Hannah Melvina Bluett (1842-1938)
Picture shared by Rob Congdon on Ancestry.com.
John Bluett (1803-1852) married Honor Rodda Bluett (1804-1863) in Cornwall, England and immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1833, bringing with them their children John, MaryAnn and Martha. Eight more children were born to them in Pennsylvania. This is the story of their daughter Hannah Melvina and her family in Dutch Flat, California. Hannah was born in Pennsylvania and was the younger sister of my Great Great Great Grandmother Harriet Bluett Hurd, also born in Pennsylvania.
Hannah married Silas Schaffer in 1862 and they settled in Dutch Flat, California. At that time, Dutch Flat was an important stage coach stop, as well as the site of large hydraulic mining operations. Evidence of these destructive mining practices is still noticeable in the area today, although much of it has been covered by vegetation and trees over the last 140 years.
Silas was a miner originally from Ohio. In 1860 he was mining in Eureka, Nevada with his brother before he went to Dutch Flat. He was engaged in hydraulic mining and then eventually farming at the turn of the century.
Silas Schaffer from Find A Grave
Silas and Hannah had a total of six children born from 1863-1877. Their first son Phillip Henry Schaffer lived to be nine months old, and was buried in the Dutch Flat Cemetery in February of 1864. John Wesley Schaffer was born in 1865 on the Canyon Creek Stream where the family lived, and worked in the timber and orchard farming industry later in life. He was buried in the Dutch Flat Cemetery in 1940. Alice Nancy Schaffer was born in 1867, married and lived in Foresthill, Placer County. She sadly died of influenza in November of 1918 at the age of 51. Charles Silas Schaffer was born in 1870 and worked as a rancher in the area. He was buried in the Dutch Flat Cemetery in 1947. Katherine Melvina Schaffer was born in 1873, lived in Los Angeles where she worked as a stenographer and was buried in the Dutch Flat Cemetery. Frank Albert Schaffer was born in 1877, worked for Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and was buried in the Dutch Flat Cemetery in 1957.
I received a DNA match notification on Ancestry last summer of a 5th cousin related to Hannah. I began to scrutinize this person's family tree. How were we related to each other? Did she have pictures?? Indeed, she did. One picture especially stood out to me, as it looked vaguely familiar. This was her picture...
Hannah Melvina Bluett Schaffer shared by Linda Sweeney on Ancestry.com
I had been scanning and sorting pictures from the Burrows/Hurd/Bluett side of the family most of this last summer, and I remembered that I had a set of 4 pictures of a family that was unidentified. In one picture that stood out in my memory there was an older woman sitting in a distinctive looking wicker chair surrounded by family members. I got my pictures out from my "unidentified" pile. This was the one that I had...
My picture was taken at the same time as the picture that Linda had shared! I contacted her through Ancestry in October of 2020 and she kindly replied back. Unfortunately, the only identification she had on the back of her photo was "Uncle Hank" (the young man with the hat and vest). She identified Hannah from comparing other identified pictures that she had of her. Linda does not know who the rest of the group might have been. So, the the family behind Hannah is still unidentified, save "Uncle Hank". But, I now know the origins of the set of four pictures in my possession. I shared my pictures with Linda, and now we both have complete sets.
These pictures must have been taken around the years 1935-37, as Hannah passed away in mid May of 1938 at the age of 97. I love the wooden walkway off the front porch and the lush northern California growth. These pictures look like they were taken in early or mid summer. Possibly it was Hannah's birthday (July 14).
Bluett Pictures in my collection. Unidentified family or friends of Hannah Bluett Schaffer. Date unknown, but probably close to 1938. Taken in Dutch Flat, California.
This photograph looks like it may have been taken around Hannah's 60th birthday, sometime between 1900-1910. She is wearing a jabot lace collar.
1914 Boy: Unk, Hannah, Eve Sullivan and Melva Francis Wilson (daughter of Alice Nancy Schaffer) with kitten. Shared by Linda Sweeney on Ancestry.com
Alice Nancy Schaffer married Scott Wilson (a placer miner originally from Pennsylvania) and had three children: Melva, Robert and Alice. I share DNA with several descendants of Melva Wilson as well as her sister, Alice (including Linda). This family is buried in the Foresthill Cemetery in Northern California.
I'm glad my DNA connections could help me finally identify where my pictures were taken and positively identify Hannah herself. DNA cousins have been a source of added information on other parts of my family tree as well (see posts on Alexander Burrows and Charles John King). Even though I'm not a big DNA fanatic, I have been very surprised at how easy it has been to make cousin connections. They often have the very same questions that I do about family mysteries, and we have been able to help each other figure some things out. When I started out on this genealogy journey, I had no idea how important those DNA connections would become!
Hannah's obituary published in the Auburn Journal 19 May, 1938
Shared by Linda Sweeney on Ancestry.com
On my list of things to do once the COVID-19 Pandemic is over and things open back up again...a trip to Dutch Flat and the Dutch Flat Cemetery. I have traveled over I-80 to Colfax and Sacramento many, many times and have always wanted to stop in this quaint little mining town, which has now given me a new, unique connection to the foothills of California.
Relationship Reference: Me->Margaret Hansen Boothby->Harold Hansen->Vere Hansen Burrows->Elizabeth Jane Hurd Burrows->Harriet Elizabeth Bluett Hurd (older sister of Hannah Melvina Bluett Schaffer)->John Bluett and Honor Rodda Bluett from Cornwall.
Fantastic! I can't imagine what that was like to see that photo, an obvious mate to the one you had. And from a 5th cousin! I once had a 4th cousin share a photo of our common 3rd great grandfather, that was very cool. Thanks for sharing.
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