Shopping Saturday ~ Moler's Dairy

If you grew up on the east side of Dayton, Ohio in the 1960's and 70's you would probably remember the giant statue of a cow that stood on Smithville Road outside the Moler's Dairy factory.  She was a popular attraction for many, many years before the dairy closed down and the land was sold for apartments and other small businesses. We had two major dairy companies in business in the Kettering area when I was a child. The Borden Dairy had it's own mascot, Elsie the Cow and her face graced the front of the Borden building for many years.  Elsie and her family made sure that moms across the area knew it was important to provide their families with healthy dairy products!  My interest in the dairy business had less to do with milk and more to do with the wonderful "frozen" treats that our next door neighbor would bring home from his job at Moler's Dairy.  He didn't really even speak to us kids too often, but in the summertime he would often show up at home with enough frozen ice pops for all the kids on the block. To this day, I have never tasted any that were as flavorful as those treats! We also had our regular milk and juice deliveries from the milkman who drove a blue dairy truck through the neighborhood every day.  How different things are today! Can you even imagine having someone being able to make their living now by making home deliveries of milk and eggs today? Ah, the "good old days".

Funeral Card Friday ~ Royal Neighbors Resolution

This doesn't exactly fit into the category of a funeral card, but it is a "Resolution" written on the occasion of the death of my great, great grandmother, Ella Jacks Adams on 9 February, 1902,  and printed in the Sabina, Ohio newspaper.  She died at only 39 years of age, leaving her husband David Henry Adams and her children, Tillie, Dessie, and Elby to mourn her passing. 

My great, great grandmother, Ella Jacks Adams

In Memoriam

Violet Camp, 2622, Royal Neighbors of America, of Sabina, O., have been called to mourn the death of our esteemed neighbor, Ella Adams, who was one of our charter members and is the first missing link in our circle. She was called home, Feb. 9, 1902.

Whereas, It has pleased our Heavenly Father to call from our midst our beloved neighbor; therefore be it

Resolved, That in the death of our neighbor our camp has sustained a severe loss of a true and faithful member, whom we shall sadly miss. And be it further

Resolved, That the entire membership of our camp extend their heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved husband and children in their hour of trial and affliction, and further be it

Resolved. That a copy of these resolutions be sent to the sorrowing family, that copies be sent to the local papers, that a copy be spread upon the records of this camp and that our charter be draped in mourning for a period of thirty days.

Imogene Blakley,
Almeda Gaskins,
Ella Duff, Committee


The above resolution was offered by The Royal Neighbors of America, Violet Camp 2622.  The Royal Neighbors is a national organization formed by the wives of the Modern Woodmen of America in 1888. Their desire, as you can tell from the organization name, was to become "good neighbors" and offer to help to those in need.  If you click on the their name above, you can read more about their history and their vision.  

Treasure Chest Thursday - NCR Blood Bank Card

              The NCR Blood Bank card I found in my father's old wallet

I know that it might sound strange to consider a "blood bank" card one of my treasures, but this one is special.  My father worked as a toolmaker at the NCR corporation in Dayton from the late 1950's until the company cut the majority of it's manufacturing workforce in the 1970's.  I found this card in an old wallet of my father's, along with a few miscellaneous receipts.  I love the fact that it depicts the old NCR logo, but most importantly, it gives my father's blood type and it states that he contributed to the NCR Blood Bank.  The funny thing is I can remember hearing the story of how he could never donate blood after this because he fainted during this first time.  So, this is a treasure for many reasons; not the least of which is the smile it brings to my face when I remember that story.

Wordless Wednesday - Portrait of My Mother

                                              Portrait of my mother, Marilyn Norris Shoemaker,
                                              as painted by my Aunt, Jeanne Norris Crago.
                                              circa, 1968.

Another Christmas Past?

Another Christmas Past?

Happy New Year, 2013.  I have now "celebrated" 50 New Year's celebrations and 50 days of Christmas. During the last couple of months, I have spent much time reminiscing with the ghosts of my Christmases past. Last year in my Advent Calendar of Christmas memories I shared many of my favorite stories and thanks to this blog, I am able to go back and read them again. While doing so, I couldn't help but remember some of the joy and anticipation I was feeling during those early Christmas times. The scent of the Christmas tree, the colored lights shining behind the white curtains in our living room, watching the snow softly falling in the glow of the streetlights, thinking I heard Santa walking softly around my house while I pretended to be asleep, believing the red lights on the radio towers were Rudolph's nose.... 

Ah, the magic that is childhood.  How quickly it flew by.

Even at 50 years of age, I still find myself at times seeing those towers and remembering how I stood outside my house on Christmas Eve, believing that red light just might be leading Santa's sleigh through the night sky and sometimes I feel the goosebumps at the thought of what might be waiting underneath the tree.

Many of the people I spent those wonderful holidays with are no longer with me, but the memory of my loved ones is so clear in my mind that they are always here in spirit. This year I seemed to be missing those people even more than usual, so I created an Ancestor Christmas Tree and on it I placed photos of many of my ancestors and those of my husband as well.  It is a reminder of those wonderful past Christmas and New Year's Days.  I labeled the reverse of each photo so that my children and grandchildren will know their names and I plan to have the tree up again next year when my new granddaughter will be able to appreciate a Christmas tree for the first time.  It helped me hold onto a little bit of "Christmas Past".

Photograph of my great grandmother, Margaret McBride Marling, on my Ancestor Christmas Tree.

 

50 Christmases?  No. That can't possibly be true! I know it was only yesterday I was wishing for that talking doll.......

 

Happy New Year, 2013.  May it be a blessed year for us all.

Wedding Wednesday ~ Mary Moreland Saylor

For this Wedding Wednesday, I am sharing this delightful photograph of Mary Moreland Saylor, wife of Roscoe Saylor. Mary was the daughter of William and Ida Moreland of Indianapolis and Roscoe was the son of Perry and Ida Belle Swadner Saylor, grandson of Samuel and Caroline Routsong Swadner, and my 2nd cousin, 2 times removed.

Roscoe was born in Montgomery County, Ohio on 17 December, 1892 and worked as a salesman in Indiana, where he married Mary on 28 June, 1924. 

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Jacob and Anna Margaret Swadener

For today's Tombstone Tuesday, I am sharing the final resting place of Jacob and Anna Margaret Swadener, the grandparents of Charles E. Swadener, the attorney whose story I shared in an earlier post.  Jacob and Anna are my 3rd great grand uncle and aunt.

Jacob Swadener was born on 27 November, 1786 in Libertytown, Frederick County, Maryland, the son of Henrich (Henry) and Elizabeth Sentsor Schwedner.  By 1840, he was living in Van Buren Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, with his wife, Anna Margaret, and sons William and Michael (M.J.).  His oldest sons, Valentine and Abraham had not come with them.  They may have died in Maryland, but I have found no official records.
Jacob owned his farm in Van Buren Township, where he appeared on the US Census records until 1860.  Anna Margaret died in 1861 and Jacob followed her two years later.

They are buried in David's Cemetery, Kettering, Ohio.

Black Sheep Sunday ~ From Golden Goose to Black Sheep in One Afternoon

The gentleman pictured above is my 2nd cousin, 3 times removed, Charles Edward Swadener. I "discovered" Charles about a month ago, while I was spending a couple of hours searching for information on random last names in my family tree.  On that particular afternoon, I had decided to research the maiden name of my maternal great great grandmother, Clarinda Swadner, using the various ways it has been spelled throughout the years.  Using the "SWADENER" spelling, I began to search a newspaper resource.  I first discovered an article about Charles' father, Michael Swadener, whom I learned had once been the sheriff of Montgomery County, Ohio.  Feeling a sense of pride in the fact that one of my ancestors had been an early "lawman" in my hometime, I began to search for more information about Michael and his family.  Almost immediately,  in the 1882 Beers History of Montgomery County, Ohio, I found a biographical paragraph about Charles Swadener, attorney at law.  What a shining story it was!  Charles has been born in Dayton in 1853 and had attended the St. Mary's Institute and had been determined to study law.  He was accepted into the bar in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1874 and had formed several law partnerships in the city of Dayton.  He had married Leila Duel, a holder of Bachelors and Masters Degrees herself.  The final line of the biography states  "In his profession he is noted for his devotion to his clients' interests and this combined with his comprehensive knowledge of the law and correct application of its principles has carried him into important professional relations."  After reading this, I was feeling quite smug about my family member; especially since I had been writing recently about so many family scandals.  I saw my next blog post in my mind, "Charles Swadener, Attorney in the Family".  If my research had ended with that biography, that post would have probably been written.

 But, then I found the small article printed on page two, column 1 of the 18 December, 1895 edition of The Cleveland Plain Dealer.  It began  "RUIN AND DISGRACE".

You've got to be kidding. I couldn't believe what I was reading. The article began with the facts that Charles had been disbarred, was "shorn of all his former fortune, disgraced socially, his wife and children in want" and that he was a "physical and almost mental wreck".   Charles Swadener, my 2nd cousin, 3 times removed, just two years before the date of this article, was worth over $200,000, was a prominent and well respected citizen of Dayton.  Now, I was discovering that because of poor real estate investments, he had gone deeply into debt and to try to hide this debt he had begun embezzling the funds of his clients, to the tune of $90,000.  According to the article, he had to sell everything he had and even his family gave up some of their own belongings to try to pay his debt, but he still owed thousands.  His plea of guilty led to a sentence of one year in the penitentiary.   Oh shoot. There went my bragging blog post.

I was curious what happened to Charles afterwards.

Interestingly enough, on the United States Census form of both 1900 and 1910, Charles is listed as living in Dayton, with his occupation listed as "lawyer" and "attorney".  He is living with his wife, daughter, and servant, Sadie.  Obviously, Leila must have truly loved Charles since she stood by him and waited for him to come back home to her and it seems that he was able to come home and pick up the pieces of his life and become an attorney again.  I hope the victims of his crime were able to do the same.

According to his Ohio death certificate, Charles died on 9 September, 1910 from interstial nephritis with contributory arterio sclerosis. He was buried in Dayton's historic Woodland Cemetery.  Lela lived until 9 January, 1927, when she died in Chicago, Illinois.

I learned many things during that afternoon of work; not the least of which was to make sure I have researched everything I can about a subject BEFORE I start to write.  But, I guess I could still brag about the "lawman" in my family!

Not So Wordless Wednesday ~ The Calling Card

I discovered this calling card while going through some of my grandparents old photographs. I wasn't familiar with the name "Hezekiah Cashour" so I decided to do some "detective work" to see if I could find out just how my grandparents (or great grandparents) may have known this gentleman.

Here is what I have found:

In a memorial posted on Findagrave.com, it states that Hezekiah was born on 20 January, 1820 and he died on 29 April, 1908.  He is buried in the Sam's Creek Church of the Brethren Cemetery in New Windsor, Carroll County, Maryland.

According to the United States Census records of 1850, 1860, and 1870, Mr. Hezekiah Cashour was living in New Windsor, Carroll County, Maryland.  His listed occupation is "wagon maker".  On 20 April, 1844, Hezekiah married Harriett Miller or Millards in Carroll County.  They had a son named David, who moved here to Montgomery County, Ohio sometime after 1860.  He had a farm in Madison Township.  He died on 10 January, 1914, after suffering a diabetic coma.  David was buried at the Hillgrove Cemetery in Miamisburg, Ohio. 

From this information,  I can only guess that somehow one of my ancestors knew David and could have received this calling card from him, perhaps when they were interested in obtaining a new wagon of some sort. 

I will probably never know the exact relationship between my family and the Cashour's, and I'm sure they never imagined that a century after this card was produced, it and Hezekiah's story would be shared with the world! 

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Frank P. Kesling

 

For today's Tombstone Tuesday, I am sharing the final resting place of Frank P. Kesling, my husband's 1st cousin, 4 times removed.

Frank Kesling, was born to John and Elizabeth Garrett Kesling on 25 December, 1852 in Clearcreek Township, Warren County, Ohio.  His great grandfather was Diderich "Teter" Kesling, German immigrant and veteran of the Revolutionary War.  I have shared information about Teter Kesling in previous blog posts.

According to census records, Frank became a farmer and remained a single man his entire life. He died of pneumonia at the age of 70 years, 11 months, and 2 days. Although his death certificate states that his date of death was 6 March, 1923, his headstone is inscribed "1922". He was laid to rest on 9 March, 1923 at the Springboro Cemetery in Springboro, Warren County, Ohio.