Wordless Wednesday - Grandpa's Car

One of my favorite photographs of my grandfather, Estel Shoemaker, Sr. and his car.

Tombstone Tuesday - John Aring

For today's Tombstone Tuesday post, I have chosen to tell the story of John Aring, my husband's great grandfather.

When my husband and I were first married, he told me that his grandmother had been adopted when she was a baby and the story was very confusing. It was something that wasn't discussed among the family members, and as a matter of fact, until I did some research, the story wasn't completely known. John and Lillian Aring adopted a little girl, the daughter of one of John's coworkers. Her birth name was Dorothea Marie, but they changed her name to Ruth. They were a happy family until the 22 day of December, 1916. For whatever reason, John had placed his .32 caliber revolver on a table in the family's living room. Little Ruth was curious as to how the gun worked. Lillian, thinking the gun was not loaded, picked up the revolver, put Ruth's hands on the gun and placed her hands on top of Ruth's. The gun went off and the bullet hit John in the stomach. Critically injured, he was taken to the hospital and emergency surgery was performed. His spleen was removed and he was expected to survive for at least a year. (At the time, it was thought that someone could not live without their spleen, according to the newspaper article about the shooting) On January 4, 1917, John took a turn for the worse and slipped into unconsciousness. He died at 3:47 pm. His death certificate states that the cause of death was acute dialation of the heart with contributory peritonitis caused by a penetrating bullet wound to the spleen. The certificate incorrectly states that he was buried in Woodland Cemetery, but he was instead laid to rest at Zion Cemetery in Kettering. Sadly, Lillian suffered a nervous breakdown after John's death and Ruth was placed in the Children's home off and on for several years. Ruth was somehow able to rise above all the pain of her childhood and she became a very strong woman and Lillian helped her raise her three children. They are both buried next to John at Zion Cemetery.

Surname Saturday The Branches of my Tree

The family of John Austin and Margaret Susan Armstrong Marling

(My great great grandparents, my great grandfather, Ralph, is seated, first from left)

6 years ago when I began my research, the only names I knew from my family tree were Shoemaker, Norris, Marling, McBride, Routsong, Huffman, Adams, and Jacks. In the years since, I have added Grimes, Johnson, Flook, Armstrong, Oldham, Bratton, Hoblit, Bennett, Stultz, Suman, Swadner, and Templin. In my husband's family I have learned of Hellmund, Zimmerman, Gregory, Welty, Odle-O'Dell, Cox, Piatt, and Hoerner. I currently have over 6000 names in my family tree program, so there are countless names of other branches off my tree. I have discovered that friends I known for many years are in fact, very distant relatives. It never ceases to amaze and fascinate me how the family trees intertwine in so many different ways and how the paths of migration led families from one location to another. It is one of the reasons why I believe that genealogy is a journey to be taken and savored. If you have never tried to trace your roots, take that first step. You will find it's hard to stop!

Happy 101 Award from Cheryl at Heritage Happens

Wow! I was so surprised to discover that Cheryl from Heritage Happens awarded me a Happy 101 Award on her comment for my post about my Dad's Thank you note. I have been overwhelmed by the kind words that have been left for me about my blog and I am so grateful! As with all good things, this award comes with responsibilities. The first is to list 10 things that make me happy and the second is to list 10 other bloggers to whom I would like to give this award.

10 Things that Make Me Happy

1. Having the assurance of eternal life in Jesus
2. Being with my husband and family
3. Watching classic old movies
4. Playing with my dogs
5. The sound of my sons playing or helping each other with homework
6. Running into an old friend
7. Sitting in front of a fireplace
8. Listening to good music
9. Losing weight
10. Giving someone a gift they really love

It's so difficult to choose only 10 of my favorite blogs. During the short period of time that I have been reading the geneabloggers, I have discovered so many wonderful sites and met the most gracious people. These are but a few that have touched my heart.

1. Kinfolk News
2. In My Life
3. Into the Light
4. Little Bytes of Life
5. Branching Out Through the Years
6. My Genealogy Pondering
7. My Ancestors and Me
8. Before My Time
9. Portals to the Past
10. Ernie's Journeys

If you haven't visited these sites yet, I highly encourage you to do so. Make sure you leave a comment to let them know you stopped by!

Thanks again for all the kind words of encouragement you have all given me and keep them coming!

Lori

Treasure Chest Thursday - Note from Daddy

Today's Treasure Chest Thursday post is a very personal one and I sincerely debated about whether or not I wanted to share it. If you have view my previous "treasures" you will see that my treasures are mostly photographs or trinkets; memories of my loved ones. Today's post is no exception. The card pictured is a thank you note from my daddy. When he was turning 60 years old, we talked about throwing a surprise party for him. A few people thought it would be better to wait until his retirement at 65, but we decided we wanted to go ahead and do it for his birthday. I am so thankful we did, because 3 years later, we lost him to pancreatic cancer and he never got to have the retirement he so richly deserved. Surprisingly enough, we actually were able to surprise him and we all had a wonderful time. Thankfully, we have it all on video so my children, who were 3, newborn, and unborn at the time, can see how many people loved their grandpa and what a special man he was. A few days after the party, my husband and I received this card in the mail from my dad. I always recognized his handwriting, so I knew right away it was from him. It was highly unsual for dad to send us anything because mom was the person in the family that did all the "card sending", but dad wanted us to know how much the party had meant to him. Everytime I read his note, I feel the tears filling my eyes and I thank God that we decided not to wait for his party. It was a night that Daddy loved and that we will never forget!

Wordless Wednesday Huffman Sisters

Lavonne Huffman Jackson (l) and Imogene Huffman Shoemaker (r), my grandmother. Sabina, Clinton County, Ohio circa 1908

Tombstone Tuesday Extra - Johnny Morehouse and his Dog

At Dayton's historic Woodland Cemetery is found this beautiful and unusual tombstone. It's the resting place of Johnny Morehouse and it's one of the most visited sites in Woodland. According to the story, Johnny's father, John, owned a shoe repair shop and Johnny and his family made their home in the back of the shop. They lived very near the Miami and Erie Canal that ran through downtown Dayton. If you are familiar with the Dayton area, the canal ran where Patterson Blvd. is now located. One day, Johnny fell into the canal while playing. His dog jumped into the canal to save him and actually pulled him from the water, but Johnny had already drowned. He was laid to rest here at Woodland Cemetery and the legend states that several days after his burial, his dog appeared at his gravesite and refused to leave. People began bringing him food and water. People are so touched by the story of Johnny and his dog that they still bring little gifts to the gravesite. On the day that we were there, we found that someone had placed an Ohio State sweatshirt on the dog figure and there were many stuffed animals and tiny kid's meal toys that had been left. Sometimes people leave money here and there is a woman who gathers the money and uses it to buy items for the gravesite. If you would like to read more and see an additional photo see the Woodland Cemetery website here:http://www.woodlandcemetery.org/GravestoneStories.htm

Tombstone Tuesday - Greenlawn Cemetery Rules

Photo is of an "admit" ticket for my great grandfather to visit my great grandmother's burial site at Greenlawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio. This would have been issued in 1908. Note how you could not travel more than four miles per hour and any horses left standing had to be securely hitched to posts.

Sentimental Sunday - Retti Routsong's Broken Heart

From the time I was little, I remember being told the story of Alfaretta (Retti) Routsong. Retti was my maternal grandfather's aunt. She was born 31 August, 1865, the 7th child of Henry and Clarinda Swadner Routsong. She was one of three girls, just two years older than my great grandmother, Elizabeth, or Libby, as she was called. For most of my life, all I knew of Retti was the family lore that she had "died of a broken heart" after she was "jilted" by the man she loved. As a young girl, I was always fascinated by the thought that someone could actually die from the grief sustained from such an event. However, other than the knowlege of that story, I knew little else about Retti. After the death of my great aunt Grace, my grandfather's younger sister, we were given a box of old family photographs that had been in her possession. Within the box, we found many pictures of my great grandmother and some of my grandfather, but we also found a picture of a beautiful young woman, who, by process of elimination, we discovered was Retti. I was excited to actually see the face of the woman of whom I had heard about. This, and the broken heart story remained all I knew of Retti until my family research began in earnest about 6 years ago. One of the first resources I discovered in my search regarding the Routsong family was a book written by John P. Doan and M. Marjorie Waidner, entitled "From Rauenzahner to Routson; A Family on the Move", (Published by Picton Press). It was truly one of the most thoroughly researched and comprehensive books about the genealogical history of a family that I have ever read. The source citations are extremely thorough, and the information found about my particular branch of the Routsong family was almost perfect. I turned immediately to Retti's name in the book to see to what they had attributed her death. According to Doan and Waidner, "Alfaretta died in Van Buren Township on May 14, 1887, age 21-8-14 of consumption. Sadly, just three months earlier a Montgomery County marriage license which had been issued February 19, 1887 to George O. Martin, was not returned" So, the official cause of her death was consumption, but the sentence following the diagnosis told me that the family lore may not have been completely incorrect. Just three months before her death, an issued marriage license had not been returned. If the grief from her rejection did not directly cause Retti's death, it certainly may have contributed to the fact that she was not able to fight the battle with the disease. Did she simply lose the will to live? When I read those words and saw the name George O. Martin, I wondered who he was and what happened to cause the marriage to not take place. I will probably never know the answer. Retti was buried in the cemetery of David's Reformed Church cemetery, now David's Cemetery. She lies next to the gravesite of her parents and very near the gravesites of her grandparents. Regardless of what actually caused her death; disease or broken heart, Retti's story is still one of the saddest I have ever known.

Treasure Chest Thursday......On Saturday! :)

These are the newspaper accounts of my maternal grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. Their actual anniversary was April 30, but the dinner for the family was held on May 2 and the reception for friends was held at David's United Church of Christ on May 3.