A sketch of the Dramatic Hall as it looked circa 1880. [detail from newspaper sketch, originally published in The North American, Philadelphia, May 1, 1904]
Wheatley Dramatic Hall (so named for actor William Wheatley whose troupe, the Wheatley Dramatic Association, took up residence at the theater in the 1860s) was a building with its own impressive and colorful history. Its name was shortened during the seven years Peter was in charge.
I have been in the process of writing my first ancestor profile all week. I’m a first-time mama to a very busy toddler and a freelance journalist, so time to compose comes in bite-sized chunks of a few sleepy minutes here and there.
But it was a discovery of a newspaper article containing some bit of scandal that has really caused the delay. Because such a find, of course, always leads to more research.
What can you do when the records that surely would contain a wealth of information about your ancestors no longer exist?
My 4th great-grandfather, Charles Bender, has long been one of the more elusive members of my family tree.
One of the big reasons why is that the church he joined as an adult is defunct and its records seemingly lost.
It’s always wise to periodically conduct a Google search on your ancestors. With more and more records, old books and other potential sources of information being digitized each day, you never know when you might find something new.
axehandles 