Today's news is from the genealogy front. I found a death record for my great-grandmother Belle Perry Clark, recorded in Everett, WA, following her death of cancer Jan. 24, 1903, at only 48 years of age. Perhaps it explains why my grandfather never spoke of her.

An interesting part of the record is the addition of a new great-great-grandmother, Permelia Woodin, Belle's mother, born in Connecticut. That removes a spelling quandary but not much more. Permelia PERRY is listed along with husband Ambrose and daughter Belle Perry in Berlin, WI, in the 1880 census and shown as 58 (my grandfather Perry Alexander Clark was born in Berlin in 1883 to Belle and Frank Alexander Clark). The Woodins or Woodens in CT in 1820 or 1830 censuses have only the name of the head of household. They are numerous enough that the presence of any daughters under 10 is not much of a clue. (The naming of other members of the household was still a couple of decades away.)

So if little Permelia Woodin b. 1822 is in your family tree, give me a shout.