Preparing for the Holidays

 

Photo by A. Jones. Macys NYC. 18 Nov 2023.

Festive in New York

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Bryant Park, NYC. 18 Nov 2023.

Sunday at The Garden

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. NYC, 19 Nov 2023.

Yesterday we took in the action at Madison Square Garden in New York City to fulfill a bucket list item to see my Indiana Hoosiers live as part of the Empire Classic doubleheader. Unfortunately, they lost to defending national champions UConn 77-57, but the game experience and quick visit to NYC was pretty cool. We had amazing seats along the rail in Section 109, on a corner where IU entered from the locker room and were close to the Indiana bench.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Pre-game warm-ups.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Xavier Johnson.

Allison was able to get a handshake with IU legend and fellow Evansville native Calbert Cheaney prior to the game. 

Earlier in the day, we walked the High Line and grabbed some excellent tacos at Chelsea Market. Saturday evening we enjoyed the super cool Fotografiska Museum. The Best in Show exhibition currently on display is well worth it.  

Mystery Adeline

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. New Orleans, 29 Oct 2023.

Wandering around the St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery #1 in New Orleans, while looking for a crypt or headstone for the Halter family, my eye caught this marker for Adeline Baker, who died at the age of 21 in New Orleans. There's little to go on connecting her back to New York, but she should appear in the either the 1850 or 1860 US Census.

Perhaps she made the journey from New York to New Orleans by ship, either with her parents or a sibling. She's not connected to my wife's family or my own. When I saw the marker, I was intrigued and thought I might be able to find out more about her. There's no obituary or reference to Adeline Baker in the New Orleans newspapers from October 1862.

Allison's 3rd-great-grandfather, Joseph Francois Halter, was also born in 1841, essentially the same age as Adeline. Perhaps they lived in the same neighborhood, or may have crossed paths at the French Market. I looked at all the Bakers in the New Orleans City Directory of 1861, in the hopes that might point me to a potential connection. There's a Helena Baker, born in New York in 1841, living in the 9th Ward of New Orleans in the 1860 US Census, but that isn't a perfect match.

1860 US Census. New Orleans.

Unfortunately, I do not have much more to go on. For now, I'll post this here and return to stories on our related branches.

Empty Beach

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Portugal, 13 Oct 2023.