Tombstone Tuesday - William Freeman

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

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

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

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?

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"

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

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

Surname Saturday - My new Swadner cousin

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

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

Sentimental Sunday - Grandma and Grandpa's House

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".