Genealogy and Me

Treasure Chest Thursday - Grandma and Grandpa's Wedding Announcement

2012-02-02T22:35:00.000-05:00

I could hardly wait for Treasure Chest Thursday this week to share the newest addition to my collection of treasured family heirlooms. The difference between this and other items I have shared in the past is that this one is brand new; at least it is to me!

Today, I have posted the wedding announcement of my maternal grandparents, Leland and Gladys Marling Norris. Up until this week, I never knew this article existed. Not only that, until my mother read this newspaper clipping, she wasn't aware that her parents had had a church wedding. She had always just assumed they had recited their vows in front of a justice of the peace. So, it was quite a surprise to read that they were married at the Presbyterian church in Elkhart, Indiana and then had a wedding supper at the home of my great grandparents.

I have to thank Genealogy Bank for giving me the chance to own this treasured bit of my family history. I hadn't looked at their website for a couple of years and this week when I discovered they now had the Elkhart, Indiana newspapers available, I knew I had to get a membership. Within the first 10 minutes of researching, I found this wedding announcement. I also found an article pertaining to their marriage license and my grandmother's bridal shower.

I discovered another fact while searching within the pages of the Ekhart newspapers. My great grandfather, Ralph Marling, who was a moulder by profession, also happened to be the financial officer of the moulder's union. Pretty exciting news for someone who makes her living at being a bookkeeper! His name is mentioned numerous times during the newspaper's coverage of the union's strike in Elkhart. My great uncle, Chet, is not left out. His marriage announcement and several articles detailing his World War I army service are included.

This is just further proof that family history research cannot be done with just one website, at one time, and even when you think you are "finished" with a branch of your family tree, you can always discover something new, wonderful, totally unexpected! You never know when you might find a new "treasure"!

Military Monday ~ Grandpa's Official Army Papers

2012-01-30T00:00:00.001-05:00

In the past I have shared several stories about the military service of my grandfather, Leland Norris. Today, I am sharing the Honorable Discharge papers he received on the day he was released from the Army, following World War I.

To Whom it May Concern

This is to certify that Leland V. Norris 1532896 Corporal, 5th Battery F.A.R.R.

THE UNITED STATES ARMY, as a testimonial of honest and faithful service,

is hereby Honorably Discharged from from the military service of the United States by reason of

E.T.S. under fro. frobair / 16 M.D. 1918

Said Leland V. Norris was born

in Dayton, in the state of Ohio

When enlisted he was 18 3/12 years of age and by occupation a student

He had Blue eyes, Light hair, Medium complexion and

Was 5 feet 5 inches in height.

Given under my hand at Camp Sheridan this

19th day of May, one thousand nine hundred and nineteen

Fred H. Zinn,

Major Infantry U.S.A.

Commanding

My grandfather, Leland V. Norris, during his service in the Army, 1918-1919.

Sentimental Sunday - Unknown Routsong Gentleman

2012-01-29T17:24:00.000-05:00

The distinguished looking gentleman in the above photograph is a member of the Routsong family. I know this because I found his picture in a cluster of old Routsong photographs that had belonged to my great aunt, Grace Norris Bailey. He definitely has the features of my great great grandfather, Henry Mathias Routsong, so I think he may be a brother of my great grandmother, Elizabeth Routsong Norris. I have sent the picture to several people in the family, hoping to put a name to his face, but so far nobody seems to know. Even so, it is one of my favorite pictures. I love the intensity of his expression and his attitude. Maybe someday, someone will see this pictures and identify him for me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Shopping Saturday - HATS!

2012-01-28T20:18:00.000-05:00

While browing through old editions of The Portsmouth Daily Times Newspaper, I discovered this advertisement from 1927 from Flora Dellert for hats. Through my family history research, I discovered there are several ladies in my ancestry with milliner listed as their occupation. My 2nd great Aunt Dessie loved to wear hats and luckily for her, her step-mother was a milliner!

Here she is pictured with what must have been one of her favorites.

I certainly don't think I would ever have wanted to wear a bustle, but I think I would have enjoyed wearing hats like these very much! Let's go shopping!

Thriller Thursday - The Murders at Rocky Fork ~ Part Three

2012-01-28T20:03:00.000-05:00

With the Nichols family behind bars for the Piatt murders, the law officers of Scioto county assumed they had solved the crime. Prosecuting the crime was going to prove more difficult. They couldn't seem to put together a case against the Nichols family members. Both 13 year old Hammond, who was already physically crippled, and the Nichols' cousin, David Brown, became ill. Months went by without any case going to court.

Then, a series of events happened that sent fear throughout Scioto County and created some doubt that the Nichols men were guilty of the crime.

In September, 1911, Sheridan Piatt, son of the murdered Oliver, was viciously attacked by James Evans, his son, Otto, and James' wife, Nora. After almost killing Sheridan, they went on a crime spree. For three days at the end of September, they sent shivers throughout the community of Buena Vista. The Portsmouth Daily Times on 27 September, 1911 stated that the Evans' "Went on the Warpath". Several people were shot and wounded. Officials from both Adams and Scioto counties began a manhunt for James and Otto Evans, and Nora was found and arrested. Citizens were concerned that the Evans boys were out to settle "old scores" and many were afraid to confront the outlaws. At one point, the posse found the men and Deputy George River was shot and wounded. Because the Evans had such detailed knowlege of their surroundings, they were able to escape. After several days, the law officers decided it was too dangerous to continue to go after the boys so they gave up the hunt. Speculation began that the Evans were probably involved in the Piatt murders, but they were never pursued.

Nora Evans was sentenced to 6 months in prison for her part in the assault and attempted murder of Sheridan Piatt. She was sent to the Cincinnati Workhouse, but due to illness and for "good behavior" she was released after only 4 months.

Then, on December 30, 1911, one year after the Piatt brothers murder and after spending almost a year in jail, the Nichols family was released on their own recognizance. No material witnesses could be found to testify against them and it was deemed impossible to convict any of the Nichols men. Because of the violence of the Evans family two months before, it could have been that too many questions about their possible involvement existed as well. The Nichols did have to keep the courts informed of their whereabouts, but no further action was taken against them. In May, 1912, the Nichols family considered legal action against the county for their imprisonment. As of the writing of this post, I haven't determined the outcome of that lawsuit.

After the escape of the Evans' and the release of the Nichols family, no further arrests were made in the murders of Oliver and Minor Piatt. It seems that someone did literally get away with murder.
To add to this tragedy, on 8 March, 1921, 10 years after surviving the brutal attack by the Evans family, Sheridan Piatt was killed when he was hit in the head by a large branch while he was at work trimming trees.

At this time, I do not know what became of James and Otto Evans, the "Wild and Wooly" father and son team who terrorized the county. Scioto County in the early part of the 20th century was still a very rugged area. Moonshiners were plentiful and the newspaper was often filled with stories of lawlessness. It is sad that no one ever paid for the ghastly crime that occured on that cold December night, now one hundred years ago. Was it a robbery or something more personal? We will never know.

Thriller Thursday- The Murders at Rocky Fork ~ Part Two

2012-01-28T19:09:00.002-05:00

As early as Friday, 30 December, 3 days after the murders, Sheriff Eckhart of Scioto County was telling the press that he expected to make an arrest in the Piatt murders "within a few days".

Countless stories were reported about the status of the case. Supposedly two women had appeared at the crime scene on the day following murder; acting strangely.

At one point there was even an erroneous report that a third body had been found in the burned out cabin and it was most probably the murderer, who had been killed himself by one of the Piatt brothers.

Doubtless, the sheriff was under great pressure to put the culprit behinds bars

The victims were well known in the community. Oliver Piatt was a divorced man. His wife had left him and moved to West Virginia a few years before, taking one of the couple's sons with her. Another son, Sheridan, had stayed in Rocky Fork with his father. Not long Oliver and his wife separated, his brother, Minor, moved into the 3 room cabin he shared with his son and they began farming the tobacco fields together. The land was located in a rugged and remote part of the county.

Their cabin sat at the base of a dangerously high hill. Surrounding the home were some thriving apple trees and nearby grew an apple orchard that Oliver had planted in 1907. There was a well-kept garden and a successful 80 acre tobacco farm. The farm itself was so large that it actually straddled the Scioto/Adams county line. The Rocky Fork Creek ran through the property and a large ravine made it difficult to traverse the area without great care.

According to an account in The Portsmouth Daily Times, the Piatt home itself contained a sitting room with a large stone fireplace, a bedroom, and a kitchen. Outside, a porch ran along the entire length of the front of the house.

The speculation was that the murderer had to have been somewhat familiar with the Piatt's property, and it was believed the killer would be arrested sooner rather than later.

On 4 January, 1911, the police officers of Scioto County arrested Hammond Nichols. Nichols, 13 years old and "crippled", was not originally a suspect in the murders. However suspician had fallen on his brother, Jesse. The Nichols brothers lived in a "shanty", in Adams County, one and a half miles from the Piatt cabin. When officers had searched the shanty, they found an empty gun shell exactly like the three that had been found at the murder scene. The marks made by the plunger on the shell also matched those on the spent shells at the scene of the crime. Jesse Nichols, the elder brother, had left town quickly the day after the murders and no one knew where he had gone. By arresting his younger, handicapped brother, the police thought they could pull Nichols out of hiding. They decided to leak the story that Jesse was no longer a suspect, hoping he would think it was safe to come home. It worked. As he tried to make his way to his home, he was recognized by some men working in the woods and they turned him in. He swore he was innocent, but the Sheriff believed they had their man.

He was questioned, or as the newspaper put it, "sweated" by Sheriff Eckhart, Ex-Sheriff Gillen, and Deputy Smith. He continued to declare his innocence, telling the officers that he had only left town to visit an uncle in Indiana for the holidays and had fully expected to return.

Hammond was released from custody on January 30, only to be arrested again, along with Nichols boy's father, Alex in June, 1911. Then, in July, David Brown, a cousin of the Nichols by marriage who was described by newspaper reporters as a "squatter" was also arrested for the Piatt murders. The only evidence pointing to Brown was the fact that he appeared to have come into money suddenly. The Scioto county lawmen thought they had the entire case wrapped up with the arrest of the family Nichols and were just waiting to take the case the court. It should have been an open and shut case.

Right?

Thriller Thursday - The Murders at Rocky Fork ~ Part One

2012-01-26T13:03:00.002-05:00

This is the story of the murders of Minor and Oliver Piatt, my husband's 2nd cousins, 3 times removed.

John Piatt, Jr. is standing on his front porch with his son. It is about 9:30 p.m., Tuesday, two days after Christmas, 1910. In the distance he can hear the frantic barking of some hounds on a fox hunt. The night is cold and he feels the chill through his coat. Suddenly, the sound of gunshots echoes in the night. It is not unusual for men to carry guns during the fox hunt and John just assumes that is what has happened.. He is joined on the porch by his son and soon they notice what they think is the hunter's campfire. It grows larger and larger and John tells his son the men must be burning up the whole country. The air turns colder and after watching the flames for awhile, John and his son go back into the house to warm up and head to their beds, blissfully unaware of the tragedy that had taken place only one and half miles away, at the home of his brothers, Oliver and Minor.

At about noon, on Wednesday 28 December, 1910, John Piatt, Jr. was shredding tobacco in his field at his home, near Rocky Fork in Scioto County, Ohio. He was approached by Mr. Hazelbaker, a storekeeper from the town of Pink, who informed him that he had heard John's brother's home had burned to the ground. Neither Minor nor Oliver Piatt, had been seen, and it was feared they had both been killed in the fire. John quickly stopped his work and headed for the home of his brothers, an 80 acre tobacco farm, 18 miles from Portsmouth, Ohio on the Adams/Scioto County line. He asked his friend, James Brownfield to go with him. It was around 3:00 pm when they arrived and before he was able to look for his brothers, two ladies, Mrs. Nichols and Mrs. Brown, apppeared on the scene. Mrs. Nichols told John that it was her sons who had discovered what had happened. She had sent them to the Piatt cabin to buy some tobacco. When they saw the tragic scene, shocked and scared, they ran back home to tell their mother. She and her neighbor came to see if their story was true. Sadly, it was.

Inside the home, John found the bodies of his brothers, Minor, age 50 and Oliver, age 53. They had both been killed by gunshot wounds to the head and they were burned beyond recognition. One body was located in the corner between the fireplace and the kitchen. It appeared that any gunshot would have come through the front window, perhaps killing him with no warning. The other man's body was found near the front door.

Sheriff Eckhart was summoned to the scene, as was the coroner, Dr. O.W. Robe. The investigation began immediately and the speculation was that the Piatt brothers had been murdered for their money. Family members told the investigators that the brothers were hard working, thrifty individuals who were known to keep large amounts of money in their home. They carried silver money with them, but no silver was found in the ruins. Armor Piatt told reporters for The Portsmouth Daily Times that he believed his brothers probably had between $500 and $1000 between them and it would have been somewhere in the cabin. John Piatt put his suspicians on a man named William Briggs. For a reason which he could not remember, Briggs had once said that the Piatts would "die with their boots on". This man had been charged with selling his vote during the last election and was waiting for his punishment on that charge. He was the first suspect.

The crime scene itself filled with clues, even though the murderer had done his best to hide his deed.
In the yard were 3 empty Winchester cartridges. Fresh, sized #8 footprints led in and out of the cabin and a bloody butcher knife was found on a window sill. It appeared the culprit had approached from the west, up a small ravine that led down to the Rocky Fork Creek.

Within a few hours, a hundred people converged upon the crime scene. This was a rugged and isolated area and travel to the cabin wasn't easy. The sheriff, the coroner, and those who reported the crime details for the newspaper had a difficult time navigating the rocky and overgrown terrain to get to the cabin. In the case of the reporter, he had to have footman on either side of his rig to help steady it and keep it from falling over.

It didn't take the coroner long to make his determination on the cause of death for the men and he set about gathering up their remains for burial. All he was able to find of both of the men was placed into an old lard can. and early on Friday morning, 30 December, 1910, what remained of Minor and Oliver Piatt was placed in a "rough box" and buried in the cemetery at Berry Chapel on Rocky Fork.

In my next post, I will cover the investigation and arrests for the murders of the Piatt brothers of Scioto County.

Wordless Wednesday (Almost!) - The Great Blizzard of 1978

2012-01-25T19:48:00.000-05:00

On January 26, 1978, when I was a sophomore in high school, Ohio and most of the eastern half of the country was hit by what was then called "The Blizzard of the Century" and I have to say that in the 34 years since I have yet to see anything that matches it. We have had many heavy snowfalls, below zero windchills, and strong winds, but never have they come together in the manner in which they did on that January day. The state of Ohio was virtually shut down for days. Pleas were aired on the local television and radio stations for those with four wheel drive vehicles to help get emergency personnel to work. I was very pleased because my school's second and third days of final exams were cancelled.

Pictured above is a certifcate given away by Dayton television station, WHIO, channel 7. In the photograph is the late Gil Whitney, beloved weatherman and television personality. The official blizzard statistics are listed along the left side.

Winds 60 mph

Temperature 3

Wind Chill -65

Low Barometer 28.66 (Record)

12.0 inch snowfall in 24 hours (Record)

Snow on Ground 25.5 inches (Record)

Tombstone Tuesday - Jefferson Peacock

2012-01-24T08:52:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, when I am visiting cemeteries, I will discover a name that captures my imagination. On my most recent visit to Locust Grove Cemetery in Peebles, Adams County, Ohio, I happened to spy this tombstone which bears the name of Jefferson Peacock and I knew I had to find out more about him.

According to his death certificate, Jefferson was born in Rainesboro, Ohio on 19 April, 1868, the son of William Peacock and a mother whose name is listed as "unknown". He was married to Emma and his named occupation is "common laborer". His death came as a result of coronary thrombosis on 5 November, 1942. In the census records, I discovered a "Thomas J Peacock" in the 1880 Highland County census, living with his father, William and his mother, Martha, along with 3 brothers and 1 sister. It is possible that this could be him. I don't find him again until the 1920 census. At that time, Jefferson Peacock was living in Pike County, Ohio. He was single and was a laborer on a farm that he rented. I have found no further information about Mr. Peacock, nor did I find any burial place nearby for Emma. So for now, most of his life will remain a mystery, but his name will certainly stay in my memory.

Shot Through the Heart - The Story of Harry Odle

2012-01-23T12:14:00.001-05:00

The cause of death listed on the certificate stated simply "Shot through the heart by officers." The headline of The Portsmouth Daily Times on 1 March, 1927 proclaims "Coroner Starts Investigation in Death of Harry Odle - Was Slain in Home in Rardon by Officers; Wife is Slightly Wounded in Gun Battle, Victim Insane, Alleged". I stumbled upon that headline last night as I was doing a little "light" family history research on my husband's family. On just another one of those days when I wanted to avoid doing the housework that is still waiting to be done, I discovered another compelling family story.

As has happened so often in the past for me, researching newspaper archives had provided the beginning of a story that required more research to fill in the missing pieces and to finally put together a more complete picture of an event and a greater understanding of a distant family member.

Harry Odle, my husband's 1st cousin, 2 times removed, was born to John P. and Sarah Alice Cochran Odle on 20 April, 1883 in Nile Township, Scioto County, Ohio. On 30 April, 1900, he married Iva Estella Freeman and between the years of 1902 and 1920, they had 8 children.
According to the United States Census, in both 1910 and 1920 he was farming in Rarden Township, Scioto County. What could have happened that would have lead to his violent death on 28 February, 1927?

I began with the lengthy article about the gun battle itself. I learned that Harry Odle had been shot only once, with the bullet passing first through his forearm and then completely through his body.
His wife, Iva, had been wounded when she was hit by a bullet that first hit a stovepipe, then the wall, a door, and then lodged in her calf.   Somehow, miraculously, Harry's mother who was also sitting in the room, was not injured.
It had all begun when Deputy Sheriff Willis and City Patrolman Goodman had arrived at the Odle home with a warrant in hand certifying that Harry had been deemed "insane" and they were to return him to the state hospital in Athens, Ohio. He had been an inmate there in 1924 for the period of about one year. He had run away at that time and was home for a year and half before being sent back to the asylum where he stayed until he was dismissed. The article states that the first time he was taken, it took more than a half a dozen men to handle him and while in his cell, he had torn out the iron bars with his hands.  During the short time following his release, he had worked off and on farming and working for the railroad with his brother, Nelson. However, not long before the shooting incident, Harry's family and friends had complained to the sheriff that he had threatened their lives.  Harry himself had also sent the County Clerk, Fred Warner, this threatening message: "To the Courts of Scioto County: I herewith set my hand and seat. Harry Odle the ruler of Almighty God swear to do what is right by all people. so I warn you to go according to law. The first thing my trip to the insane asylum paid all my debts by law. The second thing I seen in the paper where you appraised my place. It is a d---- lie. It was never appraised as I know of, and I have been at home all the time. I wasn't looking for trouble, but if that is what you want go ahead. But, remember I am a citizen of the U.S. born and bred in Scioto County, and must be recognized."

On the Friday before his death, Harry had gone to the office of Mayor Walter Scott and threatened him with a gun, pointing it into the air and firing it several times. Then, on Monday, the day of the shooting, Harry's daughter, Gertrude, sent the sheriff a telegram that stated, "Harry Odle dangerously insane. Family in great danger. Come Immediately."

Armed with a warrant for Harry's capture, the officers arrived at the home with the hope that they could "nab" him before he had a chance to shoot. They entered the house through the kitchen and upon stepping into the middle room, Harry fired upon them with a .32 caliber revolver, as he wordlessly sat in a chair. The officers drew their guns and stepped behind the door, returning fire. Even after the shooting stopped, so wary were the officers about approaching Harry, that they threw tear gas into the room to make sure he was incapacitated. Upon the coroner's investigation, it was discovered that Harry also had in his possession a large knife and several packs of 32 cartridges in his coat pocket.

The portion of the article that I found most interesting came towards the end when it detailed the following: "According to relatives, Mr. Odle was a hard, earnest worker and was a sober man always and was never known to use a profane word until after he was first taken mentally ill about six years ago. At that time, a young daughter, Berlin, about six years old, died, and he turned to religion in the hopes of forgetting his great sorrow. Instead, relatives claim, he gave every thought to his new religious faith and soon showed signs of insanity."

When I read those lines about the mental illness not manifesting itself until after the death of his precious little girl, I knew I had to find out more about her.  According to the 1920 United States Census, Harry and Iva had a daughter named, Elizabeth B., who was 8 years old. I felt this was probably the little one I was looking for. I researched the Ohio Death Certificate database at familysearch.org and there I discovered the information I sought. Elizabeth Burlene Odle, aged 7 years, 10 months, and 10 days, had died on 1 November, 1920 as a result of typhoid fever that she had contracted at school.
Harry and Iva had buried their little girl just a few weeks before Thanksgiving, 1920.   Certainly, Harry Odle would not have been the first parent to have been driven "insane" by the death of a child. Today, there are many resources where grieving hearts can receive support, love, and understanding. But, in 1920, counseling, especially in very rural areas, would have been virtually non-existent. In fact, in many instances, grieving families were expected to just move on once an "acceptable" period of mourning was over. The newspaper article reveals that Harry had "turned to religion", but we don't know exactly what that meant. I'm sure his clergyman and his family all tried to help him ease his grief, but severe depression and it seems in this case, pychosis, could not have been talked away or even "loved" away.

According to an article in The Portsmouth Daily Times, dated 9 April, 1924, the probate court first officially judged Harry as "insane" on 8 April, 1924, and sent him to the Athens State Hospital because he had become violent and had terrorized his neighbors numerous times.   It is possible that his mental condition would have deteriorated without the death of his little girl, but it is hard to look at Harry's life just preceding the incident and not believe that his grief was not the major contributor to his downfall.   The fact that Harry Odle was a different man before his illness was told by the story of his funeral in The Portsmouth Daily Times on 5 March, 1927, which stated "The throng that filled the church until the obtaining of standing room was next to impossible testified to the wide friendship of the man."

Thankfully, his actions did not harm anyone else, at least physically However, I can't imagine what life must have been like for Iva, his wife, who had to grieve for her child and then for her husband. She survived the gunshot wound, but remained in serious condition for many weeks.

The tragic story of Harry Odle began many years before he was "shot through the heart". I can't help but think that his heart was injured twice; the first time by the loss of his beautiful Burlene and the final time when the lawman's bullet took his life.

Family Recipe Friday - Mom's Tuna Noodle Casserole

2012-01-06T00:00:00.001-05:00

In honor of my mother's birthday, I am sharing her recipe for Tuna Noodle Casserole. This dish is a family favorite and she always has to make more than one casserole for my boys. It's delicious!

Ingredients

2 - 16 oz. packages Extra Wide Noodles

3- 6 oz. cans Tuna Fish

2- 10.5 oz cans Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 or 2- 15 oz cans peas

1 c. + 1/2 c shredded cheese

Cooking Instructions

1. Boil water in large pan.

2. Drop noodles into boiling water and cook for 8-11 minutes

3. Drain noodles and rinse

4. Add tuna, soup, peas, and 1 c. of cheese to the noodles

5. Add a little water if mixture seems too dry

6. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes

Those Places Thursday - Home Sweet Home

2012-01-05T22:58:00.000-05:00

Have you ever thought about all the poems and songs that have been written about "Home"? Think about it. Just off the top of my head I can remember "Be it Ever So Humble, There's No Place Like Home", "Back Home Again", "Green, Green, Grass of Home", and one of my favorites, Michael Buble's version of "Home". On one episode of "Little House on the Prairie", Melissa Gilbert as Laura Ingalls proclaims, "Home is the nicest word there is." I certainly can't disagree with that. In my nearly 50 years on this earth, I have had only 3 homes. In one, I spent the first 10 years of my life. A typical suburban ranch style home built in the late 1950's, my parents and my brothers were the first family to move into the house, when the yard was still mostly dirt and the trees were barely more than seedlings. The best memories of my childhood revolve around that house because it was there where we all lived together for the longest period of time. We moved into a new home right after my oldest brother graduated from high school, and even though he and my sister in law spent an entire summer there when they married, it was just temporary and things were not quite the same as they were when we were all living in our home on Chinook Lane. My mother still lives in that second house, and she and my father certainly made that house into a "home". It contains memories of laughter, love, sadness, and grief, the way only a dwelling lived in for 40 years can. My third and current home is the place I moved into as a new bride, almost 31 years ago. It was owned by my father-in-law and we rented it from him for many years before we took over it's ownership. What a wonderful life we have had within it's walls.

But, there are other homes that helped to "build me", including that of my maternal grandparents, Leland and Gladys Norris. A few days ago, I drove past their old home, which has yet again been renovated with several large rooms added. My grandmother wouldn't even recognize the place. I thought about all the times I spent there; drinking ice cold 12 oz. bottles of Coca-Cola, eating cookies out of the ceramic cookie jar, pretending to be a singer while using a part of my grandpa's bed as my microphone, imagining the glass doorknobs were diamonds. My mother has told me stories of how she roller skated in the basement and how her father raised a field of dahlias and sold them during the depression. Stories not unlike those that everyone shares. Since my grandmother's death, that house has been owned by several different families. They have remodeled the house, made it bigger and increased it's worth and then moved on. They created their own memories during the periods of time in which they lived there. But, they couldn't possibly appreciate the rich history of the place; how the land had belonged to my great great grandfather, Henry Routsong in the 1840's before it was passed down to his daughter, Libby, and then to my grandfather, Leland. How Leland and Gladys had raised 6 children in that house with 3 bedrooms and only 1 bathroom. They couldn't have known how our large family held picnics every Labor Day, playing croquet in the side yard and making ice cream on the patio.

Driving by the house is very bittersweet. How I long to climb into the old wooden swing on the apple tree again; the one that Grandpa tied onto a branch that would swing and sway along with me. What I wouldn't give to sit on that back porch again and just listen to the conversations that were boring to a 10 year old, but priceless to the 50 year old me.

As I sit at my computer, in the little dining room of my home of almost 31 years, I realize that someday, this house will no longer be my home. My children will all have established homes of their own and created their own memories. I hope that somewhere within these walls, our voices and our laughter may still echo, and that the tears will fade away. I pray that this house will be a sweet home to whomever it may shelter.

And now, I gaze around my humble home, with it's remaining holiday disarray and I am reminded of one final poem, "A house is made of brick and stone, but a home is made of love alone" (author unknown). Think of how different the world would be if everyone could have the shelter of a "Home Sweet Home".

Veteran's Day - 11/11/11 Soldiers in the Family

2011-11-11T23:24:00.000-05:00

In honor of Veteran's Day, November 11, 2011, I am sharing photographs of my family members who served in the military.

My Grandfather, Leland Vincent Norris ~ World War I Veteran

My Father, Estel "J" Shoemaker ~ Korean Conflict Veteran

My Uncles

Donald Norris & Edgar Norris ~ World War II Veterans

My Father in Law, George Hellmund, Sr.

Korean Conflict Veteran

My husband's Great Grandfather, Ernest Hellmund ~ Civil War Veteran

Sentimental Sunday - Hellmund Halloween Heartaches

2011-10-30T18:02:00.000-04:00

George in his infamous Headless Man Costume

Once upon a time, there lived a little boy named George, whose favorite holiday was Halloween. So great was his love of that spooky night that even before the current year's festivities were complete, he was busily planning his identity for the following year. In a day and age when most most costumes were simply cheap, "step into, tie at the neck" outfits with plastic masks that hung on the head by a rubber band, our hero would devise elaborate masquerades that took months and months of planning. With that kind of organization, how would it be possible that his holiday could be anything other than perfect? But somehow, year after year, fate would intervene and the evening that began with so much promise would end in disappointment.

Take for instance the "Zorro" year of 1968. "Beggar's Night" had been moved to an afternoon, for the safety of children in the city. (The reason for that is another story. Much too sad to add to this "light-hearted tale.) But, George wasn't going to let that stop him from having a great Halloween. He had a clever costume, complete with a chalk-capped sword that would allow him to write a "Z" wherever he visited. Of course, the sword was so wobbly that in order to make the mark, he would have to hold the end of it like a pencil, but, it was still pretty cool. He put on his cap, his mask and finally, it was time head out into the world to collect that candy treasure. There was just one problem. Another boy had decided that "Zorro" was the perfect costume as well, and he was on the same route as George......and just a few minutes ahead of him. Several houses refused to give him any candy because they said he had already been there. When he protested that he had not been to the house yet, the inhabitants told him that he was trying to fool them by coming to the house the second time with a group of other kids. Poor George. It really cut down on the food haul that year.

And then there was the year he was a skeleton. The little guy had barely begun his route when an "old lady" thought for sure she knew who he was and wanted to guess his identity. When he told her she was wrong, she didn't believe him and promptly tried to lift his mask. As she did, the mask broke, revealing that George had not been lying. Now, feeling guilty, the "old lady" tried to fix the costume so he could return to his begging. Against all his protestations, she continued to try to repair the damage. Much to his chagrin, the job took most of his candy hunting time. Then, to further ease her guilty conscience, she poured the remains of her candy dish into his bag to make up for the candy he lost. Of course, the fact that it was all the SAME candy certainly removed much of the excitement of the holiday.

As he grew older, the outfits became more elaborate and at about the age of 12 he reached his costume zenith with the incredible "headless man" design. With the help of his older sister, they created a head of paper mache', they stuffed every towel they owned into a coat to create wide shoulders, and covered George's head with a red hat to make a "bloody neck". He could barely see through the slit between the coat's buttons, but he knew he was looking good. With black gloves on his hands, he grabbed the treat bag and headed into the night with his "trick or treating" buddies. Things were going great and he was making a pretty good candy haul. The night was getting darker and it was harder to see, but he has having a such a good time. Finally, a Beggar's Night without any mishaps.... until. He noticed some people walking in front of him, so he stepped to the side. Suddenly, his knee his something hard. His already top heavy form was thrown forward over the immovable object and he fell right on top of a child in a stroller. As he struggled to get up, the little boy's mother began screaming, "GET OFF MY BABY!" Every time he tried to get off the stroller, the crazed mom smacked him with her purse. His trick or treat bag went flying and candy landed in the grass and street all around him. Finally, he managed to pick himself up. Slowly and in pain, he gathered together what candy he could find and managed to limp through the rest of his Halloween.

It wasn't only strangers that affected his joy of the holiday. One year, he decided it would be a great idea to be a giant bird. He painstakingly created this costume, piece by piece. He had everything he needed, except for the feet. Then, he had a brilliant idea for what he could use. His mother had the perfect pair of black boots. He had some "glow in the dark" paint. What a great combination! With skill and precision, he painted those bird feet on those boots. What made it even better was that the paint was barely visible in the daytime, but after being exposed to light for several hours, they would glow like mad at night! Something George's mother discovered several weeks after Halloween when she put on her brand new black boots for a night on the town and discovered to her dismay that in the dark of night she was sporting bird feet! Needless to say, it was a lucky thing that George even lived to see his next Halloween after that one!

In case you haven't figured out by now, the George in this story is my husband. Each year, as the calendar turned to autumn and our children began to plan their costumes for Halloween, the talk inevitably turned to the Beggar's Night's of times passed. No matter how many times they heard the stories of their father's trials and tribulations, they still found them funny. They are part of our family's story and a part of Americana as well! I hope others will enjoy them as well.

Happy Halloween!!

Wedding Wednesday - Estel and Imogene Huffman Shoemaker

2011-10-05T08:04:00.000-04:00

This little, yellow newspaper clipping tells the story of the wedding party for my paternal grandparents, Estel and Imogene Huffman Shoemaker.

Estel was born in Adams County, Ohio on 3 April, 1907. He left home for Sabina in Clinton County and a job at the Mac Tool Co.. It was there in Sabina that he met his future bride, Imogene Huffman, who was born on 16 July, 1907. They were married in Covington, Kentucky on 23 November, 1929 and upon their return home, they were treated to a small family wedding reception, which is described in the above article.

They soon had two children, my father, Estel, Jr. and his younger sister, Joyce. Tragically, my grandfather passed away from a sudden heart attack at the age of 42 on 30 March, 1950. My grandmother went to work in the town grocery store and she continued working until the day she retired.

I was so very blessed to have two sets of incredible grandparents who were not only great role models for their children, but for their grandchildren as well!

My grandparents with my daddy.

Tombstone Tuesday - Grace Emert

2011-10-04T15:34:00.001-04:00

On February 2 of this year, I wrote of the tragic story of Grace Emert. (You can read my previous post here) I had stumbled upon the information that Grace had been murdered by her brother, Raymond, who subsequently committed suicide. According to her Ohio death certificate, Grace had been buried at Hillgrove Cemetery in Miamisburg, Ohio. Even though a picture of her gravesite was already available online, I wanted to visit myself and take my own photographs. It was a long, rough Ohio winter and it took me until our vacation time in June before we made it to the cemetery. Even though the cemetery is still actively in business, we didn't go to the cemetery office for the directions to her gravesite. Like many people, I enjoy just walking throughout the area, hoping I will find the persons I seek and making new discoveries along the way. On this particular trip, we did locate many of the Emert family members, as well as a few persons I still need to research. Luckily, it was a beautiful day because finding Grace took a while. Interestingly enough, Grace and Raymond lie side by side and share their tombstone. I find that very strange considering the circumstances.
As of today, I have found no further information about Grace or Raymond. So much of why they died as they did remains and may always remain a mystery. But, I'm glad she can be remembered.

So, today, I am sharing the tombstone of Grace Emert, my 2nd cousin, 2 times removed.

The Gravesite of Grace A. and Raymond E. Emert

Soloman's Grandsons

2011-09-30T23:34:00.002-04:00

It started with a simple signature and ended with the saga of a family tragedy.

Lately, I haven't been spending too much time on family history. The past few months have been filled with various "crises" and other events that have pushed my passion into the background. No matter how hard I have tried to find both the time and the desire to pull out the notebooks and fire up the research sites, I just haven't been able to "get up the gumption" to do so. Today, due to the dreary Ohio weather and the sickness of numerous family members that left us homebound, I decided to sit down at my computer and begin working on some special projects I have had on my to-do list for awhile.

One of these items is the scanning of ancestor signatures from historical documents. After the signatures are saved, I then attach them to portraits, if they exist, of the ancestor to whom the signature belongs. If no photograph exists, I simply attach the signature to both my Ancestry.com family tree and my own family history files.

(For example, this is a photograph of my 2nd great grandfather, Henry Routsong, whose signature appears several times on the probate records of his father in law, Henry Sweadner.)

My Great Great Grandfather, Henry Mathias Routsong

So today, upon opening the estate files of my 4th great grandfather, Jacob Suman, I discovered several signatures of Suman family members. One that I wasn't very familiar with is pictured at the top of this post; Soloman Isanogel, the husband of my 3rd great grand aunt, Elizabeth Suman.

After scanning, cropping, and saving several signatures, I logged into my family tree and began adding each signature, one by one, to my history file. When I opened the page for Soloman, I realized I had not spent any time researching the Isanogel family. Now was the perfect time to hit that "search records" button. The typical matching census records were located, along with 2 "Public Member Stories". I am always interested in reading the stories that members post and I can usually find some very interesting facts from those shared tidbits of information. Choosing the first story listed, I discovered the following paragraph: (NO CITATION IS GIVEN)

The Pioneer:
"Soloman Isanogle entered land west of Chesterfield three miles and made a farm. His family consisted of 4 sons and 2 daughters. Jacob the eldest, was one of the lst school teachers in the township. Soloman was the grandfather of the Isanogle boys who were murdered by Statler. Mr. Isanogle died in 1844 buried in the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Delaware County. His
widow lived twenty-eigth years after his decease and died at the age of 82 yrs in 1876. She is buried beside her husband."

I scanned the paragraph and found myself reading it a second and then a third time to make sure I was comprehending it correctly. "Soloman was the grandfather of the Isanogle boys who were murdered by Statler."  Grandsons murdered?

There was obviously more to be discovered about Soloman's grandsons. I searched the records of the member who had uploaded the story, but she had no information about any murders. It was time for a visit to my favorite search engine. I decided to look for "Isanogle Murders Madison Indiana" which is where the census records told me that Soloman had lived. The first hit I received was for a family history file that had been uploaded by a someone. It was an unusal site and a little confusing, but what I did find was a listing of Soloman's family members. I knew from the story that the boys were the children of Soloman's son, Jacob. So, I searched for a link to his family. Luckily, they were all included. I went through the list of children's names, birth, and death dates to see if any of his children had died in the same year. I found that William and Isaac had both passed away in 1868. Further investigation showed they had both died on 17 March. This was not a coincidence. Now I knew not only their exact names but I also knew the date they had been murdered. With this information, I could do a more thorough search.

Entering the new facts, I received numerous results; including a Google books "hit". The entire book, Historical Sketches and Reminiscences of Madison County by John L. Forkner and Byron H. Dyson, Anderson, Indiana, 1897, was available on their site and, amazingly,  it was filled with information about the tragic deaths and their aftermath.

According to the book, on Saturday, 17 March, 1868, a man by the name of George Stottler went to the home of the Isanogle family. He was drunk and for some reason decided he wanted the use of one of the family's horses. William, 20 years of age, and Isaac, only 16 years old, refused to give Stottler a horse. They began to fight and during the ensuing quarrel, Stottler pulled out a knife he had purchased only that day and both men were stabbed "to the heart".   Early Sunday morning, as word spread about the murder, people from the surrounding area became enraged and a "posse", 500 persons strong and armed with various weapons, set out to find the accused. Much of the crowd was ready to hang Stottler without a trial and when he was discovered at 11 o'clock that morning, hiding in a field only 1/2 mile west of the murder scene, it took some very determined lawmen to keep Stottler alive long enough to face legal judgement.   He was given a change of venue and he apparently had some of the best legal representation at the time because his life was spared and he ended up with "life imprisonment" at the Michigan City Prison. During his first few years of incarceration, Stottler was "reckless and malicious" according to the written account, and he actually cut off two of his own fingers to avoid working in the prison cooper shop. However, after a few years, there were many people who decided that he had paid his debt to society and they began working to get the murderer paroled.
The Isanogel family and their friends fought hard to keep Stottler imprisoned and they were successful until January, 1897. For some reason that I cannot personally understand, Governor Claude Mathews pardoned George Stottler and as of the writing of the history book, he was living in Illinois.
I guess my next mystery to solve is what happened to George Stottler after his release from prison.

And so this evening, I sit here at my computer, amazed once again by how small fragments can be fit together to make quite an interesting tapestry, smiling over the fact that I have added an entirely new branch to my family tree, and a little angry that George Stottler served so little time for such a cold blooded crime.

Tombstone Tuesday - William C. Eagle

2011-09-13T16:57:00.000-04:00

On our "staycation" in June, I told my family I didn't care what else we did, as long as I was given one day to visit some cemetaries. We had had an extended Ohio winter and I had been unable to go "ancestor hunting" for an extremely long time. There were a couple in particular where I had some family research to conduct. So, early one morning, we headed out; notebook and cameras in hand. The first place I had on my list to visit was the Hillgrove Cemetery in Miamisburg, (Montgomery Co.) Ohio. After finding the family members I was looking for, I managed to talk my family into giving me a little time to just explore this lovely place a while longer. One of the sites that caught my attention was this beautiful stone of remembrance for a gentleman named William C. Eagle, who died at the age of 30 years and 15 days on 1 August, 1864. I haven't done any research on this young man, but how tragic it was that he died at such a young age.

Wedding Wednesday - Carol Burnett Helps My Brother Propose

2011-08-10T13:49:00.000-04:00

Rhonda, Carol Burnett, Brian, after the show

The Proposal

The Happy Couple on Their Wedding Day

For most of my childhood and into my teen years, Carol Burnett "visited" my home each and every Saturday night via television. As welcome as she was in my house and in my life, I never could have guessed that all these years later, she would have a vital role in giving me a brand new sister and a new name in my family tree.
One evening in early April, I received an unexpected telephone call from my brother, Brian, telling me he had something exciting to tell me. He explained that he and his beloved, Rhonda had purchased tickets to see Carol Burnett in her personal appearance at Indiana University. As if that was not big enough news, he went on to tell me that he had had a brilliant idea. He was going to use the occasion to propose to Rhonda and he had managed to include Miss Burnett in his "sneaky" plan. He had spoken to a contact at the university who in turn put him in touch with some of Carol's staff and to them made his request. After several phone calls, he received the news that Miss Burnett was thrilled to be a part of the event.. So, the evening was carefully coordinated. They were to be seated close to the front. When the "audience questions" portion of the show began, he was to be called upon, at which time he was to "pop the question". He had to come up with an explanation as to why they suddenly had seats in the front row, rather than their original places, but he told Rhonda that he had found these much better seats on an online auction website. On the 18th of April, when the appointed question time came during the show, Brian raised his hand and Carol inquired as to whether or not he had a question. His answer was "Yes, I do have a question, but not for you." At that time he asked Rhonda to stand up and he dropped down to one knee. Miss Burnett then performed her famous "Tarzan yell" for the crowd as Rhonda joyfully said "Yes" and the crowd cheered. Thankfully, there was a kind person in the crowd who took photographs! Afterward, they were escorted backstage to meet with the lovely and gracious Carol Burnett and they of course, invited her to their wedding! Brian and Rhonda were married on 23 July, 2011 and I gained not only a new sister, but a great new story for "Genealogy and Me". Isn't it cool the way that works?

Family Recipe Friday - Elizabeth's Broccoli Salad

2011-04-22T00:00:00.002-04:00

When my brother was married in 1974, I gained a new sister, but our family received a wonderful new cook! Elizabeth loves to cook and she has discovered some recipes that have quickly become family traditions. One of those recipes is the one I am sharing in today's Family Recipe Friday. It is Broccoli Salad, and since Thanksgiving of 1976, it has been a staple at just about all our gatherings.

Broccoli Salad
4 10 oz. Boxes chopped Broccoli
2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup
2 Eggs
1 c. Mayonnaise
2 Packages Cheddar Cheese

Cooking Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Combine broccoli, soup, eggs, mayonnaise and 1 cup of cheese. Bake 45 minutes. The last 15 minutes sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

Rick and Elizabeth, shortly after their marriage in 1974

This recipe is very simple, but looks and tastes incredible!

Those Places Thursday - Howard Johnson's Motel

2011-04-21T00:00:00.002-04:00

My Dad, My Brothers, and Me at the Howard Johnson's

When I was almost 4 years old, we took our first, and biggest, family vacation. It was a road trip to Alpena, Michigan and it would require a couple of overnight stays in a motel. I can't tell you in which city we stopped, but I do have some strong memories about a Howard Johnson's motel. Since I was so young, they are just fragments of remembrance, but I can close my eyes and see them clearly. This was the first time I ever had one of those tiny, single serving boxes of cereal that they served for breakfast at the restaurant that was always attached to the motel. After that trip, I begged my mother to buy them for me at home! The roof was bright orange, the doors to the rooms were alternately green and orange and there were machines that dispensed ice in the hallway. We took pictures outside the motel before we headed farther north, everyone smiling and clearly having fun. Within a few years, we would spend nights in another Howard Johnson's. This time in Lexington, Kentucky where we went to see my brothers working together as an evangelistic team. On this trip our group included my grandmother, sister in law, and my brother's girlfriend. I was older this time and could appreciate the comfortable bed and free stationary! Each occasion we would have to travel, we would usually look for a Howard Johnsons because it was a name we knew we could trust.

Mom and Dad in Lexington at Howard Johnsons

In the 90's, of course, Howard Johnson's Motels decided to change their image and they became Hojo Inns, which I thought made them sound cheap. Even though they were not elegant places to stay, we never had one complaint about a stay in one of their motels. I can't say the same about some of today's hotel chains. Whenever I see these pictures, I have to smile remembering that special place, the Howard Johnsons Motel.

Wordless Wednesday - Grandpa and Grandson

2011-04-20T00:00:00.001-04:00

This is one of my favorite photographs. It pictures my father and his grandfather, John Huffman, of Sabina, Ohio. This was taken when my dad was on leave from the Air Force in 1951.

Tuesday's Tip - Internet Archive - Digital Library

2011-04-19T00:00:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite resources for genealogical research is old county history books. I have been amazed at the amount of personal family history I have discovered in books written in the early 1900's about Ohio and Illinois. My ancestors were early settlers in both states and to my delight I have found entire biographical paragraphs written about my relatives. The Internet Archive Digital Library is a valuable site for anyone who is looking for these types of history books and the fact that there is no charge for it's use makes it even better! I have had to rely a great deal on the resources that are available to me online, so I am always thankful to discover new websites like this one.

Another site you might wish to check out if you are interested in Army records is The U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center. You can search for Army information, watch videos and more.

Let me know if you make any new discoveries!

Military Monday - NCR Norris Men in the Service

2011-04-18T00:00:00.001-04:00

The above article appeared in the monthly magazine that was published by The National Cash Register Company in Dayton. It states: "World Wars I and II - Top picture shows L.V. Norris, of Polishing-Plating Department, as a Corporal in World War I. Above left: Pfc. Edgar M. Norris, son of L.V. Norris, enlisted in the Air Force in February, 1944 and is now a gunnery instructor of B-29's at Clovis, N.M. Right: Corp. Donald L. Norris, another son, is somewhere in Germany with a medical detachment. He has been overseas since September, 1944 and has seen many of the father's old camping grounds. The boys are brothers of Jeanne Norris, Telephone Exchange."

I have written previously about NCR and it's importance to my family and to my hometown. Each month NCR distributed a magazine that detailed not only the business news, but also information about the employees and their families. I am lucky enough to have several of those books and newsletters in my collection. I have always loved this particular article, which discusses my grandfather, two of my uncles, and my aunt who all worked at NCR along with both of my parents.

Sentimental Sunday - Grandma at the Grocery Store

2011-04-17T00:00:00.005-04:00

Today I was searching through my family history folders when I spied this photograph of my grandmother, Imogene Huffman Shoemaker. She is pictured standing in the produce department of the little grocery store in Sabina, Ohio where she worked. She was only 43 years old when my grandfather passed away suddenly of a heart attack and was overnight a single mother without an income. I remember being told that her parents wanted her to move in with them so they could take care of her and my aunt, who at that time was just a little girl. My father was just out of high school and soon would be married and entering the service. My grandma was determined that she would take care of herself so she declined my great grandparents offer of a home and she got herself a job working in the grocery store. By the time I was born, she had been employed there for many years and I can well remember driving to Sabina on a couple of occasions when she would still be at work and we would stop in and surprise her. At Easter, she would sometimes bring me decorations that had been hanging up in the store and she never failed to bring my brothers and me a chocolate bunny or fruit cream eggs as a special surprise. So, today, I am feeling a little sentimental about this photograph and the memory makes me so proud of all my grandparents and very grateful for the legacy of integrity and determination they gave me.

Shopping Saturday - May, 1940

2011-04-16T15:30:00.000-04:00

It's May 10, 1940. The minimum wage is .30 per hour and the average yearly salary is $1900.00

Winston Churchill has just succeeded Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister of the UK, Adolph Hitler has just announced the beginning of a fight that would "decide the fate of the German nation for the next 1000 years", James M.Cox, publisher of the Dayton Daily News is visiting his friend and former running mate, Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House. It also happens to be only 2 days before Mother's Day and you still have to purchase a gift for your mom. Opening the Dayton Daily News, looking beyond the frightening stories of the war in Europe, you find numerous advertisements for the merchants in the Dayton area. At Elder's Bargain Basement (one of the stores that will become the Elder-Beerman Department Store) you can buy spring coats for $8.00 and sheer print dresses for only $3.99. A chenille bedspread is selling for $2.98, while at the Finke Furniture Company on East Fifth St. a complete 11 piece bedroom can be purchased for $59. with $2.50 down and $1.00 a week.

If you want to update your kitchen with a gas range that has "completely everything" you can drive down Fifth Street to the Home Equipment Co. and buy this one for $69.95 with no down payment and $1.00 per week. So many choices! What do you think she will want?

As I carefully turned the pages of the newspaper for May 10, 1940, I found it interesting to note that the advertisers on the sports page included not only quite a few men's clothing stores but also numerous liquor distillers like the Bardstown Distillery and Rittenhouse Bourbon, while on the society pages furriers and soap companies, like Palmolive ruled the space.

As much as I love reading the news articles in these old papers, I almost enjoy looking at the advertisements even more. The Rike-Kumler Company (now Macy's), Thal's, The Metropolitan, Zapoleon, Inc, Muir's Cut Rate Drugs, and so many more are now long gone but are a part of our city's rich history. I try to buy these old newspaper whenever I find one that is affordable. What a wonderful way to see "the way it was" and the products from which our ancestors had to choose!

Family Recipe Friday - Mom's Sloppy Joe's

2011-04-16T14:21:00.000-04:00

For today's Family Recipe Friday post, I am sharing my mom's recipes for Sloppy Joes. I will always remember my mom cooking supper in the kitchen, waiting for the hour when my dad would walk through the door. I was lucky enough to grow up in a house where we were able to sit down at the dinner table together just about every night. To this day, whenever my brothers and I need some comfort food these sloppy joes are what we ask for!

*Please note: June Cleaver had nothing on my mom! She always looked this great when she was cooking dinner!

Mom's Sloppy Joes

2 lbs. Hamburger

2 cans Chicken Gumbo Soup

Onion

2 T. Catsup

1 T. Mustard

1. Brown Hamburger

2. Add soup, onion, catsup, mustard, and simmer for at least 20 minutes.

Family Recipe Friday - Cherry Delight

2011-03-25T07:48:00.000-04:00

For my first Family Recipe Friday I am sharing the recipe for "Cherry Delight". This is a treat that my Aunt Joyce made for us on Christmas and Thanksgiving when I was growing up and it makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Not only is it delicious, but it looks elegant as well.

Cherry Delight
1 1/2 c. Graham Cracker Crumbs
1 Stick of Butter
1 8 oz. Cream Cheese
1 c. plus 2 T. Confectionary Sugar
1 Box Dream Whip
1 Can Cherry Pie Filling

Pour melted butter over crumbs.
Line pan with crumbs
Whip Dream Whip, then add cream cheese and sugar and beat until smooth. Spread this mixture over the crumbs. Top with Cherries.

My Aunt Joyce in a photograph from a newspaper article about her
favorite recipes.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Elizabeth Taylor

2011-03-23T17:46:00.001-04:00

Today we lost a Hollywood icon, Elizabeth Taylor. When I was growing up, it was Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton who graced the covers of the Hollywood fan magazines. While I am too young to actually remember the Debbie (Reynolds)/Eddie (Fisher)/ Elizabeth triangle, I have vivid memories of Elizabeth and Richard Burton's relationship and subsequent marriages and divorces. As a child, I wasn't aware of her early career as a child star or even what a great actress she was, but to me she seemed larger than life. Her life seemed to be filled with the greatest of great joys and the deepest of sorrows. There was no even ground in her world. She wasn't exactly a role model for me since I certainly didn't want to be a many times married woman, but I did envy her talent, elegance and her loyalty to her friends. She worked tirelessly for her charities, especially those associated with the care of victims of AIDS, the disease that had taken so many of those she loved. Whether you liked her or loathed her, she was a lady you simply had to watch and I can hardly imagine a world without her.

So, today in honor of Elizabeth Taylor, for Treasure Chest Thursday, I am sharing two items that are very special to me.. The first is the photograph above, which is a reprint of a vintage fan magazine portrait of Elizabeth. Several years ago, I mailed this photograph to Elizabeth and asked if she would be willing to sign it to me. As you can see, she most graciously (and to my great surprise) did so. The next item is the doll which recreates Elizabeth in her wedding gown from the film Father of the Bride". It is an accurate depiction of Elizabeth, even down to her "lavender-colored" eyes.

Thanks to her hundreds of on-screen performances, Elizabeth Taylor Hilton Wilding Todd Fisher Burton Burton Warner Fortensky will never be forgotten, but I am awfully glad that I was here when it was really happening.

Miss Taylor, you will be missed.

One Lovely Blog Award

2011-03-20T18:15:00.000-04:00

I was honored to be presented the One Lovely Blog Award by both Betty Huber Tartas of Betty's Boneyard Genealogy Blog and Tammy of Genealogy Simple and Fun. Along with the award comes the following responsibilities:

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who granted the award and their blog link.
2. Pass the award on to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.
3. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I have chosen the following 15 blogs: I enjoy all of these!
Ancesters Gotta Eat

Ancesters Within

Where I Come From

Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog

The Wandering Vine

Stardust 'n' Roots

Wandering Shades

The Sum of All My Research

The Hunt for Henrietta

Stone Gardens

Reflections from the Fence

Random Relatives

Past Voices - Letters Home

Of Trolls and Lemons

My genealogy blog

My Family Research Adventures

Thriller Thursday - The Tragic Story of Grace Emert

2011-02-11T17:21:00.000-05:00

Just when I thought I had uncovered all of the family events that could shock me, I stumbled upon the death of my second cousin, once removed, Grace Emert.

One evening this week, I discovered that while I had done quite a bit of research on my great great grandfather, Henry Mathias Routsong, I had neglected to look into the life of his sister, Catharine Routsong Emert. Knowing from the book, "From Rauenzahner to Routson, A Family on the Move" and from United States Census records, that Catharine and her family had lived here in Montgomery County, I decided to go to Familysearch.org to run a search on Ohio Death Certificates. I have found that death certificates can provide a wealth of family information and it was from that database that I discovered Catharine's date of death in Miamisburg, Ohio on 26 June, 1919. I also discovered death records belonging to many of her family members, including her son, David Edward Emert, his wife, Charlotte, and their daughter, Grace. Like most people with limited time, I was locating documents and hitting "print" over and over without much regard to exactly what appeared on the paper, thinking that I would go through later and enter the information into my family tree. That is, until I read the vital statistics on the death of Grace Emert.

Upon reading the opening information, I discovered that she was only 34 at the time of her death. Surprised by that fact, my eyes quickly moved over to the column containing the cause of death and I was stunned by what I read. "Compound skull fracture" came first. My thoughts were that maybe it was some kind of accident until I read the next line. "Severed jugular vein and carotid artery" was written next. I think I had to read it several times before it sunk in. I may have actually actually said "What?" out loud. Farther down on the certificate, next to the question "Accident, suicide, or homicide?" was written, "Homicide 1/6/1936".
The document then listed that she was killed in her home.
The information only got worse as the final shock came on one of the last lines of the column where is stated she was "beat and cut by her brother."   Her brother? How could that happen and who was her brother?

At that time, I didn't have any of the names of her family members other than those of her parents. I went back to my original search of certificates to locate any other "Emerts" who may have had Edward Emert and Charlotte Myers listed as parents. It didn't take very long to find "Raymond ".   Although there was no death certificate available to view, there was information about his date of death, which was 6 January, 1936, the same day as his murdered sister. That was too much of a coincidence not to have been a piece of this tragic puzzle. Could it have been a murder/suicide and what could inspire that kind of rage? I had to find more information.

I started with a quick email to the librarian here at the Dayton Montgomery Public Library. I requested any information she might be able to find in the Dayton Daily News on 7 January, 1936 regarding the crime. Since I am impatient and I haven't received any response from her yet, I decided to head back to Ancestry.com for a short term membership again so I could access newspaper records from other cities in and around Ohio. Within 5 minutes of searching, I had my answers and they were not only shocking, but very sad.

The first article I found appeared in the Mansfield (Ohio) News Journal on 7 January, 1936. The headline read "Woman Found Dead on Farm"; "Throat Slashed, Head Battered, Brother's Body Sought".   The short story went on to describe how Grace's battered body had been found in the living room of her own home. The neighbors had been attracted to the farm when they saw the barn in flames. The article went on to say that Grace had lived in the home with her brother, Raymond, who was 29 years old. The sheriff stated that the ashes of the barn would be "sifted".   After reading this article, it seemed as though I was on the right track regarding the murder/suicide, but it still didn't explain why her own brother would kill her.

The second article I located told me a little more. On the same date in the New Castle (Pennsylvania) News, the headline read "Woman and Man Found Dead on Farm in Ohio"; "Woman slashed to death, Brother of Victim Burned to Death"; "Murder-Suicide is Theory Given". This article went on to explain that the charred body of Raymond Emert had been found in the still smouldering barn. He had hanged himself from a rafter in the barn, after killing his dog and setting the blaze. The story gave more specific details regarding Grace's death, explaining that her head injuries were caused by a "heavy file" and her neck wounds were created with a razor. The final paragraph expressed the theory of Coroner H.W. Harris that Raymond had "suddenly become demented" and had killed his sister and then committed suicide. A third article which appeared in the Hamilton (Ohio) Daily News Journal also on 7 January, 1936 restated the above information, but also added that when Grace was found her clothes were torn and the room where her body was found was in disorder. The story concludes with a statement from the coroner that Raymond had been "weak minded" and "had acted strangely for several days."

A subsequent article in the same newspaper stated that Raymond had locked all the doors to the house and had used gasoline to ignite the fire in the barn.

Could Raymond have been a victim of some type of mental illness? The coroner's statement that he was "weak minded" and "had acted strangely" seems to lead in that direction, but it's obviously something that we will never know. According to the 1930 United States Census, Grace and Raymond were living with their parents, Edward and Charlotte, on the farm on Benner Road in Miamisburg, Ohio. Grace was 27 years of age, Raymond was 25 and their sisters Dorothy and Florence were 18 and 11 years old respectively. Interestingly enough, even though both Grace and Raymond were well into their adult years, neither one is married and although Raymond is listed as being a "farm-hand", Grace is not listed as having a profession.

So far, this is the only other documentation I have found on the lives of these siblings. We may never know what caused Raymond to slip into the madness that caused him to take the life of his sister and to end his own, but at least now I know the story behind the lines on her death certificate.

My next planned step is to visit and photograph Grace's final resting place at Hillgrove Cemetery in Miamisburg and to pay my respects to my second cousin, once removed; The woman I didn't know existed until the night I decided to do "just a little research."

Black Sheep Sunday - The Hanging of Felix Munshower

2011-01-16T09:01:00.001-05:00

When I began my journey through my family history about 7 years ago, the only thing I knew about my great great grandmother Norris was written in the family Bible. "Alice Norris died in 1888". For a long time, I didn't know anything more. Since I had so many other names to work with in different branches of my family tree, the Norris side languished for a while until I finally "buckled down" and got my "Google" on!

Starting with census records, (always a great place to start!) I found my great grandfather, Harry, living with his family in Frederick County, Maryland. It was here that I discovered not only his sister, Effa, but also his brother, Vincent, about whom I have written previously. I then began to do some newspaper searching. Luckily for me there are many Frederick County, Maryland newspapers available on various genealogical websites. On one of these sites, I found Effa's obituary and for the first time I discovered my great great grandmother's maiden name, "Munshower". But, finding which Munshower family Alice belonged to was more of a challenge. Seeking the help of the Emmitsburg Historical Society, we determined that she was most probably Sarah Alice Munshower, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Munshower of Emmitsburg.

Once again, the search was on, only this time the results I discovered included a murder and a family tragedy.

According to the 1870 United States Census, Jacob and Elizabeth "Munshour" were living in Emmitsburg, Maryland with their 6 children. Alice was 12, her younger brother, Felix was 10. But, ten years later, in 1880, I found Felix is listed as a "prisoner" in the Frederick County jail.

This required further research.

Now I was searching on the name "Felix Munshower" specifically and I discovered a wealth of information about his crime. According to all accounts, he had murdered his own cousin, James Wetzel, apparently only for his money. The best account of the murder came from the Emmitsburg Historical Society and was written by Michael Hillman. In his story, Michael tells of how the murder occured on 5 August, 1879 when Felix followed his cousin into the woods, shot him in the back of the head, stole his money purse, and buried his body in the woods. The investigation into the murder eventually led the sheriff to examine bootprints found in the woods next to the body and the heels of Felix' boots were a perfect match. After his first trial ended in a mistrial because some of the jurors left deliberation to get haircuts, Felix was declared guilty of murder at 11:10 am on Wednesday, 28 January, 1880. On 4 January, 1881, it was announced by the judge, "The sentence of the court is that you be taken in charge by the sheriff of Frederick County, and conveyed to the jail of Frederick County until such time as the Governer of Maryland shall appoint for your execution, and there and then be hanged by your neck until you are dead, and may God have mercy on your soul."

There were several appeals and delays of the sentencing, but on November 11, 1881, Felix Munshower was hanged for the murder of James Wetzel.

Tragically, on 16 January, 1881, Elizabeth Munshower, the mother of Felix and my 3rd great grandmother, died after suffering a heart attack at the home of her daughter, Amy. Surely, the stress of the trial had weighed heavily upon her. She did not live to see her son executed. Her daughter, my great great grandmother, Alice, lived only 7 years longer. I don't know to what her death was attributed, but I wonder how much the actions and the death of her closest sibling affected her health.

It is amazing where one shred of information can lead you. One name in a census lead me to one of the family "Black Sheep". I wonder where my journey will take me next?

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 24 - Christmas Eve Memories

2010-12-24T10:44:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve, 1968

Me, playing with my cousin, Patty

Today's prompt is Christmas Eve Memories and I have many memories that revolve around this special night. It's interesting to note how many Christmas Eve "traditions" have evolved as I have grown older. When I was very young, up until I was about 10 years old, we spent each and every Christmas Eve with my mother's side of the family. The best thing about those nights was the fact that there were so many of us at the party. My mother had 4 brothers and 1 sister and they were all married with families as well, so when we got together, we were a formidible bunch! The age range between the cousins was such that there was almost always someone else around that was close to your own age, so there were plenty of others to play with. It was wonderful! As the years went by and the children grew, the family "tradition" changed and those celebrations ended as the attention turned towards the individual families and their schedules, etc.. When I was 10 years old, my oldest brother was engaged and for a few years we spent Christmas Eve with the family of my sister-in-law. This time the tradition was held at our home and after some simple sandwiches and present opening, we would all head to church for the Christmas Eve services. After a few years of our blended family get-togethers, we spent a couple of Christmas Eve nights at home with just my parents, my brother, and my grandmother and we even opened all of our gifts on the night before Christmas once. This was a change in the tradition that we decided we did not like at all since it took away all the anticipation of Christmas morning. The year after my graduation from high school, I was married and of course, the question of how we would spend our Christmas was of extreme importance to us. We decided to host my husband's family at our home that Christmas Eve and and we would spend Christmas Day with my family. Thus began a tradition that continues to this day. I'm sure that one day this tradition will also change, but if and when it does, it will certainly be replaced by another; just as sweet and just as cherished. Merry Christmas to all and may we carry the spirit of Christmas in our hearts throughout the New Year!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 23 - Christmas Sweetheart Memories

2010-12-24T09:50:00.000-05:00

This picture was taken at Ludlow Falls, Christmas, 1982

Today's prompt asks us to share Christmas Sweetheart Memories and just as I began thinking about what my post should say, I happened to see an ornament hanging on my tree from Christmas, 1980. It's a beautiful, blue and white ball with a painting of a Christmas sleigh and it states "First Christmas Together". Now, 1980 was not the first year we were married, but it was the first Christmas my husband and I shared together and that was the first ornament we ever purchased. We had started dating in August and a few weeks later, we were engaged. It was quick and we shocked many people, but here we are sharing our 30th Christmas together. I remember that first Christmas like it was yesterday. We spent many days shopping together for our families and for each other. We purchased giant stockings and had our names written on them in glitter. Our goal was to fill each stocking with goodies for each other. It was quite a challenge, but we managed to do it! Interestingly enough after all these years I think I can still remember everything I bought for him, but I don't remember one thing he bought for me.

I'm not sure if that's good or bad!

At the time we bought that first ornament, we had no idea what the Lord had in store for our future; three children, several different jobs, meeting new friends, saying goodbye to loved ones. We have shared much joy in these past 30 years and, although it sounds cliche', the time has flown by. Our children have grown from babies with wonder-filled eyes to compassionate, loving adults waiting to begin their own family Christmas traditions. My prayer and my hope is that they will find the same joy that began with our very first "sweetheart" Christmas in 1980.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 22 - Christmas and Deceased Relatives

2010-12-22T00:00:00.002-05:00

This is a reprint of the Advent Calendar post written for December 22, 2009.

The luminaries at David's Cemetery

Today's post is a response to the Geneabloggers.com Advent Calendar prompt which asks, Christmas and Deceased Relatives
Did your family visit the cemetery at Christmas? How did your family honor deceased family members at Christmas?

When I was a child, I don't remember visiting the cemetery at Christmas. We usually took my grandmother to place flowers on the gravesite of my great grandmother around Memorial Day, but for the most part, the only time I stepped foot into any cemetery was for a funeral service. I guess most people don't enjoy being in one unless they absolutley have to. Up until a few years ago, I had no idea how many of my ancestors burial places are located in David's Cemetery in Kettering. Once I began my research, I "found" them and I have been visting them regularly ever since.

But, Christmastime visits became more important after my grandparents passed away and especially after my father went home to Heaven almost 17 years ago. The cemetery provides the service of allowing the purchase of Christmas wreaths that are placed on the gravesites on December 1st. A few years ago, they began the practice of placing over 4,000 luminaries throughout the cemetery grounds on Christmas Eve. They begin at 5:00 pm and are kept lit until midnight, weather permitting. I can't tell you how beautiful it is or what an incredibly peaceful feeling it gives me to go to the cemetery on that night. It's not that I believe that my loved ones remain in the cemetery, but being there gives me the freedom to stop and remember and shed a few tears as I think about all the wonderful Christmases I spent with them.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 21- Christmas Music

2010-12-21T17:06:00.001-05:00

                 The Crosby singing doll, complete with microphone and pipe!

Okay. I'll admit it. I love Christmas music. I have been known to start listening to Christmas carols in September.   I have so many favorites, it's hard to narrow them down to just a few. Before radio stations finally began playing Christmas music all day, I used to buy tons of CD's and cassette tapes just so I could play them in the car to get me in the spirit for shopping.   Of course, I love Bing Crosby's Christmas songs, especially "White Christmas" and Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin are very welcome in my home. I practically wore out both of The Carpenter's Christmas record albums. "Merry Christmas, Darling" is a particular favorite for me.    But the carols that praise the meaning of Christmas are the best. "Silent Night" and "Away in a Manger" are beautiful in their simplicity and truth. One cd that I must listen to each year is that of John Denver's Christmas music.   "A Baby Just Like You", "Aspenglow",   and "Christmas Like a Lullaby" are the perfect songs for listening to while gazing at the twinkling lights on the tree. I simply can't get enough of it. So, while some people are lamenting how sick they are of Christmas carols, you can bet, I'm probably right here at my computer with my speakers playing those moonlight and mistletoe tunes!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 20 - Religious Services

2010-12-20T00:00:00.000-05:00

When I was very young, we attended the United Church of Christ that my maternal great great grandparents had had a large role in creating. Originally a German Reformed church, it had "converted" to the United Church of Christ some years before I was born. I think I was probably around 4 years old when I caught on to the fact that when the advent candles were being lit on the altar, it was getting close to Christmas. I don't recall whether or not Christmas Eve services were ever held there, but there may have been.

When I was 9 years old we began attending the First Baptist Church of Kettering, Ohio. My memories of my years there are quite vivid and very precious. We began having candlelight Christmas Eve services at 11:30 at night when I was probably about 10 or 11 years old. Earlier in the evening, we would spend time with my new sister in law's family and afterwards we would dress up and head to church.

I still believe there is no better way to spend Christmas Eve than to share a special time of worship, singing praise to Jesus, the reason for the season!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 19 - Christmas Shopping

2010-12-19T16:00:00.000-05:00

This post is a reprint of my Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories post from December, 2009.

I had to laugh when I saw today's Advent Calendar subject was Christmas shopping. A few days ago I was telling my sons about an incident that happened when I was just 4 years old, but I remember it like it was yesterday. It was Christmas, 1966 and it was still a big deal to go shopping in downtown Dayton. It was a Saturday afternoon and my parents were going to leave me with my grandparents and my older brothers while they went shopping. I wasn't used to being left at home and the thought of going "downtown" sounded like a great prospect. I really wanted to go and I can remember crying something awful! Mom and Dad decided to make a deal with me. I could go shopping with them, or I could have one of my Christmas presents now. Well, obviously the idea of getting a present "right now" outweighed the thought of going to a place that only might be fun. Of course, I decided that the present was the best choice. I tore into that wrapping paper with gusto and I wasn't disappointed! It was Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots are Made for Walkin' " LP. I certainly thought I was quite grown up. Oh, how I wanted a pair of boots like Nancy's! I have never been able to part with that album to this day. Isn't it funny how events like these burn so deeply into our memories? I'm sure that my parents never thought that present was anything special, but I think about it often and it always makes me smile. By the way, I would still REALLY like to have those boots.

Me in a pair of boots, many years after this story. Not like Nancy's but still loved them!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 18 - Christmas Stockings

2010-12-18T23:19:00.001-05:00

Our Christmas Stockings hang under our baby pictures in our hallway.

                     My son's "official" stockings; these are the ones that we filled.

I have always loved Christmas stockings. When I was young we hung our stockings on the inside of our front door. I can recall my brothers receiving things like mouthwash and deodorant in their stockings when they were teenagers. I don't remember anything specifically that was placed in mine, but I assume it was small candies or jewelry. After we moved to our new home in 1973, I don't recall the stockings ever being hung again since my brothers were now grown up and I believe my stocking had pretty much fallen apart by that time.
When my husband and I were first engaged, we found two gigantic stockings while shopping at a mall and we paid extra to have our names placed on the top. That first year, we challenged each other to buy enough presents to fill the entire stocking for the other. What fun we had trying to find enough presents to fit into that space! We still have those stockings 30 years later, although we certainly don't try to fill them anymore!   When our sons were born, my husband's parents bought each of them a special "plush" stocking with the head of a stuffed bear on top of each. Those are their "official" stockings and the ones that were filled each year.   In our hallway, under each of our corresponding baby pictures, we have special stockings. Mine is knitted with tiny bears all over it. At the time we purchased it, I was collecting stuffed bears, so it seemed quite appropriate! My husband's stocking, of course, has a "Cincinnati Bengals" design, while the designs on my son's stockings include Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, Snoopy, and a Teddy Bear. We added a new stocking last year in honor of our daughter in law and it pictures an angel. Throughout the years, each of our dog's has always had his or her own stocking as well. There have been a few years when we may not have filled the stockings, but they always have their own special place in our holiday decorating. It wouldn't be the same without them!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 17 - Grab Bag - Big Brothers

2010-12-18T22:44:00.001-05:00

Me and My Big Brothers

Christmas, 1974 brought about a big change in our family Christmas traditions. The previous June, my oldest brother had gotten married and he and his wife were living in Williamsburg, Kentucky while he attended college. For the first time, my brother would not be spending his entire Christmas holiday with us and for the next couple of years, my brother and sister-in-law would spend the week before Christmas with her family and they would share Christmas Day and the week following with us. I especially enjoyed taking care of their cat, Fudgie while they were home. That is, until we figured out that I was allergic to cats and I had to stop bringing her into my bedroom. It was quite an adjustment for my sister in law, as well. since she was used to opening her presents on Christmas Eve, while we were early Christmas morning risers. That first year, she had a very "rude" awakening when I misread the numbers on my clock and woke her up at 5:00 am rather than 6:00!

The following Christmas brought another big adjustment when my next brother was also attending college. Having grown up in a household that was constantly active, it had been difficult getting used to being the only child living at home. Adding to that difficulty was the fact that my mother had had to go back to work and my father was forced to start working second shift. Therefore, the idea of all of them being home for Christmas was a joyful thought. Just being there together, watching "Family Feud" in the morning or "White Christmas" in the evening was priceless. One Christmas I remember in particular, my brother, Brian, had arrived home the day of my last day of school before Christmas vacation. During that winter, I was involved in after school bowling and he surprised me by picking me up at the bowling alley. What a delight to look up and see him walking down the hallway. Upon arriving at home, I was happy to see that he had decorated the house with fresh pine greenery and holly berries that he had brought with home with him from Kentucky. We would stay up late watching old reruns of "The Honeymooners" and "You Bet Your Life" together. I surely dreaded New Year's Eve that year because I knew it would be time for my siblings to head back to Williamsburg too soon.

If I was lucky, we would have a snowstorm large enough to keep them all from traveling back to school for a few days, and it did indeed happen once or twice during those years. Alas, time flew by very quickly and before we knew it, they had graduated and begun their careers and their own lives and the extended stays at "home" ended. Even after nearly 30 years married with a family of my own, I often miss those wonderful times when we were all at home, just enjoying being together. For me, that is the best thing about the Christmas season.

The Family as it Was, 1979

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 16 - Christmas at School

2010-12-16T00:00:00.001-05:00

I wrote in my holiday parties post about the Rolling Fields Elementary School Christmas parties, so today I will tell you about a Christmas party we had when I was in high school.

By the time you reach your teen years, school Christmas parties are a thing of the past. As a matter of fact, kids today are lucky if they are even allowed "holiday" parties at school when they are young. But, in my senior year, the kids in my American History class decided that we should have a Christmas party. My teacher explained that she could not have the party herself, but that we were welcome to "plan" it ourselves. So, one of the girls started a list and went around the room, asking each one of us what we might be able to bring to our "party". It might have started off on a lark, but by the end of the day, we had a very large list of food and drinks that we would be sharing on the last day of school before Christmas break. We actually found ourselves getting excited at the thought of having a good, old-fashioned school Christmas party. On the day of the party, our teacher signed out one of the few tv/video recorder combos that were available at the school. I don't remember what we watched, but I do remember a movie playing as we each passed out the goodies we brought to share. It didn't last as long as the parties we had when we were children and the rest of the school wasn't having one at the same time, but it certainly was a great deal of fun!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 14 - Holiday Happenings- Mom & Dad's Anniversary

2010-12-15T00:00:00.002-05:00

Mom and Dad

December 14, 1951

I wish today's prompt had actually come on December 14 because yesterday my parents would have been married for 59 years. On December 14, 1951, my mom and dad were married in a ceremony in front of their family and close friends at the Fairmont Presbyterian Church in Kettering, Ohio. Dad had enlisted in the Air Force and would soon be leaving for basic training and they wanted to be married before he left. It wasn't a fancy or elaborate wedding, but it lasted for 42 years, before we lost my dad to pancreatic cancer. I can remember mom telling me about the night they got married. There was a terrible snow and ice storm and my great grandfather even refused to drive the 40 minutes to the wedding from Sabina because he was worried about the roads. After the wedding, my parents had to drive to Sabina because that's where they were spending their wedding night. It was a treacherous trip and they were very thankful to make it to my grandmother's house safely.

During my childhood, I can't remember mom and dad ever making a big fuss over their anniversary. Sometimes, but rarely, they would go out to dinner. Once, I can remember making a big fuss over it and they actually took me along to dinner with them. There was more than one occasion when they would each take Christmas presents out from under the tree and present them as anniversary presents to each other. When I was very little, I would make anniversary cards for them with glitter and construction paper at school. I found a couple of them a few months ago in a box of old papers at mom and dad's house.

In 1986, when they were going to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary, we decided we wanted to give them a party because we had been unable to do anything special on their silver anniversary. Mom and Dad both tried to talk us out of it and said that we should just wait until their 50th. But, we didn't want to wait and I'm so glad we went ahead with the party as planned. It was just a small event with some close friends whom they had known for years. We held it at their home and my sister in law made a small wedding cake. We just had some punch and sandwiches. Everyone told stories of how they had met my parents and we played a few rounds of "The Newlywed Game". Thank heaven for videotape because we captured all those moments to share again and again. My aunt placed an article in my father's hometown newspaper detailing the event.

It taught me the lesson that we should never wait to celebrate because we are not promised tomorrow. Merry Christmas!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 14 - Fruitcake

2010-12-14T15:15:00.000-05:00

My husband tells the story of how, when he was a child, he had his first piece of fruitcake. Unlike the word, "eggnog", the name "fruitcake" seemed to describe something he would find enjoyable. Fruit was something he liked and cake was certainly on his list of favorite things to eat. Therefore, fruitcake, with it's combination of two taste sensations, should be delicious, he reasoned. He found out quickly that things don't always taste the way they are described and he didn't like that tradition at all. As he has gotten older, he has developed an appreciation for fruitcake, especially one that he purchased once at a "dollar" store and can't seem to replicate. I on the other hand have only tasted one fruitcake that I could describe as being edible. A former boss of mine, who happened to be a Presbyterian minister and counselor, made the tastiest fruitcake I have ever had. I have no idea what ingredients she used, although I suspect there may have been a good deal of rum in the cake. Regardless, I had the opportunity of working with her over the period of two Christmas seasons and after the first year, I have to admit, I looked forward to receiving one of the minicakes that she distributed to all our co-workers. It's one of my fondest memories of working for her. But, since then I have never found another fruitcake that I would consider "tasty". But, I'm willing to keep trying!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 13 - Holiday Travel

2010-12-14T14:49:00.000-05:00

Christmas in Sabina

My grandma, my dad, and my aunt

Holiday travel for my family consisted of driving about 40 minutes or so to my aunt's house in Sabina. It wasn't a long journey, but it was one that I looked forward to every year. When I was very young, I thought the song "Over the River and Through the Woods" was written about my own grandmother's home since just outside of my hometown, the suburbs quickly became a farm laden countryside. We crossed many a bridge and crossed by quite a bit of wood-covered landscapes. There was nothing like driving past those old barns and seeing the horses and cows in the pasture on a cold Christmas morning. We would alternate with my dad's side of the family and if they came to our house on Thanksgiving we would go to theirs on Christmas. The following year, we would switch. I always knew that when our station wagon pulled up the driveway, there would be loving arms waiting to welcome us in. It was a wonderful time and we continued the tradition until the family grew too large to accomodate everyone's schedules. There was nothing like the food, the hugs, the conversation, and the fun that we all had when we were together. It was truly what Christmas is all about and I miss it very much.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 12 - Charitable/Volunteer Work

2010-12-11T20:01:00.001-05:00

Toys for Tots

One of the best things I have ever been a part of was the Toys for Tots program sponsored by the U.S. Marine Corps. My husband was the Cubmaster of a Cub Scout Pack at our sons' school and I was a den leader. We were privileged to participate in several Toys for Tots programs during those years. Each one was different and special in it's own way. The first year, we had two Marines actually come to our pack meeting. Each one held a bag and the scouts marched up to the men, one by one. They gave each Marine a salute as the placed their donated toys into the bag. What a memorable night for the boys and their families. The next year, we were invited as a pack to the Veteran's Administration Center in Dayton, along with scout troops and packs from all over the area. On that occasion, the boys marched up to the stage and placed their toys under a large Christmas tree. It was fun and very meaningful. The year after that, a big event was staged at a shopping mall in nearby Beavercreek. It was a little challenging just finding placed to park at a mall so close to Christmas. Once inside, the crowd made it difficult for the Marines to put on the program, but the kids still were able to donate their gifts to try to make sure that every child had a gift for Christmas. I truly hope we helped to teach those scouts the lesson that it is "better to give than to receive". Merry Christmas!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 10 - Christmas Gifts- The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Gun

2010-12-11T19:25:00.000-05:00

Best gift ever!

My dad, trying to put the gun together

For the first time, I have decided to write an "extra" post for a blog subject. I just had to share the story of one of my brother's favorite gifts ever.
In the movie "A Christmas Story", Ralphie wants a "Red Ryder Carbine Action BB Gun". In the 1960's the coolest gun on the market was not a BB gun, but a Man from U.N.C.L.E. spy set. My brother loved that television show and his favorite character was Napoleon Solo. On Christmas morning, he was thrilled to pieces when he opened that present and revealed the entire gun set. This gun had a special spy scope and something like looked like a pocket knife, but when you pushed a button, it became a handgun. Nowadays, there would be all kinds of anti-violence groups up in arms about a toy like this, but we thought it was awesome! You never knew when you would encounter some evil underworld figure out here in the suburbs and we had to be prepared! I was able to capture these photographs of that Christmas morning from an old 8mm movie film we have. As much as we hated that bright light shining on us on those holiday mornings, I'm so grateful that mom and dad invested in a movie camera!
My brother played with that gun set until most of the guns fell apart. Eventually, one of the guns ended up being incinerated in a bonfire that my father started in the backyard one night. He thought the gun wasn't any good anymore so he thought he would just go ahead and get rid of it. Unfortunately, he didn't ask my brother beforehand so by the time he found out that my brother still wanted the gun, it was too late! We never let my dad hear the end of that and the story still lives in family lore to this day.

There are always one or two presents that stand out in our minds from our childhoods. Whether it was something good or maybe something not quite so good, it's good to take them out every once in a while and remember!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 11 - Other Traditions

2010-12-11T19:00:00.001-05:00

This prompt asks if we celebrate other traditions during Christmastime such as Kwanza or Hanukkah. Being an American family of German, English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry, neither of those holidays are ones which we celebrate. We do have traditions that are tied to the Christmas season, however and they are events which we certainly look forward to each year. At least one or two nights during the weeks preceding Christmas, we try to set aside an evening to watch our favorite Christmas movies. These include every version of "A Christmas Carol" that we can get our hands on. Our favorite by far is Alastair Sims portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge, but we love the new versions with George C. Scott and Patrick Stewart as well. Henry Winkler's "An American Christmas Carol" is special to us as well since it portrays depression-era America. Of course, "It's A Wonderful Life" is not to be missed and we enjoy the Marlo Thomas version "It Happened One Christmas" as well. But, we especially enjoy collecting dvd's and vhs tapes of old, obscure and also favorite television shows. The "I Love Lucy" and "The Honeymooners" Christmas episodes are among our favorites, as are the Jack Benny and Abbott and Costello's holiday shows. Yes, we now know the jokes by heart, but that is half the fun. One favorite video is one we purchased for just a couple of dollars last year. It contains old Christmas toy commercials. How much fun it is to see advertisements for the toys we wanted when we were kids! It sparks wonderful memories and makes for great conversation starters. As a matter of fact, I think it's time to get those movies started! Merry Christmas!
Watch the "I Love Lucy" Christmas Episode here

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 10 - Christmas Gifts

2010-12-10T00:00:00.005-05:00

I am using today's Advent Calendar post about Christmas gifts to defend myself. For many years, my family has been espousing the fact that I was a spoiled brat as a child based upon an incident that was filmed on Christmas Day, 1965. The problem with the film is that it doesn't tell the entire story, which is what I intend to do now.

I was 3 years old. We had just had a joyous Christmas Eve with my mother's side of the family, followed by a Christmas morning on which I had received a treasure trove of gifts from both Santa Claus and my parents. I must have really liked "Mary Poppins" because I received not only a doll in her image, but also her signature umbrella and traveling bag. But for me, like it is for many children, a majority of the fun of receiving a gift was being handed a beautifully wrapped surprise and guessing what it could be. The anticipation surrounding the moment when we would "tear into the paper" and discover something new and wonderful was as important as the gift itself. So, on that Christmas morning, even as I was opening those presents under our tree, I was telling myself that even when I had finished opening all these presents, I still had ONE more present to open at my grandma's house in Sabina. After my brothers and I packed up a couple of our favorite new presents to take along with us, we headed to Grandma's house. After a torturously long wait, (was it REALLY important to eat lunch before we opened presents?) it was finally time......
All of the presents surrounded a small Christmas tree in one of Grandma's bedrooms in her tiny house. As all of the kids ran into the room, my aunt and my grandmother started reading the tags and handing out the gifts. As each present was given out, my excitement was building. - Where was mine? My brothers and my cousins were ripping into their gifts, wrapping paper flying in all directions. Suddenly, it was my turn! And there was my present.....
Sitting on the floor....
Under the tree.......
Was a doll in a box.....
UNWRAPPED....
Just sitting there....doing nothing.

The unwrapped doll

It wasn't even a doll I recognized. And she was sitting there in a naked box. No bows. No paper to tear. No surprise.

Now, had I been 10, or maybe even 6 or 7, I could have been gracious and said , "Oh, thank you, Grandma. She's beautiful". But I was 3 years old and I was heartbroken. I didn't want to cry, so my disappointment came out by tantrum. Dad's movie camera caught me standing with my arms crossed, shaking my head "no" as my grandma stood on the other side of the room showing me the doll in her box, while my mother stands behind me trying to convince me to take the wonderful present.

They just didn't understand. It wasn't that I didn't like the doll. (as a matter of fact, there is later footage showing me giving the doll a bottle) I was that I had been looking forward to having a present to open. That was part of the fun and I didn't get to do that. To this day, I don't know and I never will know, why Grandma chose to keep the gift unwrapped. It could be that she got it too late to wrap it, or maybe she even ran out of paper before she got to it. (Remember, these were the days when stores closed early on Christmas Eve.) Whatever the case, the present wasn't wrapped and it caused me to make a scene that still lives in our family lore.

So, to keep the record straight for posterity, I wasn't a spoiled brat......really I wasn't. And, I promise to always make the presentation of the gift as important as the present itself.
By the way, I love you, Grandma! :)

After I got over my disappointment!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 9 - Grab Bag "The 12 Days of Christmas"

2010-12-09T00:00:00.003-05:00

Since today is a "Grab Bag" entry, I get to choose my own subject and I have been waiting for this one!
This event did not take place when I was a child and my own children were not yet born, but it is by far one of my favorite Christmas memories. It happened during the Christmas season of 1985. I was working as a receptionist for a counseling center and I had been having a hard time getting into the spirit of the season. During lunch one day, I picked up a magazine and read a story entitled "The Holiday Phantom". In the story, a family took the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" quite literally and they anonymously left gifts each day for 12 days at the doorstep of a family. I wish I could tell you the name of the author or even the name of the magazine, but I can't. What I can tell you is that that writer inspired my husband and I become "holiday phantoms" ourselves and we chose my sister in law and her family as our "victims". Beginning on December 13, we left a new gift, each night, on their front porch. We decided to begin with a small artificial Christmas tree. We found a tree and then went shopping for a "partridge" to put "in the tree". After doing some shopping, we purchased a silver bird that "clipped" onto a branch. Perfect. We also wrote a poem to go with the tree. Now, to leave the tree and get away without being caught. No problem. My husband figured he could sneak up onto the darkened porch and knock on the door and hide by the side of the house in the bushes until they had found the tree and closed the door. He knocked on the door, ran and then listened as the door was opened and the kids found the tree. So far, so good. We got away with it. It was so much fun hearing our nephews tell us the story of how they had opened the door to find their Christmas tree and how exciting it was. Each day, we had prepared something to leave at the door. Candles, candy, etc. and we included a poem to go with each. Since they weren't expecting anyone on the second night, my husband was easily able to get away from the house without be detected again, but once the kids were onto the fact that something was going to be showing up each night, they became determined to "catch" the culprit!

The boys were eager to "catch the culprit"

Now, things got really interesting. Each night, not only did we have to come up with a new item to leave, my husband had to formulate a new escape plan. By the fifth night, it was becoming more difficult to hide since the boys were now waiting by the door with shoes on, ready to run out into the night. It also had rained and then snowed, so the ground had a coating of ice, making running treacherous.
On one night, my husband planned to run around the side of their house, jump the fence, run through their backyard, jump the other fence, cross into a neighbors yard and walk back home by going around the block. He knocked on the door, heard the yells and foot stomping in the house and began to make his escape. He jumped the fence and began running through the backyard, forgetting that his sister had a clothesline strung across that portion of the yard. Boom! He hit the clothesline and went flying! Somehow, he made it back up and over the back fence without getting caught. The next night, he decided to cross into the next door neighbors yard instead of going through the back of the yard. Unfortunately, he forgot that our neighbor happened to be a former police officer, who, upon hearing his dogs creating a commotion outside, came outside with gun drawn! My husband put his hands up and said "It's just me. It's just me." To which our dear neighbor said, "Who are you?". Luckily, he managed to explain to the ex-police officer what he was doing and at the same time, remain unidentified as the "Holiday Phantom". By this time, we were both having such a good time with the "secret" gift giving that we were sad that it would soon be over. The final night was going to be a real challenge since the family would all be at our home for Christmas Eve and it would be difficult to explain my husband's absence for a few minutes. We were able to get my father in law to run some interference while my husband jogged to his sister's home and left the final gift, along with a poem that listed all the previous nights gifts. (I was told later, that the order of the gifts that I had written was incorrect! I'm not sure what I did to mess it up, but that just adds to the story!) I think the family enjoyed the experience of being given the gifts, but no more than we enjoyed the experience of giving the gifts. We have had many laughs about it in the years since and I have often wanted to do it again for someone else. None of the gifts was expensive, but the joy it gave us was priceless.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 8 - Christmas Cookies

2010-12-08T00:00:00.002-05:00

I think one thing we all share is the love of Christmas cookies. My problem is that I love them too much! Sugar, chocolate chip, candy cane, oatmeal; it doesn't matter. I am an equal opportunity eater! I have never been too adventuresome in my own cookie baking. However, for Christmas, 1988, my husband and I decided to come up with something fun to do with our 2 year old and it actually worked out pretty nicely!

I had always wanted to make a gingerbread house, but it seemed a little bit more difficult than what I was ready to try. So, we decided to try a scaled down, simple version using square shortbread cookies from the store. We bought several packages of "Lorna Doone" type cookies, cans of ready made frosting, tubes of decorator frosting, and various "ornamental" candies such as tiny cinnamon candies, sprinkles, etc.

Starting with a cookie base, we used the decorator icing as our "cement", holding the sides of the houses to the base and to each other. The most difficult part was forming the triangled roof. It was a little messy holding the cookies together until the frosting hardened enough to keep them in place, but that was the fun part. Once the houses were together, we decorated them in various ways. A few we gave to friends whose houses we "replicated" in frosting! It made quite an impression when had our display sitting on the dessert tables on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Everyone liked them so much that they didn't want to eat them!

We have never done this again, but just thinking about it makes me want to give it another try!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 7 - Christmas Parties

2010-12-07T00:00:00.002-05:00

Growing up in Kettering in the late 1960's and early 70's, Christmas parties in school were wonderful. Note that I said "Christmas" parties. Before politcal correctness, when we were taught Christmas songs in music class and when the name Jesus could be spoken in class without retribution, we were allowed to have Christmas parties.

The day before Christmas vacation was no ordinary day. The first half of the day was the Christmas party. Each student was to bring a small gift, marked "for a boy" or "for a girl". The "homeroom mothers" provided cookies, cupcakes, or drinks. We would all be seated at our desks as the "goodies" were distributed. Then, we might play a game or complete a puzzle. Sometimes there were even prizes for the winners. Then, names or numbers would be drawn to choose who would pick the next gift. The first Christmas present of the year to be opened! Squeals of delight would fill the room as we all compared what we had received . By now it was lunchtime. All "sugared" up and brimming with excitement we would march to the lunchroom, everyone talking at once. Rushing through lunch and playing through recess, we were now ready for the big finale. After the classroom was clean and neat, we would line up, march to the gymnasium/cafeteria where the lunch tables were still standing and we would take our seats. Our attention was turned toward the stage, where the movie screen was being lowered. The principal would give his annual "Behave yourselves or you will be sent to the office to sit with me" speech. The lights would go down and the show would begin. First up would usually be a Jiminy Cricket, "You are a Human Animal" cartoon and then the film would begin. It was almost always a Walt Disney movie, like "The Absent-Minded Professor" or "A Tiger Walks". We were always afraid that the bell would ring before we got to see the end of the movie, the end of the day always came after the end of the movie.

It didn't get any better than that; a party, a movie, a two week vacation from school and Christmas was just a couple of days away!

As wonderful as Christmas still is today, it's hard to beat those days when I was a child, it was Christmas, and "all was right with the world!"

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 6 - Santa Claus

2010-12-06T00:00:00.004-05:00

Ah, Santa Claus. Was there ever anyone that inspired more excitement and terror at the same time? I think there are many kids that have a kind of love/hate relationship with the "jolly old elf". I don't remember ever going to visit Santa at Christmas. The only real memory I have is being in the toy department of a store and hearing Santa and his elves walking around in the next aisle. I just "froze" and hope he didn't come down the aisle in which I was standing!
When my kids were born, I didn't want them to be afraid of Santa because I think he is one of the truly fun things about Christmas. My oldest son, Daniel, was born in October, so he was just an infant for his first Christmas. We took him to the mall and stood in line for about 15 minutes so he could have his picture taken with Santa. Originally, it was just so we and his grandparents would have a cute picture for Christmas, but it actually came in handy the following year when we started planning Daniel's next visit with Santa.

Since he now had a "record" of visiting Santa and he could see pictures of himself being held lovingly in Santa's arms, Daniel was less reluctant to talk to him. After the second year, he not only had a picture of himself with Santa, he now had a real memory of the visit. By the third year, Daniel was an "old pro" at this Santa stuff and he was able to prepare his brothers for their first visits.

It was at about this time that we stopped just visiting Santa at the mall and we began to attend the annual "Breakfast with Santa" that was presented by one of our local department stores here in town. This was an event that you had to purchase tickets for, so the amount of children was limited to how many you could fit into the restaurant booths, making it a much more intimate experience. We were escorted into our places by Santa's elves and we were served a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, juice, and milk. After a few minutes, we would be told to say "Merry Christmas, Santa" and in the big man would walk, carrying jingle bells and giving us all a jolly "Ho, Ho, Ho". He would then go to each table and greet each child by name; (with the help of the name tags each one wore!).

Afterward, he would take his place at a large red and white chair in front of the room and the children were welcomed to come up and sit on the floor all around him as one of the elves read "Twas the Night Before Christmas". Following the story, each child was given a gift. Twice they were given mugs that read "I Had Breakfast with Santa Claus" and a couple of times they received small stuffed animals. Then, Santa would leave the restaurant and take his place downstairs to greet each child individually and hear their Christmas wish lists. It was a precious time for our family and I carry those memories in my heart. That department store closed it's restaurants a few years ago and the breakfasts with Santa and those with the Easter Bunny came to a sad end. The branch of the store where we attended our breakfast will soon be closed as well. It certainly is the end of an era. I'm happy that my children were part of a generation that were able to see the magic of Santa Claus up close.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 5 - Outdoor Decorations

2010-12-05T00:00:00.001-05:00

Ludlow Falls, Ohio

We have never really had the opportunity to place many decorations outside our home. We have no electrical outlets outside, so our outdoor Christmas cheer is limited to a wreath, a couple of flags, and some greenery. I do have a lighted angel that hangs in the front window of our home and I usually have some lights that are visible from outside. But, when I think of outdoor decorations what comes to mind the most are the times when we would load the kids into the van and take a drive around the city to see what displays our neighbors had created. Our favorite sight to see was is one gentleman who for years would dress as Santa and stand in his kitchen window and wave to cars as they drove by. People would actually stop their cars and walk up to take his picture. He became so popular that it became a traffic problem in his neighborhood. As far as I know, he may still be performing his act to this day.

One event that was held annually for almost a half a century was the Christmas light display at Ludlow Falls, Ohio. Each year the firefighters of the town would donate hours of time stringing thousands of lights across the waterfall. During the periods of time when there was snow and ice on the ground, it was a spectacular sight to see. The best thing was that the event was open to the public and free of charge. It was truly a gift from the firefighters to the town. After enjoying the lights, you could enjoy the warmth of the firehouse and also grab a cup of hot chocolate. Unfortunately, due to economic concerns, the holiday lights display ended a few years ago. It such a shame that new generations of children will never have the opportunity to see the beauty of that waterfall all dressed up for Christmas.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 4 - Christmas Cards

2010-12-04T00:00:00.002-05:00

I have always loved both sending and receiving Christmas cards. Nothing can cheer me faster than finding a beautiful greeting from a loved one waiting for me in the mailbox. I especially enjoy reading "newsy" annual letters and seeing family photos. When I was a child, we would display our cards all around the living room, beginning on the inside of the front door and spreading out around the room as needed. This is a tradition I have continued in my own home. Sometimes, I even hang them up before my husband gets a chance to read them!
I began sending Christmas cards when I was in high school. We would write our friends names and their homeroom numbers on the front of the envelopes and for 5 cents a piece (which was given to charity), "elves" would deliver our cards to our friends in their morning classrooms. It was one of the few times during the year when I looked forward to going to school.

After my husband and I were married 29 years ago, we began a tradition of sending cards each year, oftentimes with family portraits or pictures of our sons. As a result, friends and family watched us grow from the 2 of us to the 6 of us. Computers and social networking are changing the way we receive and send greetings each year and while I enjoy receiving those "e" greetings, nothing will ever take the place of finding those Christmas greetings in the mailbox.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 3 - Christmas Tree Ornaments

2010-12-03T00:00:00.004-05:00

One of my earliest memories surrounding Christmas involves a delicate glass ornament, similar to the green one pictured here. I don't remember exactly how old I was, but I must have been 3 or 4. Interestingly enough, I can remember what I was thinking at the time, but just WHY I was thinking this is anybody's guess. I was standing in front of the tree, admiring the twinkling lights and the shiny tinsel. One particularly pretty ornament caught my eye and I remember sticking my finger into the silver indentation on the side of the pink ball. Then, for reasons which I don't understand, I thought to myself "I think I will eat this" and with that I grabbed the ornament off the tree, put it into my mouth like an apple and took a big bite. In that same instant, the fragile glass shattered, my mother screamed, scraped me up and ran the 15 feet or so from where I stood in the living room to the kitchen sink. She hung me upside down, head first over it and started to frantically pull bits and pieces of broken glass out of my mouth while she and my brothers proceeded to ask why in the world I would have done something like that. Once my mother was satisfied that I had not ripped my mouth into shreds or damaged any internal organs, she put me back down and gave me a lesson about not eating the Christmas decorations. To this day, when I see this type of ornament I am instantly taken back to one of my first "What was she thinking?" moments!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories -December 2 - Holiday Foods

2010-12-02T00:00:00.003-05:00

There is nothing quite like holiday foods. My earliest memories of holiday food at Christmas revolve around Christmas Eve at my uncle's home. Of course, the main thing on my mind was presents and how soon we would get to open those presents. And, we wouldn't get to open the presents until after dinner. So, let's get this dinner thing over with as soon as possible. All of the kids would eat dinner at the kitchen table, while the adults would eat downstairs. Our parents would fix our plates and give us each our own bottle of Coca-Cola. After we ate the "nutritious" stuff, we could have those wonderful cookies that were sitting on the table in the dining room. My mother's side of the family was very large and we had literally "tons" of food to choose from. I don't remember specific dishes here, but I do remember how much we all loved having our own bottles of Coke. No wonder we couldn't go to sleep that night!

Christmas Day was spent with my father's side of the family. All the food was wonderful, but there were several items that became staples in our holiday traditions. My aunt made a delicious dessert called Cherry Delight. It consists of a graham cracker crust, cream cheese, Dream Whipp, and cherry pie filling. I think my brother could have lived on Cherry Delight alone! She also made Divinity Fudge like I have never tasted before. My mother started making buckeyes every year and she continues to do so. We also have a cheese ball each Christmas that even my kids look forward to. We usually don't make any of these things at other times of the year, because they are so associated with Christmas that it wouldn't seem right. It may not be politically correct or even medically sound, but I think at Christmas there is nothing wrong with eating something just because it tastes so good!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 1-The Christmas Tree

2010-12-01T00:00:00.005-05:00

Christmas Tree with presents, circa 1963

It's the most wonderful time of the year once again and our Christmas tree is the focal point of our decorations and the center of the holiday action. When I was very young, we had a live Christmas tree in our living room, glowing with those large colorful bulbs and pieces of tinsel that would stick to you when you walked by and clog your sweeper when you ran over them. I'm not sure when it was discovered that my brother and I were allergic to the beautiful pines, but sometime around 1971, after my father bought an aluminum tree during a visit to an auction, our Christmases with live trees came to an end. I don't recall being too disappointed because the aluminum tree was the "in" thing and it was very pretty. It came complete with the noisy color wheel and red and green "pom-poms" that were attached to the end of each branch. Aside from the fact that it took forever to put up, we were pretty happy with that silvery symbol of Christmas spirit. We used that tree for several years until we bought a new, green artificial tree. I thought sometimes that it might be fun to go to a farm or even a lot and buy a real tree, but we thought our tree was beautiful and the ritual of decorating the tree each year with our special family ornaments was something we looked forward to. Our trees were not of the "designer" variety. We used the same roll of garland and with the exception of a new ornament now and again, our tree consisted of beloved handmade ornaments from our school days, a vintage collection of decorations from the early days of my parents marriage, and some items that were gifts of love from other family members and friends.

When my husband and I were married, our first tree was a small, tabletop model that he had purchased for me to use in my bedroom the year before we were married. It was tiny, but it was perfect with our "First Christmas Together" ornament hanging proudly in the front. In subsequent years, we had a used tree, and then finally, we bought a tree with enough branches to hold our growing collection of ornaments that enumerated all the milestones in our family. We have always loved our tree, but, one year, we decided we wanted to give our oldest son (and ourselves!) the experience of going out to a Christmas tree farm to cut down a tree. My sister in law decided she wanted a live tree, so off we went with her to find the "perfect" tree. She picked a farm about an hour away from our home. No problem. The drive would just be a special part of the experience. Right after we arrived at the farm, it began to snow. Great! This would just add to the Christmas spirit. The wind began to pick up and it got colder and colder. For whatever reason, we just couldn't seem to find the "right" tree. My 4 year old son's excitement and patience was wearing thin. Cold, tired, and hungry his anthem became "Just pick one!". My sister in law pointed at one and said "Okay. That one!". Using the tree saw that was provided by the farm, my husband was able to quickly cut down the tree and it was wrapped and placed into our van and with a sense of relief we headed back home. By now, it was getting dark and we were now very ready to get to decorating. Upon unloading the tree and setting it up in the stand, we discovered that the tree must have been growing on a hill and it was too crooked to stand up straight in the tree stand. So, my husband began to try to level the tree by cutting the stump, little by little. Unfortunately, we don't own a tree saw and the one he was using quickly became covered by tree sap and soon was almost useless. He would cut a little bit, pick the tree up, sit it in the stand, and it would fall over! By the time the tree became level enough to stand up straight, it was no longer the majestic evergreen we had started with, but was instead a shadow of it's former self and became the inspiration for our tradition family rendition of "Oh Christmas Bush". We laughed so hard, we cried.

So, while the memory of the "Great Christmas Tree" hunt may not have been exactly what we had in mind, it certainly will be an experience we will cherish.

The 1971 "Shiny aluminum Christmas Tree"

Our first Christmas Tree, 1981

Tombstone Tuesday - John George Mackeravy

2010-11-30T16:55:00.000-05:00

While visiting my husband's grandmother's gravesite at Zion cemetery in Dayton, we discovered the final resting place of John G. Mackeravy. Since it sat between that of my husband's grandmother and great grandmother, we thought he might have had some significance to them, but we weren't sure. I decided to see what I could find about Mr. Mackeravy.

According to John's Ohio death certificate #26017, his cause of death was listed as chronic myocarditis. His spouse is listed as Lillie Mackeravy. Even though her name is listed as Lillian Aring on her headstone, (the last name of her first husband) we believe that John's Lillie is my husband's great grandmother. In an earlier blog post, I told the tragic story of Lillian and John Aring, the adoptive parents of my husband's grandmother, Ruth. It seems that John Mackeravy was Lillian's second husband, by whom she was once again widowed.

John's occupation was listed as "checker" on the B & O Railroad. He had been listed as a truck driver on his World War I Draft Registration and on the 1920 United States Census for Montgomery County, Ohio, he was listed as being divorced and living in a rooming house in Harrison Township. So, John and Lillie would have been married at some point after 1920. It is interesting to note that when Lillie passed away in 1950, her family saw fit to use her previous married name rather than "Mackeravy", however, she is buried in the same row as both of her husbands.

Carnival of Genealogy - There's One in Every Family

2010-11-27T22:28:00.000-05:00

This post has been submitted for the 100th Edition for the Carnival of Genealogy subject "There's One In Every Family". The carnival is hosted by Creative Gene.

"There's One in Every Family", or at least, I would hope so. In this case, I'm talking about family portraits. Yes, I would agree that most people dislike having their picture taken and that includes me. Usually the statement, "let's take a family picture" results in moans and eye-rolling. Sometimes, it may even evolve into the gnashing of teeth and ripping of clothing! We may try to avoid it like the plague, but it is interesting to note that when people are asked what items they would try to save from flood or fire, a great many of them would say, "family photographs".

I can say myself that for the past few years while I have been researching my family history, there have been few discoveries that have pleased me more than those that involve the finding of a family photograph.

For example, for years the photo you see above hung upon the wall in my maternal grandparent's home, but I didn't appreciate just how much this picture would mean to me. The Norris family portrait was taken, probably on Christmas Eve, 1962, when I was just a few months old. (I'm on the far right side of the photo, sitting on my father's lap.) It's far from the "perfect" shot my professional photographer husband would be happy with, but to me it is priceless. Sure, my mother is looking away from the camera, as is one of my cousins, but this precious portrait offers a glimpse into a very special time in the life of my mother's family. My grandparents are obviously thrilled to have all their children and most of their grandchildren present with them on a happy holiday evening. The children, excited to be with cousins and anticipating the presents that await them, are clearly enjoying themselves. They may have complained about stopping the festivities for picture taking, but thankfully, they sat down long enough for the photo.

In subsequent years, the family grew larger. Grandchildren married and my grandparents became great grandparents. It became difficult for the entire family to get together. The large events became fewer and far between and sadly, the Christmas Eve dinners came to an end. As always happens in life, family responsibilities change and become more complicated. Children and grandchildren grow up.

After my grandparents passed away, we still tried to have the occasional family reunion, but we seldom took formal family portraits.

As of this writing, eleven people in this photograph are no longer with us. I treasure each and every memory I have of them, and I am grateful that those are many in number. I carry this portrait, and many others, in my heart. I truly hope that when it comes to a family picture such as this, there really is "One in Every Family."

Treasure Chest Thursday - Aunt Grace was a Diva?

2010-11-18T17:47:00.000-05:00

Aunt Grace Norris Bailey

A Page from the Scrapbook

I thought I knew quite a bit about my Great Aunt Grace.   A few years younger than my grandfather, she graduated from college and became a school teacher, eventually being voted into the Kettering (Ohio) Teachers Hall of Fame. She married my Great Uncle, Harrison (Red) Bailey and they built a house on land ajacent to that of my grandparent's. Though they remained childless, they shared their home with their "family"; a beloved succession of bulldogs. Her name was quite fitting for a woman who carried herself with an air of style and elegance. Yes. I thought I knew quite a lot about this woman. That is, until yesterday when my mother brought me a box full of mementos that had belonged to Aunt Grace and I learned something quite surprising. My aunt was a diva.
There in the old box, among the scattered postcards, photographs, and blueprints, I found an old, dusty, ragged scrapbook. Inside were pasted newspaper clippings detailing recitals and appearances where Aunt Grace performed as a singer. The articles called her a "dramatic soprano". Under each clipping Grace had lovingly described the event, listed the songs performed, and even detailed what she had worn, such as "a peach taffeta dress" and "an orchid chiffon". Even though my mother remembered her aunt singing in church occasionally, she had no idea of the scope of her singing career and we were both surprised as we read of her accomplishments.   Several pages into the book, on the side of the page she wrote, "been having a terrible time with my throat this winter so haven't been able to do much. Don't know if it will ever get better." On the following pages there are a few other clippings and then underneath a church program she wrote, "Solo at church one evening. Got through it all right, but don't know how it sounded to listeners". Then, on the page following the clipping that I have attached to this post, she wrote "Ralph Thomas gave another recital on June 2. He was quite angry that I did not sing but finances said NO! and so did Dr. Sullivan, my nerves are very bad. This Fall I hope to study earnestly - I can notice my voice is getting rusty."

After this, the scrapbook ends.  Did her voice fail her? Was this the reason why her career went no further? Was this when she decided to become a teacher? How I wish I had known about this portion of her life! How I wish she was here now to answers these questions and so many more! I am very grateful that she never threw this scrapbook away and I wonder if there were times when she opened the book to remember those days.  The box has revealed many treasures that I will share in the future, but I had to begin with this discovery and the revelation that my Aunt Grace was a diva!

Wordless Wednesday - Grandmothers

2010-11-17T14:44:00.000-05:00

For today's Wordless Wednesday I have chose this photograph of my paternal grandmother, Imogene Christine Huffman Shoemaker (in pigtails), seated between her paternal grandmother, Nancy Johnson Huffman and her sister, Lavonne Huffman Jackson, circa 1910, Clinton County, Ohio.

Wordless Wednesday - Preparing the Cannon

2010-11-09T19:00:00.000-05:00

Preparing the Cannon

A Walk with Giants

Veterans Cemetery

Dayton, Ohio

2008

Wordless Wednesday - Harry and Elizabeth Norris and the Routsong Family

2010-11-03T00:00:00.005-04:00

My great grandfather, Harry Norris, holds my grandfather, Leland. Standing next to him is his wife, Elizabeth Routsong Norris. Surrounding them is Elizabeth's family, the Routsongs. Unfortunately, the family members are not identified.

Dayton, Ohio, circa 1899

Tombstone Tuesday - William Freeman

2010-11-02T16:49:00.000-04:00

While visiting David's Cemetery in Kettering during the summer, I discovered the following gravesite that I had to photograph. It belongs to T/Sgt William H. Freeman, Jr.. The inscription reads "He Gave His Life That Others Might Live", "Missing in Action at Myikyina, Burma". I decided to do some further investigation and here is what I discovered.

William H. Freeman, Jr. belonged to the 5307th Composite Unit. His date of death is listed as 10 November, 1945, but his last status was "Missing". He was awared the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.

Source Information: National Archives and Records Administration, World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas (database online). Provo UT, Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2000:

Original data: National Archives and Records Administration. Register, World War II Dead Interred in American Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil and World War II and Korea Missing or Lost or Buried at Sea. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.:

According to the 1930 United States Census, William was living on Constance Ave., in an area of Van Buren Township known as "Southern Hills", along with his parents William H. and Mabel Freeman. His father is listed as being a public accountant. It appears that the 5 year old William, Jr. was an only child at this time.

I couldn't help but think that he may have been friends with my Uncles Don and Ed, who both entered World War II shortly after their high school graduations. I searched the Fairmont High School yearbook from 1943, but he did not appear. He may have graduated the year before, or even perhaps left school to serve his country.

I am thankful that his family chose to inscribe the information about William's sacrifice to his country so that those of us who passed by his resting place could stop and give thanks for his service.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Thanksgiving, 1986

2010-10-28T21:14:00.000-04:00

By far, one of my favorite memories is that of Thanksgiving, 1986. You see, just a month before, I had given birth to our first child, our son, Daniel. On Thanksgiving, my father's family was planning on being at my parent's home for dinner, where they would meet our new addition for the first time. I can remember being so excited as I dressed Daniel for the day and gathered all the needed "baby equipment" for our trip "down the street and up the hill" to his grandmother's house. We were welcomed with much excitement and joy and I can still hear those voices filled with love and laughter. After dinner, we posed for some family pictures, including the 4 generation photograph of my father, my grandmother, myself, and Daniel. A few weeks later, my aunt had the photograph published in the Wilmington News-Journal in Clinton County, Ohio. The article with the photograph of Daniel cradled in my grandma's arms is truly one of my "treasures" even if the newspaper did reverse Daniel's first and middle names!

Sorting Saturday - Too Many Papers, Too Little Time

2010-10-23T18:39:00.000-04:00

Today I have been reading some wonderful "Sorting Saturday" ideas for organizing genealogical research and I can't wait to try some of them. For the past several years, the lack of both time and space has been my enemy. I have binders for each surname that I am researching and those binders have been in various places throughout my home, wherever I could find space on a bookshelf. I also have boxes filled with folders, labeled with family names, overflowing with papers yet to be filed in those binders. I have a tendency to relish the hunt for the information rather than the tedious task of sitting, labeling, and filing. This is probably due to the fact that I have had no space to call my own for a long time and therefore, no way to spread out and sort papers. With my son's marriage and subsequent moving of my youngest son into his big brother's old room, I now have in my possession the room that has gone through the metamorphosis from spare room to office to nursery to playroom to bedroom and now, back to office. I can't say that is "completely" mine since my husband has talked me into letting him have a corner to store his "Magic the Gathering" card collection, but for all intents and purposes, this room is now the home to my genealogical research. It's a beginning. All the binders now reside in one bookcase, boxes of information ready to be filed sit nearby. My goal will be to take one or two family folders per day and file the information into the family binders where they belong. Each binder begins with a family ancestry report beginning with the farthest ancestor identified and is then divided into sections: Birth Records, Marriage Records, Military Records, Death Records, Census Records, Photographs, and Miscellaneous Research. So far, that was worked out just fine for me, but I'm anxious to try some of the new ideas I have seen from my fellow Geneabloggers. At the very least, they have me revved up and ready to sort!

Surname Saturday - Hsieh - The New Name in Our Family Tree

2010-10-09T10:47:00.000-04:00

At this time, exactly one week ago today, I was standing in the church dressing room, watching the woman who would soon become my new daughter as she prepared for her wedding. She and my son met at college a few years ago when she and her sister arrived in the United States as international students. My son noticed her beauty immediately and during a study group, finally got up the nerve to ask her out on a date. Amazingly, these two people, who grew up on opposite sides of the globe, are kindred spirits. This day had been planned for many months, through much trial and tribulation so the wedding day of Daniel and Erin was one filled with joy.

As a lover of family history, I couldn't help but relish the thought that we were now adding a new branch to our tree. Our German, Irish, English, and Scottish bloodlines were now going to be blended with those of Erin's Taiwanese and Chinese ancestors. It has been quite a challenge for us on both sides of this new alliance as we have struggled to understand each other. Simply trying to decide how to spell the English version of the names of family members became quite a confusing chore. However, being at the airport for the arrival of her mother and meeting aunts, uncles, and cousins was a delight. As we stood on the altar at the church for a combined family photograph, I couldn't help but feel emotional at that thought of these two families, whose life experiences are so completely different, being tied together with the marriage of Daniel and Erin.

One of my first objectives this week was to add Erin to my FamilyTreeMaker program. Her Taiwanese name is Hsing-Ling, which is what appears on her birth certificate. Her mother, as is typical for many Taiwanese brides, kept her maiden name after her marriage. Thankfully, Erin wrote the names of her parents for me in English so I would know the correct spelling and order. Not as easy has been determining the names of her grandparents, however, I have discovered through conversations with my new daughter that the story of her grandparents' is quite dramatic and includes an escape from China. My son is determined to get these stories down on paper when they visit Taiwan soon. How exciting it is to think about this new chapter in my family history book.

So, this week, now that the wedding is finished, I hope to begin my family research with fresh eyes and a new perspective and I am eagerly anticipating sharing the story of our family with my grandchildren!

Mystery Monday - Who in the World Was Leland?

2010-09-20T14:08:00.000-04:00

My Grandfather, Leland Vincent Norris

My grandfather's name was Leland Vincent Norris. I never thought too much about his name until I began my digging into my family roots. It didn't take too long to discover that the Vincent in the name was in honor of is uncle, Vincent Norris, who had been born in Frederick County, Maryland, and who came to Montgomery County, Ohio along with his brother, Harry. Both brothers married ladies whose families owned farms; one in Van Buren Township in Montgomery County and the other in Beavercreek Township, Greene County, although they were actually only just a couple of miles away from each other. After marrying into these farming families, the Norris brothers moved onto those properties and lived and worked with their in-laws.

As I looked a little further into the family history, I could not locate any of my grandfather's ancestors who shared the name "Leland" with him. After finding no leads in either the Norris or Routsong families, I decided that my great grandparents may have simply chosen the name because they liked it. I kept that opinion until I made another discovery.

I had always known that my grandfather's cousin, Dwight Barnes, middle initial was "L", but it wasn't until I found his World War II draft registration form that I discovered his middle name was "Leland". I feel like it's too much of a coincidence that these two shared the name of "Leland" without there being some type of significance to it. Who was the original "Leland" and why would the two Routsong sisters feel strongly enough about him to name their sons after him? It is a mystery that continues to confound me!

Wisdom Wednesday - "Remember Your Name"

2010-09-01T14:37:00.000-04:00

My daddy, Estel Shoemaker, Jr. in his senior portrait.

On my father's 60th birthday, we gave him a surprise birthday party. In fact, it ended up being more like a "roast" when just about everyone present stood up and told a funny or embarrassing story about him. During my brother's segment of the evening, he relayed a message that my father had always reminded him during his childhood. The statement was "always remember your name". When he first said it, people laughed because it does sound like a joke. But, my father meant it in a deeper context, because the sentence goes on, "Always remember your name, because there are those who share it with you".

His meaning to us was very clear. We were never to do anything to bring shame to ourselves or to our family.

I've thought about those words many times. In this day and age, when everyone seems to be thinking, "I'll do what I want. It's MY life and I am the only one who has to live with the consequences", it's interesting to ponder how life would be different if more people would think about how their actions affect their family members well-being and reputations before they act. I realize there are many that might not care, but I think that my ancestors probably thought quite a bit about how their actions reflected upon their loved ones. I know I have never wanted to bring any negative attention to my family, and although I may not have always lived up to my intentions I continue to hear my father's voice repeating, "Always remember your name".

Wordless Wednesday - Graduation Invitation

2010-08-25T22:19:00.000-04:00

My father's graduation announcement, Sabina High School, Sabina, Ohio, 1948

Surname Saturday - My new Swadner cousin

2010-08-21T19:12:00.000-04:00

For the past couple of weeks, my life has been filled with moving boxes, U-Haul trucks, and a few tears as we have been moving my son and daughter in law into their first apartment. It is a bittersweet time for us. We are so proud of him and the fact that he has just finished his Master's Degree in Education and will be beginning his career as a high school science teacher in just a few days. But, watching him pack up and leave our home and the lack of his presence here has been difficult. It's something all parents go through and even though we know that he is just fine and that it is our job to give our children both roots AND wings, it is hard to let him go.

With as busy as this month has been, I have had to leave my blog and most of my genealogy work on hold for awhile. I had noticed two messages in my Ancestry.com mailbox that I wanted to get back to as soon as possible, but a phone call last night beat me to it. I picked up a call in my voice mailbox from the very lady who had messaged me about my family tree. She said that she had found me on both Ancestry.com and from contacting the Montgomery County (Ohio) Genealogical Society and she noticed that I was seeking information on the Swadner family. I have written a little on past blog posts about my great great grandmother, Clarinda Swadner Routsong, and it appeared that Susan (my caller) is the great granddaughter of Ida Belle Swadner, my first cousin, three times removed. She went on to tell me that she has a large amount of photographs, tintypes, and even some furniture that belonged to Ida Belle and since she has no children to pass them on to, she wanted to know if I would like to have anything. I could hardly believe that I was hearing her message correctly. I couldn't dial her number quickly enough. Luckily for me, she answered the phone right away and was happy to hear from me. We spoke for a few minutes and planned to meet at some time in the future so I can pick out whatever I want from her family collection. I can hardly wait for that day. My heart always breaks when I see "orphan" photographs in antique stores and flea markets because somewhere, there has to be someone to whom those people are family. So, I truly appreciate the fact that Susan tried so hard to find a family member to pass the photographs on to. I may not be able to take a great many of them, but I certainly will take as many as I can. In the meantime, I will take the time to discover as much as I can about my cousin, Ida Belle.

Wordless Wednesday - Vernon Hellmund

2010-08-18T19:02:00.000-04:00

My husband's grandfather, Vernon C. Hellmund, Dayton, Ohio

Sentimental Sunday - Grandma and Grandpa's House

2010-08-08T20:29:00.000-04:00

It wasn't a big house. It had two small bedrooms and one even smaller bedroom, a tiny bathroom, a living room, dining room, a kitchen, and a basement with a big furnace that had ductwork that to this little girl looked like the arms of a giant monster. Later, a two car garage was built next to the house, although I can't ever remember there being two cars kept there. It had a front door, a side door, and a back door, which I always thought was odd since there was very little space from one to another. The door pictured above was the side door which led out into a beautiful yard, the upper portion of which was actually owned by my great aunt and uncle. That yard was just perfect for the family picnics we had every Labor Day. On that day, it was filled with croquet games, the passing of baseballs, chairs, tables full of food, and tons of Norris family laughter. The backyard contained a cement porch where evenings were spent making conversation....and ice cream. Across the driveway from the backyard were grape arbors, gardens, and apple trees; one of which contained a handmade swing on a branch that wasn't too stable and always swayed up and down along with the "swinger". It was land that remained from a substantial amount of farmland that had belonged to my great great grandfather who was an very early settler of the township. Through the years, that land had been divided among his children and this portion had belonged to my great grandmother, Elizabeth Routsong Norris. My grandfather, Leland Norris had, after living in various other locations in Dayton, come back to this land and built a home here. As Van Buren Township and eventually the city of Kettering, had grown up, it was very rare to see a home surrounded by as much land as they had. It wasn't overly large, but it was much bigger than the suburban yards we were used to and I thought it was fantastic. My great aunt and great uncle lived just up the hill on the side yard and we would visit them often and delight in seeing the giant goldfish in the small outdoor pond in their backyard. As a child, I never appreciated the gift of growing up in such a wonderful atmosphere and it flew by much too quickly. After my grandparents passed away, I think most of us hoped that someone in the family would be able to buy the house and the land, but the real estate in that area of the city was far too valuable and none of us was able to make the purchase. Seeing the house in the hands of someone else was very difficult, especially when almost immediately, they began to renovate the house, both inside and out. It was even harder when my great aunt died a few years later and her home and the remainder of the land on the side of the house was sold. Shortly thereafter, an extremely large, modern home was built on the land and obscured the view of my grandparents house from the highway. The new house sits directly on our old "croquet field" and the field of apple trees in the backyard had to yield the way for crop of new and expensive homes.

A couple of years ago, my mother gave me an envelope full of my grandparents important papers. Inside I found the mortgage book that my grandfather kept showing all of his house payments. It includes the date stamped for the final payment. It's one of my favorite keepsakes, along with the pictures my husband took of my grandparents home before we left for the last time. No matter how many people move into and out of that house, for me it will always be "Grandma and Grandpa's".

Treasure Chest Thursday - Her Face on the Tea Towels

2010-07-29T19:21:00.001-04:00

I hope you will indulge me a bit today as I go a little bit off the genealogy trail to share this treasure, for today I am thinking of July 29, 1981.

I had been married myself only a few weeks when Lady Diana married Prince Charles in St. Paul's Cathedral. I was one of millions who awoke at 4:00 am to watch the festivities. I had begun my "Diana" collection a few months earlier, quite innocently enough. Newly engaged, I was watching the CBS Evening News when a brief report began picturing the Prince of Wales and a beautiful young woman dressed in a brilliant blue suit. As they were shown strolling hand in hand, the story went on to describe their engagement and gave the woman's name as Lady Diana Spencer. The next day in the newspaper, a photo from that press report appeared and I thought it might be nice to have a copy of it for my "wedding scrapbook" to show something that was going on in the world during the time of our engagement. I thought it would just end at that, but, boy was I wrong!

Lady Diana, the lovely, young, kindergarten teacher caught the imagination of the whole world and "royal wedding" fever began to spread. I decided to start a scrapbook about the wedding itself and there was no shortage of items with which to fill it. One scrapbook turned into two, three, four......

I also starting buying other souvenirs; plates, dolls, stamps, books and the tea towel pictured above.

After the majesty of the wedding, came the "baby watch" and the births of Prince William and Prince Harry. But, it was soon quite obvious to everyone that the royal marriage was not a happy one. By the time of the official announcement of their impending divorce, no one was surprised, although it was very sad. Now, we watched Princess Diana begin a life as a single woman; much wiser and no longer the innocent young lady she was when we first came to know her. When she spoke of the fears she had prior to her marriage, she said her friends had told her she could not back out of the wedding because "her face was on the tea towels". I have to admit when I read those words I felt very sad. How trapped she must have felt by the expectations of the entire world.

When Diana died in Paris that Labor Day weekend, I cried my heart out. Her funeral took place during one of my regular work days and those of us in the office sat around the television and watched. There were several "twenty-somethings" who worked with me and they expressed confusion as to why Diana's death was "such big news". We had lost famous people before. Why was Diana so special?

I can only speak for myself, but this is what I think.

My generation, maybe more so than any other, was raised on the fairy tale. The story of the beautiful princess meeting her prince, falling in love and living "happily ever after" was a staple in our lives. We had the Disney "Big Three" in Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. In the 1960's we were even given Rodgers and Hammerstein's brunette version of Cinderella in the form of Lesley Ann Warren. (Who was my special favorite!) So, when Lady Diana appeared, it was almost like a fairy tale come true. It was even spoken in their marriage ceremony, I believe by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who said, "This is the stuff of which fairy tales are made. A Prince and Princess on their wedding day." We wanted to believe it was true love. We wanted to see the "Happily Ever After". So, when it ended so cruelly, so abruptly, it was truly painful. We felt like we knew her. We were pulling for her to be happy because she had been treated so unfairly and her death was almost too much for people to take. Maybe that's why the emotions were so great.

My scrapbooks became larger over those weeks as I concluded Diana's story. I'm glad I started my collection almost 30 years ago now, and I don't think I could ever part with any of it. It's a remembrance of a special time and it truly is one of my "treasures".

Sentimental Sunday - Shared Birthdays

2010-07-25T17:11:00.000-04:00

I have heard people lament the fact that they share a birthday with a family member. They somehow feel "short-changed" by the fact that celebrations were never just for them alone. I guess that maybe that might be true for multiple birthdays within an immediate family, but I consider myself lucky to have shared my birthday with my two great aunts, Carmen and Olive. Our birthdays all fell on September 14. I was a C-section birth so my parents were allowed to choose the birthdate and I was always happy they chose a day that would allow me to celebrate with "Carmie" and "Olive"

Inside the "Baby Book" my mother lovingly kept for me are two precious handwritten letters, sent to my parents by Aunt Carmen and Aunt Olive just after I was born. I love reading about their excitement at the news of my arrival and I'm thankful that my mother cared enough to save them for me.

When I was very young, we actually did have the opportunity to celebrate our birthdays together and I'm grateful for the photographs I have of those times. I don't have any memory of those parties, but they sure look like they were fun!

As I grew up, I could be guaranteed that on every birthday, without fail, I would receive a special birthday card from each of them. Since we weren't living in the same household, I wasn't "sharing" the attention with someone else, but rather I was receiving "special" attention from people I knew loved me. Throughout my childhood and into my married life, we continued to send each other those birthday wishes year after year, until Alzheimer's Disease began to take Aunt Olive away from us and Aunt Carmen passed away.

Each year, as the calendar turns to September my thoughts go back to those precious days and to those beautiful ladies that I love and miss so much and I sure wouldn't mind sharing my birthday with them again.

Wordless Wednesday - James Nash Marling

2010-07-14T21:21:00.000-04:00

My great great uncle, James Nash Marling

Columbus, Franklin, Ohio

circa 1900

Tombstone Tuesday - Milton and Josephine Morrow Jacks

2010-07-13T18:02:00.000-04:00

My great great aunt and uncle, Milton and Josephine Morrow Jacks and their daughters, Maude and Ora.

Surname Saturday - Roseanna Varvel Shoemaker

2010-07-10T07:37:00.002-04:00

My great grandmother, Roseanna Varvel Shoemaker

Roseanna Varvel was born 15 June, 1876 in Adams County, Ohio. She was the third child of seven born to George W. and Mahala Mahaffey Varvel, the first of their four daughters and she was named in honor of her grandmother, Roseanna Bowen Varvel. Sometime in 1895, she was married to Thomas Jefferson Shoemaker, the son of Jacob and Anna Mariah Grimes Shoemaker, in Adams County and they began farming in the rugged southern Ohio land. In 1896, their first child, Floyd, was born and Ann would eventually give birth to thirteen children, twelve of whom survived to adulthood. It was not an easy life for Tom and Ann as they struggled to feed and shelter their large family, which also included two of Tom's brothers, Ike and Jake. At one point, they even lost their farm due to a combination of unscrupulous maneuverings by a mortgage holder and poor record keeping by a too Tom. Somehow, they managed to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. Ann was a strong and courageous woman. Her daughter told a story of how she herself was terrified of all the snakes that made their homes around the family farm, but Ann was never bothered by them. She would simply pick them up by the tail, "crack" them like a whip and their heads would fall off. She would just go on about her business, teasing the girls about their fear.

The Shoemaker Home from 1933-1949 photographed in 1990

As her children grew up, Ann had to watch her oldest son go to war and several of the others leave the homestead to find the jobs that were not plentiful in and around Peebles. She persevered, taking care of those who remained and watching her family grow as her children married and had babies of their own.

On 19 October, 1943, Tom had a massive heart attack and died at the age of 74. According to her daughters, Ann was never the same. She spent a great deal time living with her daughter, Lulu, in Xenia, Ohio and that is where she died on 28 January, 1956.

She is buried next to Tom in the Locust Grove Cemetery in Peebles, Adams County, Ohio.

Wordless Wednesday - Robert Varvel

2010-06-30T19:16:00.000-04:00

My great great uncle, Robert Varvel

Adams County, Ohio

Tombstone Tuesday - Dr. Isaac and Elizabeth Potterf Kesling

2010-06-29T18:09:00.000-04:00

While searching for my husband's Kesling relatives in the Springboro Cemetery (Warren County, Ohio) we discovered this very unusual tombstone in memory of Dr. Isaac Kesling and his wife, Elizabeth Potterf Kesling. It certainly stands out in the crowd.

Madness Monday - What Would They Think of Us?

2010-06-28T20:01:00.000-04:00

I'm taking the "Madness Monday" category in different direction today, discussing not something that is driving me "mad" or an ancestor that might have been a little bit "off" in some way, but instead I am thinking today about how my ancestors would feel about ME. You see, recently I have been wondering if my ancestors would be driven "mad" by the way their descendants are living their lives now. Obviously, life today is far different than it was during the time of our great great grandparents and even our grandparents. I often wonder what they would think if they were able to come back and live among us now. My great grandmother was very young when the first telephones were installed and now every day I "talk" to people all around the world on my computer. What would she say about that?

Imagine how excited they were at the invention of electricity, indoor plumbing, the radio, movies, and television. Wouldn't it be wonderful to share all that we have learned? Obviously, our ancestors would be surprised by all the new technology we live with every day.

But, I don't know if they would be pleased with all the things they would discover in "modern times".

My ancestors were devout members of the German Reformed, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Baptist, and Quaker faiths. I think they might be shocked and saddened at quite a lot that they would see right now, and I would love to hear what they would have to say.

Doubtless, we would have some very interesting discussions! Wouldn't it be wonderful to talk with them about their lives and what their hopes, dreams, and disappointments were? Someday, I hope I will be able to do just that.

I'm very grateful for the firm foundation of faith and family they passed down through the generations to me and I surely hope I am not driving them "mad".

Surname Saturday - The Marling and Oldham Families

2010-06-26T09:39:00.001-04:00

John Austin and Margaret Susan Armstrong Marling

Pictured above are my maternal great great grandparents, John Austin and Margaret Susan Armstrong Marling. On this Surname Saturday, I am deeply in the midst of compiling documents for my application for The Daughters of the American Revolution based upon the Revolutionary War status of the grandfather of John Austin Marling.

His name is Isaac Oldham and he is, of course, my 5th great grandfather.

Uncovering information about the role that Isaac played in our fight for independence was not difficult. Heritagequest.com contains the scanned copies of the actual pension request that spells out his service record completely. He stated that he served with Capt. John Van Meter and with the Westmoreland Battery and he was a Private. A visit to the DAR Genealogical Resource Database provides me with proof that he did indeed serve his country and also gives a list of those who have proven their family link to him in the past. So, that step has been simple.

Through various other sources, I had already found the branches of my tree that led back from myself to Isaac, but finding the source documents that are acceptable proof to the DAR has not been quite as easy. As a matter of fact, this post could well belong in the Madness Monday category.

Up until now, all the genealogical honor societies I have joined have not required me to compile my Marling and Oldham family information, so this has been a "start from scratch" endeavor. I was actually working on The First Families of Ohio application first, but I received a little "kick start" in the form of an email from a representative from the DAR this week. She told me that since others had already proven a family link between my 4th great grandmother, Esther Oldham Marling, and her father, Isaac, I would be able to just link to their applications and not worry about proving the line myself. Given that boost, I started pulling out the forms, certificates, census records, etc. that I thought I would need to document all the pertinent facts.

I (somewhat) easily managed to put together all the proof evidence I would need for generations 1-4; myself and my husband, my parents, my maternal grandparents, my maternal great grandparents, and my maternal great great grandparents. However, when I got to my 3rd great grandparents, I could find no source document that stated absolutely that Samuel Marling was the son of John and Esther Oldham Marling.

Everything in previous generations that might be considered a little "weak" can be completely explained and shown to be true, but any proof I have of Samuel's parentage is simply not good enough for the DAR.

The problem is that Samuel was born in 1811 (to early for official birth records) and he died in 1851 (too early for official death records). Others have listed that he is buried in Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Cambridge, Guernsey County, Ohio and I know that his wife, Amelia, is buried there as well. Howver, numerous people have searched the cemetery for their headstones, to no avail. According to One World Tree on Ancestry.com, Samuel is John and Esther's son, but I can find no actual source documents to prove it. In the 1850 United States Census for Guernsey County, John and Esther Marling are living on a property between the properties of their two sons, Isaac and Samuel. Also helping to point out a link between Samuel and John and Esther is the fact that Samuel and Amelia named one of their daughters, Esther. This certainly is not enough evidence to prove that they are his parents, so, I am now feverishly searching and researching every available Guernsey County/Marling family resource to discover just one proof document that I can use to cite the parentage of Samuel Marling.

I won't stop looking.

I know it's out there.....somewhere.

Wordless Wednesday - The Patterson Monument

2010-06-22T23:05:00.000-04:00

This monument to one of the great men in Dayton, Ohio history, John Patterson, stands in Hills and Dales Park, overlooking the Community Golf Course.

Tombstone Tuesday - Dieterich "Teter" Kesling

2010-06-22T22:43:00.000-04:00

For today's Tombstone Tuesday, I am sharing the gravesite of my husband's recently discovered 5th great grandfather, Dieterich "Teter" Kesling. He was born in Steinau, Hesse-Hanau, Germany on 11 March, 1750. He arrived in Philadelphia with his family in 1752 and he served in the Virginia Militia during the Revolutionary War.

He married Margaret "Peggy" Null on 1 October, 1808 in Warren County, Ohio and he lived and owned a farm there until his death on 10 December, 1845. He is buried in Salem Cemetery in Springboro, Warren County, Ohio.

I will be sharing more about our Kesling family discoveries later this week.

Sentimental Sunday - Tribute to My Daddy

2010-06-20T21:05:00.000-04:00

I have heard stories throughout the years about the importance of a father upon a girl's life. Experts will tell you that a woman's self esteem is greatly affected by how she sees herself through her father's eyes. I was so blessed to have a father who loved me unconditionally and who thought I was beautiful all the time. There was never a time when my brothers and I did not feel my parents love and that has guided our paths throughout our lives.

My father, Estel Shoemaker (known as "J" to family and friends) was the epitomy a Christian man and he practiced what he preached. When my father wasn't working, he was home with us. We were lucky enough to live in the days when mom was able to be home with us during the day and dad came home right on time every night. We sat down to family dinners each night together and exchanged all the news of the day. Times were not always easy, but Dad never liked to accept help from anyone. He had a strong work ethic and he passed that on to his children.

I have now had 17 Father's Days without my dad and it doesn't get any easier. I joyfully remember all the years when we would take him out to dinner as a family after church and I miss those times dearly. I am so grateful for memory of my daddy and for all the things that he taught me, but most of all, I thank God that I was the daughter of such a wonderful man.

Wordless Wednesday - The Enon Adena Mound

2010-06-16T23:48:00.002-04:00

Treasure Chest Thursday - Grandpa's Work of Art

2010-06-11T16:47:00.000-04:00

My paternal grandfather, Estel Shoemaker, Sr., died when my father was only 18 years old so I never had the privilege of knowing him and sharing stories of his childhood. He was born near Peebles, Adams County, Ohio, but when he became an adult he moved to Sabina in Clinton County and it was there that he found not only a job as a moulder, but he also found his bride, Imogene Huffman.

When I was growing up, I can remember well the ship pictured above. It sat in my grandmother's home. Extremely heavy, it was used, I believe, as a doorstop and it was made by my grandfather's hands. A few months ago, my aunt was moving to her new home and she presented me with this priceless gift. Thanks, Aunt Joyce!

Wordless Wednesday - Courthouse Square, Dayton, Ohio

2010-06-08T20:44:00.000-04:00

The Courthouse Square Fountain, the Old Courthouse, and the Fifth Third Building

Downtown Dayton, Ohio

October, 2008

copyright George W. Hellmund, Jr.

Tombstone Tuesday - Welty David Shaw

2010-06-08T16:26:00.000-04:00

Today, I am sharing the story and tombstone of my husband's 1st cousin,
twice removed, Welty David Shaw.

He was born 29 June, 1906, the son of Frank and Rowena Welty Shaw
in Scioto County, Ohio.
During a great flood of the Ohio River in Portsmouth in April, 1943, Welty was helping to move merchandise out of a
warehouse to higher ground. As they were loading items into the boat, it was overturned in the turbulent water. Welty was
unable to swim and he and along with two of his friends drowned in the flooded river.

He is buried in Friendship Cemetery, Scioto County, Ohio.

Newspaper article recalling the tragedy. Click on the articles to enlarge.

Sentimental Sunday - Elvis in the Family

2010-06-06T17:58:00.002-04:00

When you say the name "Elvis", most people automatically think of Elvis Presley and I am no exception. I grew up listening to his music and watching his movies, so, when I learned that I had a distant relative named Elvis, I automatically assumed that he must have been born around the time that Elvis was at the height of his popularity and was probably named after him. I couldn't have been more mistaken.

Elvis Edgar Huffman, my first cousin, twice removed, was born 5 October, 1882 in Highland County, Ohio. He was the son of William Santford (or Sanford) and Nancy Larrick Huffman.

In 1908 he married Edith Southard and they began farming in Midland, Jefferson Township, Clinton County, Ohio.

In 1909, Edith gave birth to a son they named Howard Burdette Huffman and on 10 October, 1915 their family was joined by another baby boy, Robert.

Elvis and Edith lived and farmed together in Midland until his death in 1969. Edith followed him soon after in 1975. They are buried together in the Martinsville IOOF Cemetery in Clinton County, Ohio.

Their son, Howard, served in the Army Air Corps. during World War II and after earning his Doctorate at Ohio State University, he spent most of his career as a professor at Bowling Green University in Ohio. He died in St. Petersburg, Florida at the age of 83. He married twice, but had no children.

Their younger son, Robert became a farmer and a commercial artist. He lived in Clinton County, Ohio his entire life. He never married and had no children.

Sadly, I never had the opportunity to meet any of these members of my family, personally, but I feel fortunate to have been able to get to know them through many historical records and with photographs that my aunt has shared with me.

So, believe it or not, when I hear the name "Elvis" now, I tend to think "Huffman" instead of "Presley"!

Tombstone Tuesday - Edmund S. Ensey

2010-06-01T09:48:00.001-04:00

While visiting the cemetery last Friday, I discovered this very striking and unusual monument and I thought it would be an interesting one to investigate and share.

It is the gravesite of Edmund S. Ensey. 1868-1915. The circular inscription for the "Woodmen of the World" appears at the top of the stone.

According to the 1880 US Census, Edmund was living in Dayton, Montgomery, County, Ohio with his parents, Abram and Harriet Ensey and his brother, Elmer. His father was a wagon maker.

He appears in the 1900 census where he is now the Chief Tipto of the 3rd Cavalry at Fort Meyer, Virginia. According to the record, he listed his address as Main Street, Dayton, Ohio. At that time, he had been married for 8 years.

Upon locating Edmund's death certificate, I discovered that he had been born to Abraham Ensley and Harriet Hines on 23 January, 1868. He had passed away from a cerbral hemorrhage at the age of 47 on 28 August, 1915. His death occured while he was at Fort Moultrie Army Post, South Carolina. His listed occupation was "Musician" and "Soldier". He had enlisted in the Army several times, but had also worked as a brass moulder in Dayton.

I haven't looked any farther into his life, but according to the stone, he had children. I'm sure some of his descendants are still in this area. I wonder if I know any of them?

He was laid to rest in David's Cemetery, Van Buren Township, (now Kettering) Montgomery County, Ohio, where I "met" him on May 29, 2010.

Memorial Day, 2010 - Beavercreek, Ohio Veterans Memorial

2010-05-31T16:54:00.000-04:00

Tombstone Tuesday - Mary Leevey Routsong

2010-05-25T18:51:00.005-04:00

Today I am sharing the tombstone of my 3rd great aunt, Mary Leevey Routsong.

Mary was born 31 July, 1800 in Maryland.

She was married to Henry Routzong, Jr. on 20 June, 1830 in Greene County, Ohio.

They were the parents of Mary Elizabeth, Ann Catherine, William H., Amy Anna, and Mariah.

Mary died on 15 January, 1864 and she was buried in Byron Cemetery, Byron, Greene County, Ohio.