Sleuth Sisters

To recap the story

Tammy found a couple of old framed photographs in the attic of her home in Dixon, Illinois. As often happens in our busy lives, Tammy forgot about the old photographs. Recently, as she was going through an old box of stuff, Tammy came across those photographs. This time she was determined to find out who they were, and to reunite the photos with the family they belonged to.

The second photograph

This framed photograph of a distinguished gentleman contained clues on the back. The name “Hardy Allison” and “Clifford Allison’s father”.

Civil War veteran

Hardy Allison lived a long life. Here is his obituary:

W.H. Allison, Aged 85, Dies
Civil War Veteran Succumbs in Chester.
William Hardy Allison, 85, Civil war veteran and lifelong resident of Hancock county, W. Va., died Friday at 7 p.m. in his home at 849 Louisiana avenue, Chester. He observed his birthday Thursday. He enlisted at Pughtown in Company I, 12th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, January 1, 1884. He was wounded in the battle of New Market, Virginia, May 16, 1864. He was mustered out of service at Cumberland, Md., in August, 1865. He was married to Miss Anna Pugh, daughter of John and Hannah Pugh of Pughtown on April 7, 1868. They were tendered a post-card shower in their home Tuesday marking their 63rd wedding anniversary. He was a member of General Lyon post No. 44, G.A.R., and the First Methodist Episcopal church of Chester. Besides his widow, he leaves two daughters, Mrs. John Fowler and Mrs. Hugh Miller, and one son, Clifford Allison of Chester, and brother, A.S. Allison of Pughtown. Funeral services will be held Monday at 2 p.m. in the First Methodist Episcopal church in Chester, in charge of Rev. Alexander Steele of Ligonier, Pa., assisted by Rev. C.J. Bland, pastor of the church. Burial will be made in Locust Hill cemetery, near Chester. The Ladies of the G.A.R. will hold services in the home Sunday at 7 p.m.

Off the track

We got off track a bit because we focused on Illinois. That’s where the photographs were discovered, and that’s where Frances Hornick Jolly lived and died.

Back on the track

From the obituary, we learned that Hardy and Anna Mary had a son named Clifford, as noted on the back of the photograph, where it was also written that Clifford’s wife was Norma. We found Clifford and Norma buried at Columbiana County Memorial Park in East Liverpool, Ohio. In addition, we learned that Clifford had been married once before to Elsie Catherine Murray Allison, who tragically died of tuberculosis at the young age of 18, barely a month after their infant child died.

How is a West Virginia Veteran related to the young girl in the other photograph?

Clifford Allison, and his wife Norma, had a daughter named Frances June Allison. Frances married a young man named George Hornick, Jr. Here’s the wedding notice from the Evening Review of September 16, 1932.

1900 and 1910 Federal Census reports show the Hornick family living in West Virginia. But in 1940 the Hornicks were in Ohio. How did that happen?

A move to Ohio

By 1940, grown-up George and his bride Frances, were in Ohio, and George still worked for Crucible Steel which is also indicated on his draft registration card in the same year. The company may have invited George to move to a new plant in East Liverpool, and we imagine his parents, Clifford and Norma, followed their son and his family to Ohio.

Frances and George Hornick had three children, George M. Hornick, David J. Hornick and Norma Keyser, which we learned from her obituary.

Frances J. Hornick, 91
East Liverpool — Frances J. Hornick, 91, formerly of Etruria Street and Inez Avenue, died at 6:40 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2006, at the East Liverpool Convalescent Center following a lengthy illness. Born in Chester, West Virginia June 17, 1914, daughter of the late Clifford and Norma Holter Allison, she was a member of St. Ann’s Catholic Church and the St. Ann’s Ladies Guild, of which she served as president at one time. She was a lifelong resident of the area. Her husband, George Hornick, whom she married Sept. 14, 1932, died Dec. 9, 1991. A sister, Elsie Justice, and a brother, William Allison, preceded her in death. A daughter, Norma Keyser of Dixon, Ill., and two sons, George M. Hornick and his wife, Marlene, of Bethel Park, Pa., survive. There are six grandchildren, Dr. Jack Keyser, Eric Keyser and Karla Keyser – Dell and her husband, Ken, all of Illinois, Tammy McGeehan and her husband, Tim, of East Liverpool, Marci Clark of Virginia Beach, Va., and Laura Hornick of Bethel Park. Six great – grandchildren also survive.

The missing puzzle piece

So we see that the Allison and Hornick families were related through the marriage of Frances June Allison and George Hornick, Jr., but we’re still missing the last piece – how exactly does Frances Charlene Hornick Jolly fit in? Stay tuned!

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