While transcribing old letters written by my great-grandparents, Peter C. and Ella Christensen, I came across the following story, related by Pete to their daughter Lillian in a letter dated Dec. 20, 1946. Pete and Ella had just moved to Gardena, California from Huron, South Dakota, where their daughter and her family still lived.
“I suppose Mother told you about our bad luck with the car, but I know she really didn’t know how it happened so I’ll tell you, ha ha. We went out to Silver Lake, that is where my sister Katrine is living. We stayed there all night as we didn’t have our gas and electricity turned on. So in the morning we went out to our car, it was parked on a hillside, almost a mountain. The brake alone would stop it from going down hill so I left it in low gear. You know it was foggy in the evening so the windshield was clouded over. I got a rag and started to clean it off. Mother climbed in the car. And first thing I knew the car started down hill, very slowly at first. She tried to get out but was afraid to let go of the car. There she was half out and half in, and I had to pull hard on her to make her let go. It’s a wonder she did not get hurt. You know when she got in the car she pushed the lever with her legs and got it out of gear. Next time I’m going to leave it in reverse. The car went across the street and dropped about 10 ft then over another garage and a drop almost straight down of about 20 ft and landed up against a house. It made a big dent in the wall of the house. I’m glad it was not a brick wall. The car never even turned over. A Ford can really take it. Estimated damage to car $180.00 The man who owns the house claims damage to house and lot $3000. A darn good thing I had insurance, don’t you think? It cost $25 to get the car hoisted up to the street again with a crane and 2 trucks. I was able to run the car after it was pulled up. It had one crumpled fender, two damaged running boards, 3 broken windows, broken grill and bent bumper. I’m sure it could never do that again, and be able to run.”
He went on to describe “city driving”:
“You should try to drive a car in San Diego or Los Angeles. They pass you on both sides and if you have to make a right or left turn, and aren’t in the right place it’s just too bad. They are smashing cars every day. I don’t want a new car for awhile. “
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
Forebear Friday - John Henry Seemann
John Henry Seemann was born in 1800 in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, the son of Hans Seemann and Christina Petersen Moldt. He married Maria, and they were the parents of 8 children.
In 1853, sons Hans and Detlef left Germany for the United States, in particular, eastern Iowa. The following year, John and Mary boarded with Germania, traveling from Bremen to New York, with sons Johan and Henry. Most, if not all, of their children ended up coming to Iowa. John and Maria purchased land in Jackson county, Iowa later that year, but by 1856 had moved in with their son Hans in Clinton county, just to the south. By 1870, they were back in Jackson county, this time with their son Henry and his family.
John died on 09 April 1873, and Maria went back to Clinton county to son Hans’ home; however, in 1884, Hans’ family sold the farm and moved to South Dakota, and Maria apparently went back to Jackson County, where she died on 26 Sep 1889.
On a trip to this area a few years back, we decided to visit Evergreen cemetery in Jackson County. It’s a beautiful cemetery located next to the backwaters of the Mississippi River, and true to its name, lots of fragrant evergreens dot the landscape. We located the graves of John and Maria, in a family section which included the graves of their son Henry, Henry’s wife Catharina; their daughter Mary Blossfeld and her husband William and daughter Lotta. In another part of the cemetery, John and Maria’s son Peter is buried.
In 1853, sons Hans and Detlef left Germany for the United States, in particular, eastern Iowa. The following year, John and Mary boarded with Germania, traveling from Bremen to New York, with sons Johan and Henry. Most, if not all, of their children ended up coming to Iowa. John and Maria purchased land in Jackson county, Iowa later that year, but by 1856 had moved in with their son Hans in Clinton county, just to the south. By 1870, they were back in Jackson county, this time with their son Henry and his family.
John died on 09 April 1873, and Maria went back to Clinton county to son Hans’ home; however, in 1884, Hans’ family sold the farm and moved to South Dakota, and Maria apparently went back to Jackson County, where she died on 26 Sep 1889.
On a trip to this area a few years back, we decided to visit Evergreen cemetery in Jackson County. It’s a beautiful cemetery located next to the backwaters of the Mississippi River, and true to its name, lots of fragrant evergreens dot the landscape. We located the graves of John and Maria, in a family section which included the graves of their son Henry, Henry’s wife Catharina; their daughter Mary Blossfeld and her husband William and daughter Lotta. In another part of the cemetery, John and Maria’s son Peter is buried.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Mountain View Cemetery, Part Two
Again, many thanks to my dad and stepmother for sharing these wonderful photos of this cemetery near Casa Grande, Arizona.
A grassier section ~
A few more graves ~
The very simple, but touching marker of Rena
A grassier section ~
A few more graves ~
The very simple, but touching marker of Rena
Friday, February 18, 2011
Forebear Friday – Abel Parlin Adams
‘ Abel Adams and his wife, Eliza HudsonTwo daughters, Nettie and Jennie, were born about 1857, and in 1859. During these years, Abel worked as a pattern maker, first in Lowell, and later in Fitchburg (Worcester county). He served during the Civil War, spending 4 months and 8 days in Company A, 7th Regiment of the Massachusetts Light Artillery.
He and his family settled in Springfield, Massachusetts, between 1870 and 1880, and after his wife died in 1901, he moved in with his youngest daughter Jennie and her husband, Charles Martensen. There he lived for the next twenty years.
There is a death certificate for Abel in his hometown of Newport, Vermont; I have no doubt that this is his death. However, it states his “usual residence” is in Newport, which is somewhat confusing. He died August 4, 1920, in Newport. But in January of 1920, when the census was taken, he was still living with his daughter Jennie in Springfield, at the age of 87 years. Did he moved back to Newport? If so, why? And with whom did he live? His oldest daughter was in Chicago, so it wasn’t her. Was he visiting there when he died? Was the “usual residence” an error on the part of the city clerk?
Abel was buried with his wife in Oak Grove cemetery in Springfield.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Mountain View Cemetery
Recently my father and stepmother decided to pay a visit to Mountain View Cemetery, near Casa Grande, Arizona. They have shared photos they took of a few of the incredible memorials they found there. I was awestruck by how personalized some of these burial sites are, and how strikingly different they are from the cemeteries I’ve visited. I would love to see this cemetery personally.
Above: An overview of one section of the cemetery – the mounds are interesting, and quite a contrast to another section, below:
Above: An overview of one section of the cemetery – the mounds are interesting, and quite a contrast to another section, below:
And still another section:
In looking at the cemetery photos, the incredible personalization of the burial sites was very touching.
More photos of some of the other unique graves to come ~
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
And we lived to tell about it...
I was just transcribing one of my great-grandmother’s diaries, telling of their trip to the Oahe Dam in South Dakota. The year was 1956; they all piled into my Uncle Ray’s station wagon: Grandma and Grandpa, their two daughters and sons-in-law, and 6 kids on a mattress in the back of the wagon.
Reading this, I could almost feel my brother’s elbows in my ribs, and getting squashed by a gaggle of cousins on any of the road trips we took under similar conditions. Sometimes there were so many kids piled in the backseat that we really weren’t sure whose foot that was... and to make things even more exciting, there were oftentimes a dog or two in the mix.
Sometimes we’d pile into the back of my dad’s yellow pickup truck for a ride; I can still feel the wind whipping my hair around violently like it was just yesterday. It was so exhilarating...
I’m not saying any of this is good, or bad, just that it’s different. Times change. The world changes. Are we better off? I don’t know. Did the parents of the 1950s look back at past generations and think them nonchalant where safety was concerned? I wonder. I know only one thing ... that I won’t be telling my grandchildren about the time we ... never mind.
Image courtesy of office.com
Reading this, I could almost feel my brother’s elbows in my ribs, and getting squashed by a gaggle of cousins on any of the road trips we took under similar conditions. Sometimes there were so many kids piled in the backseat that we really weren’t sure whose foot that was... and to make things even more exciting, there were oftentimes a dog or two in the mix.
Sometimes we’d pile into the back of my dad’s yellow pickup truck for a ride; I can still feel the wind whipping my hair around violently like it was just yesterday. It was so exhilarating...
Awhile back in our local paper, there was an article about winter safety, and they mentioned that pulling sleds with vehicles wasn’t safe. Even with a long rope, out in the middle of a field? No!! I felt a pain through my very heart! Again, another portion of my beloved childhood memories were relegated to the Hall of Shame.
Image courtesy of office.com
Friday, February 4, 2011
Future Friday – Photo Albums with a Twist, Part II
Last month I began a project to bring life to our family photos, and to make them meaningful to future generations. At the time of my previous post, my mother and I had sat down with a photo album, a digital audio recorder, and, of course, her memories and stories. We now have completed the project for this album, and I wanted to share our experience.
TRANSCRIBING
After recording our conversation, I transcribed it as closely as possible. This was probably the most difficult part of the project, but I discovered some simple tactics that made it easier. After transferring the audio file from the recorder to my computer, I used a media player to play it back, and transcribed it into a template I’d made in my word processing program. I used different colored text for each person, to make the conversation easier to follow. I could transcribe one person’s sentence, pause the recording, then simply move my cursor to the next line, and the text would automatically change color.
One of the helpful features of the media player I used was the timeclock feature. Since this was a labor-intensive job, I did it in small bits, and by noting the clock reading (in green) I could easily pick up where I left off, or find this place in the recording if I needed to in the future.
SCANNING
After the transcribing was done, I scanned the pages of the photo album, in order, using numeric filenames (01, 02, etc). I scanned at 400 dpi, and saved the files as .tif.
PROCESSING
When the scanning was complete, I went back to the first scan and worked page by page. I first re-read the transcription pertaining to that page to “refamiliarize” myself with the details. Using Irfanview to process the photos (I have no connection to this company, just like their software), I cropped each one and resized it to a manageable size, but still large enough to show detail clearly, and saved a copy as a .jpg. These smaller versions would be incorporated into an online photo album, while keeping the original, larger scans as they were.
Again using Irfanview, I added extra “canvas” to the bottom of each photo, where I could add text. I added the year (or an estimation), identified the people in the photo, and added any stories or pertinent details.
TRANSCRIBING
After recording our conversation, I transcribed it as closely as possible. This was probably the most difficult part of the project, but I discovered some simple tactics that made it easier. After transferring the audio file from the recorder to my computer, I used a media player to play it back, and transcribed it into a template I’d made in my word processing program. I used different colored text for each person, to make the conversation easier to follow. I could transcribe one person’s sentence, pause the recording, then simply move my cursor to the next line, and the text would automatically change color.
One of the helpful features of the media player I used was the timeclock feature. Since this was a labor-intensive job, I did it in small bits, and by noting the clock reading (in green) I could easily pick up where I left off, or find this place in the recording if I needed to in the future.
SCANNING
After the transcribing was done, I scanned the pages of the photo album, in order, using numeric filenames (01, 02, etc). I scanned at 400 dpi, and saved the files as .tif.
PROCESSING
When the scanning was complete, I went back to the first scan and worked page by page. I first re-read the transcription pertaining to that page to “refamiliarize” myself with the details. Using Irfanview to process the photos (I have no connection to this company, just like their software), I cropped each one and resized it to a manageable size, but still large enough to show detail clearly, and saved a copy as a .jpg. These smaller versions would be incorporated into an online photo album, while keeping the original, larger scans as they were.
Again using Irfanview, I added extra “canvas” to the bottom of each photo, where I could add text. I added the year (or an estimation), identified the people in the photo, and added any stories or pertinent details.
ORGANIZING
When I saved these .jpg copies, I used a particular formula for the filename:
1950_museum_93.jpg
1950 represents the year (if I didn’t know it, I’d estimate and use “1950Abt”) to keep the files in somewhat of a chronological order. The middle part pertains to the subject. If I had several photos of the same subject, I used, for instance, “museum1”, “museum2”, etc. to keep similar photos together when sorted by filename. The last number refers to the original scan number, in case I wanted to locate the high-resolution version of this picture in the future.
THE FINISHED PRODUCT
Once I had this completed, I created a PhotoBucket account and uploaded the .jpgs. Again, I have no connection to this particular company. I use it because their free account offers a lot of space, the ability to set up multiple photo albums in one account, and offers a “guest” password so other family members can access the photos while still keeping them private from the general public. One of the options I could chose was to sort the photos by filename, and because of the particular nomenclature I described above, the photos are in reasonable chronological order, with photos of similar occasions together, with very little effort.
All in all, this is a big project, but priceless for our descendants. I want to bring life, interest and, in a sense, immortality to the people in these photos, who might otherwise have ended up as a bunch of smiling strangers on the page of an album. We have many more albums to “enhance”, but I believe this is one of the best investments we’ll ever make.
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