Wedding

The Daniells sisters at the wedding of Dora and John.

Dora

Dora and John Panchik in 1962

John Panchik

John Panchik, undated