52 Weeks to Better Genealogy – the DAR Database

The last time I visited the DAR database was years ago.  Tonight, as part of the 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy challenge, I took another look at it, and I’m really glad I did.
I thought I had no direct line ancestor with any military service during the Revolutionary War.  I knew some of my Lair ancestors had brothers who served, but when I discovered that my immigrant ancestor, Matthias Lehrer/Lair, played a part during the war, I was thrilled.   At this time, I don’t know how significant his role was, only that he was paid for the loss of a gun. 
Also, more significantly, I discovered that another direct-line ancestor, Issacher Nicke(r)son, apparently had some service, under Capt. David Waterbury.  I will need to find more information on this, and joining the DAR based on this ancestor’s service will be difficult.  His son, Aaron, is said to be the father of my ancestor Joseph Nickeson, and even working with the Nickerson Family Association, I have not been able to find proof of that relationship.  But there’s hope!

She Might Have Been a Blogger

Slowly, but steadily, I’ve been transcribing my great-grandmother Virta Knutz’s journals – over 500 sheets of notebook paper spanning nine years.  Next will be a file folder with another hundred pages or so, titled “Our Trips.”  After that, another pile of pages called “Memories.” 
Transcribing her journals has given me an idea of what her life was like on the farm.  Her children lived nearby, so her days will often filled with grandchildren, as well as the household chores, made lengthier and a bit more mundane by the lack of modern appliances.  At the end of her day, she would write.  I suspect it was probably the only thing she did just for herself.  What was her motivation?  Was she lonely out on the farm?  Wanting to share her day with someone, after everyone else was in bed?  Or did she just feel an inexplicable need to put the pen to the paper?   I think many bloggers would know something of how she felt.
If Virta were alive today, I suspect she would be one of us…

Tombstone Tuesday – Tweed Cemetery

In the quiet landscape of southeastern Ross county, Ohio, sits Tweed cemetery.  Just outside of Vigo, it is nestled inside a grove of trees at the top of a hill, hard to find, I'm told, unless you know what you're looking for. 

I've never been to the cemetery, despite the significant number of my family that lay there.  The miles are too great for now.  But my “granny”, Elizabeth Freeman Graves, left such a large part of herself behind in the soil of the shady green hill.
The year 1832 began with the burial of her nearly 6 year old boy, Tavenor, in January.  Before the year was out, they would gather again in the cold December frost to bid goodbye to her mother, Sarah Toone Freeman.  Her 4 year old daughter, Martha, would be next, in May of 1841, and just 3 months later, seventeen year old son John Jr. would be laid to rest there.
Did Elizabeth and her husband John pay one more sad visit to the cemetery together before packing their trunks and loading their wagon for a new beginning in Illinois?  
How sad for Elizabeth to have to stand one very last time in the cemetery, this time at the fresh grave of her husband, who took ill once the packing and loading was done.  And how excruciating it must have been for her to turn and leave, and pursue this new life without him.
Some day, I'd like to go to Tweed cemetery, stand where she stood, see what she saw, and touch the part of her soul that she left behind there. 

Costume Dances

Subtitled: “Excuse me, Miss, could you put down your pipe and dance with me?”



For as long as I knew her, my mother-in-law, Louise, loved to dance.   Her father, Casper Kluthe, taught her to kick up her heels at his barn dances in the 1930s, when he wasn’t busy on stage playing his accordion.  The smell of the hay, the noise of the crowd as they whooped and hollered, the thundering stomp of feet and the clapping of hands got her hooked for life.  She grew up to be one of the founders of the Tri-County Dance Club in her small town, and as seen in the photo at left (that’s her in the dress), she never missed the opportunity to show someone a new dance step.





Some of her best stories came, in between bouts of laughter, the day after a costume dance.  You never knew who would turn up as your dance partner…

A witch, a hairy old guy, a strange pipe-smoking lady, a dirty bum, a ghoul, or perhaps… is that Michael Jackson on the right end??

Even Abe Lincoln might show up…

While his wife was on the dance floor, donning long-johns and a rubber chicken-head mask, her husband Herb was listening to the sad tales of this poor depressed snowman…or is that a snow-woman?  Who knows!

Wordless Wednesday - Destruction at Stephan Mission

Below are photos from the devastation caused by a tornado in 1938.  The twister tore through Stephan Mission, in Hyde county, South Dakota, on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation.

What’s left of the barn

 

Another photo of the barn

 

The milk shed, with pieces from the barn on top of it

Day Three of the Genealogy Road Trip

The Genealogy Road Trip culminated with the primary purpose for the trip: a visit to Princeville, Illinois, to the Heritage Harvest celebration at the Princeville Heritage Museum.  What a great day! 

In 2004, the Akron Townhouse School was was moved to the grounds of the PHM's grounds.  It had closed its doors as a school in 1958, and was the last of Peoria County's one-room schools.  It has been taken from a state of disrepair, to a wonderfully restored piece of Peoria County history. 

We also got to witness a sawmill demonstration - this may not be new to anyone else, but I've never really thought about how boards were made, starting with a tree.

Next was an incredible demonstration by T. C. Gill, "The StumpCarver".  His creations are incredible!

 The master stump-carver at work

One example of what you can do with a chainsaw and a steady hand...

Check out his website for more info, at http://www.stumpcarver.com/

The above photo depicts a typical one-room cabin of the early settlers.  Incredible - from the wonderful paint job on the walls, which look like logs, to all of the materials on display.  I wanted to jump the barricade and go see that old quilt on the bed behind the table, but I kept myself under control.

I enjoyed the demo of the 1920's knitting machine - she had a pair of socks in progress.  Much neater than any knitting I've ever produced, and even *I* could turn a crank without messing it up! The rest of it, though, I'm not so sure about.

I learned alot from the threshing machine demonstration.  Being a city kid, I had no real clue about what this machine did, but thanks to this demo and my husband's patient explanations, I have a handle on it now.  :)  I can also have a much greater appreciation for my great-great grandfather's steam thresher.

This short post doesn't even begin to cover everything that we saw and enjoyed today.  There were numerous historical photos, tons of genealogical scrapbooks filled with old newspaper articles, obituaries, etc., a rope-making demo, crafts, a dulcimer artist, and so much more.  It was well worth the trip.

Also, we have another Neat Sight of the Day -

We spied this pair of handsome roosters grazing in the ditch outside of the Dollar General store in Wyoming, Illinois.   All in all, a fun day.

But wait - there's more - our day also included an awesome Bonus Event, which will be another post.

Genealogy Road Trip, Mission #2

First on today's agenda is West Liberty, Iowa, to find the graves of Frank and Retta (Gladfelter) Lair.  Frank was the much younger brother of my gr-gr grandmother, Nettie Belle Lair of Princeville, Peoria county, Illinois, being 16 years younger than Nettie.  Frank and Nettie were two of the nine children of Lawson Fuller Lair and his wife, Margaret Nickeson, who farmed just outside of Princeville.  As a young man, Frank spent some time living with Nettie and her husband, Tom Graves, before marrying Retta Gladfelter in 1901.  Frank and Retta moved to a Muscatine county, Iowa, in 1907, and there lived on several different farms before moving into West Liberty about 1919.  His bride, Retta, was the daughter of Frederick and Julia (Bane) Gladfelter, and born in 1882, also in Princeville.  They lived out the remainder of their lives in West Liberty, having no children.  Frank died in 1945, at the age of 67, and Retta in 1959 at the age of 77.

We learn our lessons fairly easily - this time we called ahead and checked with the city clerk, who told us exactly where the graves were located, and exactly where Oakridge cemetery could be found - 

and we located their former home...

Misson #2 Complete.   On to Mission #3, and The Land of Lincoln!