Friday, March 11, 2011
Forebear Friday – John Q. Adams
John Quincy Adams had a successful and adventurous life, but then, his family had already established a culture of adventure. His great- grandfather was a founder of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, he and wife Submit being the first settlers. John’s grandfather, Martin Adams with his brother, were among the founders of Newport (then Duncansborough), Vermont, and Martin was a Revolutionary War patriot.
John Q., the son of Abial Adams and Irene Gray, was born 12 Jul 1831 in Newport, Vermont, the sixth of sixteen children. At the age of 16, he moved himself to Burlington, Vermont, to attend college, supporting himself and paying tuition by teaching school. He did this for two years, and then returned to the house of his father. The following year, in 1851, he made his way to Stephenson County, Illinois, and decided to try his luck in the California Gold Rush, heading west in 1853. He spent five years there, after which he returned to Stephenson county with $1,000 and purchased a 240 acre farm in Florence township. He married Julia Van Brocklin, daughter of Florence township pioneers Conrad and Harriet Van Brocklin. About 1900, he was engaged as a store keeper, but otherwise farmed and worked as a carpenter.
He sold his farm in 1901, and relocated to Sutherland, O’Brien County, Iowa. His wife died in 1905, and he in 1907. They were both buried at Waterman Cemetery, just outside of Sutherland.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Adventures in Gardena
“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. “
Friday, March 4, 2011
Forebear Friday - John Henry Seemann
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
Friday, February 18, 2011
Forebear Friday – Abel Parlin Adams
Abel Parlin Adams was the son of Abial and Irena (Gray) Adams, born in Vermont. He left his home in Orleans county, and headed for Massachusetts, there marrying Eliza Hudson, a native of Canada, in 1853 in Lowell, Middlesex county.
Two 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
Above: An overview of one section of the cemetery – the mounds are interesting, and quite a contrast to another section, below:
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
And we lived to tell about it...
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...
Image courtesy of office.com
Friday, February 4, 2011
Future Friday – Photo Albums with a Twist, Part II
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.
Forebear Friday – Herb Ulmer
Herb earned his high school diploma in 1932 at Ree Heights and married Jessie Ball seven years later. In the following years he owned a dance hall at St. Peter, Minnesota, and after coming back to Ree Heights, owned a billiards establishment. But horses were his passion.
Herb traveled the rodeo circuit throughout the United States, riding in roping events, bringing home numerous trophies and buckles. In 1964, he won the South Dakota State Barrel Racing Championship with “Rusty Habit”, pictured at right with Herb’s wife Jessie. After retiring from the rodeo circuit, he started a horse breeding operation at Ree Heights, and raced his horses throughout the midwest. He continued the remainder of his career as a winner, both at the horse races and as a breeder, turning out many future champions.
His wife Jessie was killed in a car accident in 1971, and Herb continued alone at their ranch for the next two years, until he married my widowed mother-in-law, Louise, and became a vital part of the family. While he had no biological children, he took on the role of father, and eventually grandfather, with a tremendous amount of patience and enthusiasm. Everyone loved him, and with good reason. Herb passed away in 1996. We’ll see him again someday. Until then, we’ll treasure the memories.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Forebear Friday – Ella Monsen Christensen
Gabriella Alfhilde Monsen looks like just a wisp of a girl, but she must have been tough. Born in Bergen, Norway in 1884, Ella was the daughter of Gabriel Monsen and his wife Alvilda Marie Olsen. Her father, a fisherman by trade, was caught in a violent storm off the coast of Norway when Ella was about 7, and vanished. After the death of her father, the family lived in a small apartment in Bergen, her mother taking in washing to put food on the table. By the time Ella was 16, she was helping to support her family by working as a domestic servant.
In April of 1904, at the age of 20, Ella boarded a ship destined for the United States, to the home of her paternal uncle Rasmus “Rob” Sandene in Miner County, South Dakota. She would never return to her home country again. “Uncle Rob”, who had himself left Norway in 1887, helped the new immigrants of the family, one by one, to acclimate to their new culture. It was there that Ella learned English, and then again forged out on her own, taking a job as a domestic servant in Huron, about 60 miles away. In the next five years, her brother and sister also left Norway. Alvilda did not join her children here until 1915.
Ella married Peter C. Christensen, a Danish immigrant who owned Bell Bakery, in May of 1911. They also spent time farming in rural Beadle County. She was a farm wife who raised five children – Lillian, Raymond, Clarence, Edna and Sylvia, and later helped to raise Lillian’s children, who lived on a farm just down the road. Her granddaughter Betty has some very fond memories of her, and what a fun grandmother she was. She was nice to everyone, but she was also stern.
In 1947, they sold their farm in Beadle county and left behind the hard work and brutal winters. They retired to a lovely home with a park-like corner lot in Gardena, California, where they enjoyed fruit trees and a koi pond. Their children Clarence and Sylvia married and raised families there as well. She was just 67 when she died at her home of heart failure five years later. She is buried at Roosevelt Memorial Park Cemetery.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Forebear Friday – Abial Adams
He married Irene Gray about 1825, and they appear to have spent their lives in Newport, appearing there in each census from 1830 through 1870. He supported his family by farming, and he also owned a sawmill.
Abial and Irene were the parents of 15 children: Ira, David, Daniel, Lucretia, James, John, Abel, Oscar, Mercy, Newell, Orin, Harriet, Donald, Ransom, and Frank.
It is unclear exactly when Abial died, some time between 1879 and 1881. I could locate neither Abial nor his wife in the 1880 census. She died 01 Apr 1885 in Newport. Both are buried in Lake Road Cemetery in Newport.
Future Friday – Photo Albums with a Twist
My first project will be to “enhance” our family’s photo albums. As a finished product, I envision scanned photos of ample size for easy viewing of details. Each photo will have all persons and places identified, as completely as possible, with any background stories or interesting tidbits included.
I planned to attack this project by sitting down with my mother, a photo album, and a digital voice recorder. Together, we will go through the albums and reminisce, capturing our conversation on the recorder. Thanks to the recorder, we should be able to concentrate more on telling the stories and less on the business of preserving the stories.
To prepare, I dug out my RCA Digital Voice Recorder, which I had not used in 2 years, and re-familiarized myself with its operation. I then gave it fresh batteries, and started testing various settings and recorder placement to ensure a good finished product, easy to hear and understand, since we have only one shot at this with any sort of spontaneity.
We got comfortable at the dining room table, with the recorder, a photo album, and a notebook and pen, just in case we needed to write something down, although the idea was to be less structured and more conversational. It took very little time to forget that the recorder was on, although I did try to note every time we turned the page, and give a quick, descriptive comment on the first photo on the page, as a “landmark” I can use when matching the conversation to the correct photos.
It took us about an hour and a half to go through the album, and we had a great time. I learned more about our family’s activities and chronology than I could have hoped for. These were all things that my mom had not thought to mention, and I never knew to ask. And best of all, I wasn’t desperately trying to write all of this down, or remember it correctly; the recorder was taking care of that for me.
The next step will be scanning the album pages, in order, and in a large enough size to make the faces and details easily seen. I am still considering how to organize these photos. Currently, I have my old digitized photos organized into folders by year, and within the folders, by file name – not exactly ideal for my purposes now. I had considered looking for photo album software, but would prefer something in a more universal format for sharing and backing up. I am looking into the various online photo storage sites.
I will then transcribe our recorded conversation and comments verbatim. I’m still working on exactly how I’m going to put the comments and stories together with the photos, but will likely extract facts from the transcription, and enhance the pages of photos with them.
I’ll keep you posted!
Monday, January 10, 2011
The Diary Project
When I started this project, I had hoped for two things: 1) to glean genealogical information, and 2) to get to know my great grandmother in a deeper, more personal way.
I did indeed fill in a lot of dates and family happenings, but was a little disappointed when it came to getting her perspective on life. She was very good at reporting events, both major events and daily activities, but she didn’t share much of her feelings about those events. Once, she did let a little anger show regarding her husband’s unwillingness to sell the farm and move to town; and another time, a bit of smug satisfaction at having shown him she wasn’t quite as dumb as he seemed to think. It was fun to see these emotions in an otherwise quiet and dutiful wife and mother.
Not everyone has the opportunity to go back in time and spend 11 years with family members they love and miss; I have been extremely blessed to get to do just that. Over these years, I not only “spent time” with my great grandparents, but my beloved grandparents, and even my own parents, as teenagers and then newlyweds. In many ways, I felt like Marty McFly in “Back to the Future,” watching as my parents courted, married, and began to raise a family. I found this becoming less and less of a transcription project, and more and more of a chance to spend time with people I hadn’t seen in a very, very long while.
I didn’t realize just how deeply I had been absorbed into this until the last few months of my great-grandfather’s life, “listening” as my great grandmother told the difficult story of his death, and the days after. Like her, there were times I didn’t think I wanted to keep going. But at the same time, I couldn’t stop.
The diary ends abruptly the following year. Elvirta had gone to Arizona to visit her daughter, and had been there 7 months, and suddenly, there are no more pages. She lived another five years, so I assume there was another notebook somewhere. I hope the rest of it turns up some day, and I can resume our visit and finish her story.