Lancaster County Family Ties

When I am researching, I look for anything with the correct name and years -   I would like to know the person better than just the major occurrences in his or her life. I have found several mentions of Lazarus Wolf, and yes sometimes even with his wife, in documents and news articles.  The below articles all have to do with him obtaining a license to run a saloon and/or an eating establishment in the Terre Hill area. All the articles are from Chronicling America . All posts are my writing, unless otherwise stated.

Elizabeth "Bessie" Applebach was born in 1880 in Lancaster, PA to Abraham and Elizabeth (Little) Applebach.  She was the second known child.  Her older brother was born in 1878 and was blind. The first mention I found of Bessie (she appears to always have been known as this, even in official documents) was in the Lancaster newspaper on Dec. 24, 1889 (source: Chronicling America) in an article (sorry, I accidentally cut off the title) listing all the kids in school that were preforming in a Christmas production and that she was singing "All Contrary".  She would have been 8 or 9 years old. In the 1897 Lancaster Directory, Bessie is listed as living at 421 Concord and was a box paperer in occupation. Bessie apparently was living elsewhere, or married William Dostman between 1897 and 1900 because she disappears out of the directories under the name Applebach.  William and Bessie's one known child, Robert, was born in 1900 and died in 1904. According to the Me

1937: Reba was pregnant and the doctor said she would not survive the pregnancy, so a family photo was taken with all 9 children 1950 or 1951: Back (L to R): Clarence, Anna, Mary, Reba, Emma, Martha, Andy Front (L to R): Charles, Frank, Bertha, Victor Feb. 7, 1952: Bertha and Frank in the front.  Children: Mary, Clarence, Emma, Anna, Andy, Martha, Charles, Reba. Vic is missing - lived in Texas and may have been in military at this time. Source: all photos from my personal collection

Emma Ressler's birth certificate - note that her name is not actually filled in but the date, place, and parents are correct.  So the name is missing - was the doctor in a hurry? Or since birth certificates were a new thing in Lancaster County in 1906 was the doctor just not used to filling them out? Or had Frank and Bertha not decided on a name for their new daughter? Source: Ancestry I have a couple photos of Emma as a young woman: Tom and Emma were engaged, the diamond engagement ring was inherited by my sister. Tom and Emma are also in this family gathering photo, so Tom must have been seen as part of the family. I do not know what caused the engagement of Tom Ross and Emma Ressler was broken off.  I do remember comments from grandma that Aunt Emma had been engaged twice before marrying John Reese. John Reese and Emma Ressler were married on July 6, 1929.  Their marriage appeared neither happy or unhappy to me.  I remember Uncle John as bei

"Tom" Matson was married to Amanda Garner, daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Musselman) Garner. Per the 1920 census for Lancaster County, PA - Tom, Amanda, and children were living on the farm.  Per the 1930 census, Tom was an inmate at the Almshouse, and Amanda and children were still living on the farm.  I remember rare comments about "crazy" Tom Matson at family get togethers. I have no idea what exactly was wrong with him and I don't remember anyone ever saying anything specific. Several months ago, I was looking on Ancestry for various members of  Charles & Elizabeth's family and ran across Tom Matson in the census at the Almshouse, which brought back old memories of comments about him. I contacted a couple distant family members, and their memories were like my own - him being called Crazy Tom but no specifics. My curiosity kicked in, and I contacted the Lancaster Archives, which have been such a help in the past.  After several days, the resp