Treasure Chest Thursday - Aunt Grace was a Diva?

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

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

Preparing the Cannon

A Walk with Giants

Veterans Cemetery

Dayton, Ohio

2008

Wordless Wednesday - Harry and Elizabeth Norris and the Routsong Family

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

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".