28 February 2011

Goal Assessment-11 for 11: Motivation Monday

It is hard to believe two months of the year are here and gone already.  I decided I should do a quick assessment on how I am doing on the goals I set for this year.  I listed 11 goals for 2011 earlier.  Overall, I think setting goals has focused my research and made me more productive.  Having goals to work on motivates me.  I find I am not going off on research tangents.  I use to start by looking for one record on one individual and would think well as long as I am looking this up I should look up (fill in the blank)! I ended up searching all over the place for many different ancestors.  I am more deliberate in my research.  I do notice when I work on my research, my blogging lags a little.  Oh well, eventually, it all gets done.

Here are my 11 for 11 goals and my progress toward completion.  Overall, I am happy, I just need the weather to cooperate so I can venture outside without fear of snow and ice overcoming me.
1.Scan pictures!
  • I have been very successful at this.  I have scanned hundreds of pictures.  I scanned all my childhood pictures.  I took my flip pal to my parents and scanned hundreds of pictures.  I have pictures of their childhood and other family members.  I even discovered a photo album I never knew existed, while at my parents.  
2.Work on my brickwall, Daniel Fenn.
  • I haven't worked on this and am thinking I should have put a different goal in it's place.  He is one hard bugger to find.
3.Make a concentrated effort to source every fact as I add it to my software program.
  • This is a success.  I have sourced every fact as I add it this year.  If I don't have time to source it, it doesn't get added until I do.  I am going back and making sure my other facts are sourced properly.
4.Visit Miami County, Indiana to research Casper and Mary Graf further.
  • Waiting for nice weather to do this.
5.Obtain my grandfather's, Otto August Fredrick, obituary.
  • I want to go to Manistee Public Library and get the obituary myself, so I am waiting for nicer weather to do this.  I have a list of other obituaries I need to get in Manistee, so a day or two might be scheduled.
6.Attend a genealogical conference.
  •  I am registered to attend September's FGS 'Pathways to the Heartland' in Springfield, Illinois.  I have my hotel reservations and reserved two nights at my daughters in Chicago (to cut down on travel time).  I even have a preliminary list of sessions I would like to attend.  Saturday's sessions are so good I am having trouble narrowing it down to just one per session.  I am looking forward to this. 
7.Start researching my son-in-law's ancestry.
  • I started this one just last week.  I have researched his paternal grandfather's side back five generations, so far.  I have researched his paternal grandmother's side back three generations.  On his mother's side I have only begun the research.  I am glad I am doing this.  His ancestry has taken me to states and countries I haven't researched before.  It makes me feel like I am accomplishing something.  I have reached some walls in my own research and having another focus is actually motivating.
8.Talk to my mother and find out about family heirlooms in her possession.
  • I have done this a little.  I want to go back and talk some more to her about a couple of things.
9.Carve out a regular research time.
  • This one is hard to assess.  I have not regularly set aside a time to research.  I do good some weeks and then others not so much.  I feel I am researching more now than the last few months of 2010, so I guess the regular research time isn't as important.  It is a poorly written goal.
10.Make contact with newly discovered cousins and share information.
  • I have been in touch with the newly discovered cousins I had found at the end of last year, I share what I have, but haven't heard back from one, yet.  I made a new contact and was able to help her determine her great grandmother's birth date.  I shared obituaries, civil war pension file,  and pictures.  I got information on her line, and was thankful for that.  I think this will be an ongoing goal throughout the year and one that will never be complete as I uncover new ones.
11.Research myself! Add my personal facts to my genealogical software.
  • This is almost complete!  I spent a couple of days scanning and adding facts to my genealogy program about myself.  The things I added were related to my birth, baptism, residences, education, marriage, etc.  I would like to go back and add notes to each, to flesh out the facts with stories.  I wrote a blog post about this and one of the comments I received had to do with privacy.  I use Roots Magic as my genealogy software and one of the benefits of this program is the ability to mark facts as private.  I had been doing that on all living persons so it wasn't so much to keep doing it for my facts.  I have also added lots of facts on my two children, and am currently working on my husband.  I plan to do our parents as well. 
I have made good progress on six of the eleven goals, so the year is off to a good start.  How are you doing on your goals for the year?

26 February 2011

The Sound of Waves: 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History



Sounds-Describe any sounds that take you back to your childhood.  These could be familiar songs, jingles, children playing or entirely something different.

Whenever I hear the sound of waves it takes me back to my childhood.  I can envision the heat of the sun as I lay on the sandy beach with waves splashing the shoreline, lulling me into a state of contentment.  There is nothing that relaxes me more.

Some of my earliest memories are of going to the beach.  I was born in Deckerville, Michigan; which is just minutes from Lake Huron.  My parents had friends who had cottages on the lake and we would pack up our beach things and spend the afternoon swimming in the lake or lying on the sand.  Picnics at the lake were always something to look forward to.  The gentle laps of the water against the shore were a common sound in my childhood.

At the age of ten, we moved 25 miles north of Deckerville, to Harbor Beach, Michigan.  Harbor Beach is right on Lake Huron.  Trescott Street, one of the streets I lived on, ends at the beach!  I remember many days of meeting friends at the beach.  I usually rode my bike to the beach.  We would sun bathe, swim when we got hot, or walk out on the pier.  During the time I lived in Harbor Beach, boats docked at Harbor Beach and we could walk out to the end and look at the cool boats.  Jumping off the pier, only on the south side-the north side was mucky, was a favorite thing to do too.  Harbor Beach had a break wall and the lapping on the shore was more gentle, but still a sound I remember from childhood. 


My friend, Mary, walking the shoreline in Harbor Beach

In high school, I worked at the Harbor Beach Resort, it was a private resort on the Lake.  I would have to be to work around 7 am.  Again, off on my bike I would go.  Sometimes the sun would just be coming up over the lake and the sights, smells, and sound of the Lake would guide me on my way.  It is a wonder I ever made it to work, now that I look back on it.

Growing up and having access to Lake Huron, one of the Great Lakes, was something I took for granted when living there.  It wasn't until I went away to college, about 1 hour from a Great Lake, that I realized how wonderful it was to have access to sandy beaches.  I think that is why I enjoy vacationing in Frankfort, Michigan on Lake Michigan every summer.  A beach chair and a good book is all I need on vacation.  I sit on the sandy beach and listen to the waves lapping the shore and it takes me back to the carefree days of my childhood and my love of the beach.

24 February 2011

Hattie's Bible: Is this Estelle Fenn's Husband?




These two pictures were side by side in Hattie Fenn's Bible.  The gentleman was unidentified.  The woman is Estelle Fenn Shaw.  Could this be Estelle's husband, James F. Shaw?  

The pictures are identical in that they were both taken by Cookingham Photographer, Smith's Bros. Block, Jackson, Michigan.  They are the same shape and color.  The back of the pictures are identical.  This leads me to believe they were taken at the same time.  Their wedding day?

Estelle Fenn was Hattie Fenn's half sister.  Estelle's parents were Daniel C. Fenn and Jane E. Poor. 

Please contact me, with any information you have about Estelle Fenn and James F. Shaw.

21 February 2011

The Eagle Has Landed: 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History

Week 8:  Technology.  What are some of the technological advances that happened during your childhood?  What types of technology do you enjoy using today, and which do you avoid?



The first thing I thought of when I read this post was the moon landing of 1969.  I was 11 years old.  My family had been at the family reunion and while we were driving home we listened to the radio and heard for the first time about it.  It seemed amazing to me then and still does now.  I think the technology that has come from space exploration has been great. 

The second thing I thought of was color television.  Sometime around 1966-1967 our family got our first color television set.  I was playing in the basement and my sister came down and got me and made me close my eyes.  I didn't trust her completely, one too many times of being duped before, but I closed my eyes.  She led me into the living room and when I opened my eyes, there it was.  I believe a basketball game was on and it was in full color.  I thought that was pretty neat.  What was even neater was the first time the "Wonderful World of Disney" came on and all the glorious colors in that.

Technology has come a long way since my childhood.  The ones I use the most are the internet and the computer.  Others I enjoy using are the microwave, cell phone, ipod, and keyless car ignition. I am still having a few trust issues with the keyless ignition, but so far so good.  I don't really avoid any technology per se.  The cost of it usually limits my access to it.  Well, I am off to watch my color television while surfing the internet on my laptop, and drinking a cup of hot cocoa made in my microwave!


52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History by Amy Coffin, of the We Tree blog, is a series of weekly blogging prompts (one for each week of 2011) that invite genealogists and others to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants. You do not have to be a blogger to participate. If you do not have a genealogy blog, write down your memories on your computer, or simply record them on paper and keep them with your files. Thank you, Amy for the great ideas. Thank you, Tom, at Geneabloggers for hosting this series of blogging prompts.

18 February 2011

Daisy Ellen Graf Fredricks: Funeral Card Friday

Funeral Card for Daisy Ellen (Graf) Fredricks


Birth:  18 October 1892  Plevna, Howard, Indiana
Marriage: 12 December 1917  Brethren, Manistee, Michigan
Death:  26 October 1978 Manistee, Manistee, Michigan

17 February 2011

Happy Birthday, Dad

Today is my dad's 86th birthday. 
 Happy birthday, Dad! 
I am blessed to have both of my parents still living. 
Here is a photo tribute to my father.

 1 Year Old
 Age Unknown
 Started his love of sports at an early age.
High School Graduation 1943
 His wedding day, 1952
My all time favorite picture of my dad and I-1958

Celebrating his 85th birthday!

14 February 2011

How Much is a Civil War Veteran Worth? Military Monday

My great-great grandfather, Samuel Stillman Glover, Jr. was an injured civil war veteran who applied for many increases in his pension, but wasn't successful in his attempts.  Samuel was shot in the knee while carrying dispatches to General Buell.  He spent months in an army hospital in Nashville, Tennessee.  He received a disability discharge in November of 1862.  Here is what a monthly Civil War Veteran's pension was worth:
  • 21 December 1863  $4
  • 30 July 1889 $8
Samuel died 12 April 1904.  His wife, Adeline, received the following monthly payments:
  • 9 May 1904 $8
  • 23 July 1904 $10
  • 26 September 1916 $12
  • September 1916 $20 (by act of Congress to increase widow's pensions)
  • 4 December 1917 $25
Adeline died 19 December 1917.

For more information on Samuel's pension file, read these posts:

S. S. Glover, Jr.:  Pension File Information Sheet
Who Signed Affidavits for Samuel S. Glover, Jr.?
Civil War Pension File-What I Learned
Obituary vs. Pension File:  Fact or Fiction
Summary of a Civil War Pension File:  Samuel Stillman Glover, Jr.

13 February 2011

Elizabeth Poor(e) Fenn: Sunday's Obituary


Elizabeth Ann Poor
Birth:  18 October 1826 New York, USA
Marriage:  Daniel C. Fenn
Death:  20 September 1894 Hersey, Osceola, Michigan, USA

Elizabeth (Poor) Fenn's  obituary
Unknown date, unknown paper
Found in Hattie Fenn Glover's bible

Mrs Fenn of Cat Creek, died, Sept. 20, after a long illness, and the remains were taken to Chelsea, Mich.  for burial.  Mrs. Elizabeth A. Fenn was born in the State of New York, Oct. 18, 1826, and died Sept. 20, 1894, aged 67 years, 11 months and 2 days.  She was a great sufferer during her sickness, but was patient and resigned.  She was an earnest follower of Jesus for 50 years of her life, as a member of the Congregational church.  The funeral sermon was preached by Rev. J. Turner, of Hersey, at the residence of George Fenn, son of deceased, on Friday at 4:30 p.m.  During the few years that she resided in Hersey township she had endeared herself to the neighbors by her earnest christian character.

12 February 2011

Barbie's Best Friend: 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History

Week 7:  Toys:  What was your favorite childhood toy?  Is it still being made in some form today?

Me, Linda, Barbie and Midge

I wrote about my all-time favorite toy, Larry the Lion, during the Advent series.  So, thinking of a second favorite toy took some time.  I finally settled on Barbie's friend, Midge.  I remember getting Midge for Christmas one year.  My sister had Barbie and I had Midge.  My Midge had red hair that flipped up, blue eyes and freckles.  Her legs didn't bend so I am guessing she was one of the very first Midge's.

I remember playing with Midge for many hours.  My sister, had a Barbie house.  It was a cardboard fold out house.  It was rectangular and you opened the top and then the walls folded out.  I think it had yellow walls, a closet, a bookcase and cardboard furniture.  I got a Barbie house for Christmas one year and when I opened it, there was some sort of a farm toy in it.  When we returned it we couldn't get the Barbie house.

I had a Barbie carrying case.  This came in handy when I would go to friend's houses.  We usually played Barbie's.  I remember playing Barbie's in 6th grade.  I think children today give up Barbie dolls at a much younger age, now.

I still have my original Midge doll.  She hasn't aged very well.  I think a little brother might have gotten his hands on her.  Her two little fingers are broken off and her chest is dented.  I cut her bangs! (I don't know what I was thinking when I did that!)

The picture shows Midge as she is today.  The outfit was my all-time favorite Barbie outfit.  It is/was a beautiful blue satin gown with silver sparkly bodice.  The full-length white satin lined cape was trimmed in white fur, so glamorous!

I did a quick toy search and didn't find a current Midge doll.  It looks like she was available around 2000-2003.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History by Amy Coffin, of the We Tree blog, is a series of weekly blogging prompts (one for each week of 2011) that invite genealogists and others to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants. You do not have to be a blogger to participate. If you do not have a genealogy blog, write down your memories on your computer, or simply record them on paper and keep them with your files.

Thank you, Amy for the great ideas. Thank you, Tom, at Geneabloggers for hosting this series of blogging prompts.

10 February 2011

My 2nd Childhood Home-Those Places Thursday

Corner of Black River Street and Quince Street
Deckerville, Michigan
Photograph Courtesy of google.com


I enjoyed writing Week 4 of 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History so much I decided to create floor plans and descriptions for the second home I lived in.  This home was on Black River Street in Deckerville, Sanilac, Michigan.  It was across the street from the village park.  This is one of my favorite homes that I lived in. 


Sitting on the back porch that led to the kitchen.


It was a two story, three bedroom, one bath with a full basement house.  It had two porches on the back side of house and an attached one car garage.  I remember the back yard was surrounded by pine trees.

 
The stairs were directly across from the front door, there was a closet to the right of the stairway.  To the left of the entry way was the dining room.  The kitchen with an eating area was off the dining room towards the back of the house.  The basement stairs were to the right as you entered the kitchen.  The kitchen was a U shaped kitchen.  I don't remember the placement of the appliances, but I remember there was room for a kitchen table and chairs on one end.

To the right of the entry way was the living room.  The living room ran the width of the house.  There was a fireplace on one wall and a door to a nice little porch to the back yard.  I think the dining room and living room had wood floors with rugs over them.


The bedrooms were all upstairs.  There was a small landing at the top of the stairs.  To the right of the landing was a big bedroom, it was over the living room and ran the width of the house.  To the left of the stairway on the left side of the hallway and overlooking the front yard, was another bedroom.  Across from this bedroom was a full bath, the only bathroom in the house.  At the end of the hallway and over the garage was another small bedroom.  This bedroom had a neat closet, it was freezing cold, in the winter, but I remember I could walk into it.  This was my bedroom during the warmer months.  My parents closed it off for the winter.  My sister and I shared the large bedroom over the living room, during the winter.  My parents had the bedroom on the front of the house. 

Some of the memories I have of this house include:
  • seeing a snake in the space between the steps and the porch as you entered the back door into the kitchen, I freaked out and could barely explain to my dad what I was so excited about.
  • having a birthday party, must have been my seventh or eighth one, with school friends
  • walking to school, this was a little further of a walk than the first house we lived in.
  • going across the street and playing on the swings at the park.
  • watching the nuns come to the flower shop, which was across the street and next to the park.  We didn't have a catholic church in Deckerville, so this seemed so foreign and a little scary to me.  This was in the days when they wore the full 'Sound of Music' black habits
  • walking through a opening in the trees and going to the neighbors yard, they had rabbits and let me feed them sometimes.
  • crying in my closet after learning that my Grandma Bell died, my mom came in and asked if I was ok, of course, I said yes.  I remember holding the skirt grandma had bought me. 
  • this is the house where I learned that there wasn't a Santa.  I wrote about it here.
  • waking up in the night and learning that someone had been stabbed on the sidewalk in front of our house. 
  • riding my bike all over the neighborhood, including the time my mom told me I could go for a bike ride but I was not to go uptown!  Guess what I did-yep, I went uptown and got hit by a car.  I wasn't hurt at all, and kept on riding.  The lady who hit me went to my house and told my mom.  I could hear my mom yelling for me blocks away.  I didn't want to go home!  But, I did.  I may have gotten my bike taken away from me for awhile, I don't really remember.

09 February 2011

My Parent's Bridal Party-Wedding Wednesday


31 May 1952
Trinity Lutheran Church
Onekema, Manistee, Michigan

Front Row-Left to Right:  Bridesmaid Marilyn 'Mickey' Fredricks, sister-in-law of the bride; Maid of Honor Norma Jean 'Jeannie' Fredricks, sister of the bride;  Bride Audrey Jane Fredricks; Groom Bruce David Glover;  Best Man Francis H. 'Hank' Glover, brother of the groom;  Groomsmen Richard Fredricks, brother of the bride (Marilyn's 'Mickey' husband)

Back Row-Left to Right:  Usher Norman Fredricks, brother of the bride; Reverend O. N. Behringer, Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church; Usher John Fredricks, brother of the bride.

The bride wore a waltz length gown of white slipper satin covered in nylon net and lace with a fingertip veil held by a head band of orange blossoms.  The bride carried a bouquet of white roses.

The maid of honor, Jeannie Fredricks, wore a waltz length nile green gown.  The bridesmaid, Mickey Fredricks, wore a waltz length shrimp pink gown.  They carried bouquets of yellow roses and wore headbands of lilies of the valley.

08 February 2011

Sojourner Truth: Tombstone Tuesday

Once a month I try to write a blog post sharing a piece of Battle Creek, Michigan history.  This month I have chosen Sojourner Truth's grave site.  Sojourner Truth arrived in the Battle Creek area about 1857.  She kept a residence in Battle Creek throughout her travels where she spoke out against slavery.  She can be found in the 1860 and 1870 Census records, living in Calhoun county, Michigan.  Sojourner Truth was the first black women to win a law suit against a white man when she sued for the return of her son, Peter, who had been sold illegally.   Sojourner Truth died 26 November 1883, at her residence on College Street, Battle Creek, Michigan,


Sojourner Truth
Oak Hill Cemetery, Battle Creek, Michigan
(See below for transcriptions)

Sojourner Truth
Back of Gravestone
IN
MEMORIAM
SOJOURNER
TRUTH
BORN A SLAVE IN
ULSTER CO., NY
IN THE 18TH
CENTURY
DIED IN
BATTLE CREEK,
MICH.
NOV 26 1883
AGED ABOUT
105 YEARS
'IS GOD DEAD'
                        ST

The historical marker in the first picture says,
 Sojourner Truth
 Renowned lecturer and
 reformer, who championed
 Anti-slavery, Rights of
Women and the Freedmen,
 rests here.  Beside her
 lie two of her 5
 children. 
 Elizabeth Banks Boyd
Died Jan 6  1883
Diana Corbin
Died Oct 25 1924
and two grandsons
Samuel Banks
Died Feb 24 1875
William F Boyd
 Died Nov 3 1887"

05 February 2011

Holy Blog Post Batman!

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History

Week 6:  Radio and Television:  What was your favorite radio or television show from your childhood?  What was the program about and who was in it?

Promotional 8 x 10 Picture I could hardly wait for it to arrive!

"Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, Batman!

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, Batman!
Batman, Batman, Batman!"

Oh, how I loved hearing this theme song when it started my favorite television show, Batman,  in 1966.  I was obsessed with everything Batman.  I use to run around the house at the beginning of the show.  I was a big fan of Batman, but liked Robin even more.

Who could forget the various characters: Commissioner Gordon, Chief O'Hara, Alfred and Aunt Harriet?  They were my weekly friends.  Add the villains: Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman, Mad Hatter, King Tut and Bookworm and my week was complete.

I loved every "POW", "BAM", and "ZONK"!  Remember " Tune in tomorrow, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel"?  I do, and that is why I was so upset when we moved to Harbor Beach, Michigan and could not get the ABC channel.  We moved in January 1968 and I think Batman was cancelled in March of that year, so I didn't miss all that much.  But, I was disappointed, nevertheless.

In addition to watching Batman, every week, I would devour everything in print form.  Once I ordered an 8 x 10 promotional picture, and couldn't wait for it to arrive in the mail.  I saved the article from The Detroit News TV magazine, and other teen magazines.  Here is a sample of the things I saved in a scrapbook.







To the batcave!!!!

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History by Amy Coffin, of the We Tree blog, is a series of weekly blogging prompts (one for each week of 2011) that invite genealogists and others to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants. You do not have to be a blogger to participate. If you do not have a genealogy blog, write down your memories on your computer, or simply record them on paper and keep them with your files.

Thank you, Amy for the great ideas.  Thank you, Tom, at Geneabloggers for hosting this series of blogging prompts.

04 February 2011

Trinity Lutheran Church Centennial Cookbook-Family Recipe Friday


One of the cookbooks I have in my collection is a Centennial Cookbook from Trinity Lutheran Church in Onekema, Michigan.  This was the home church of my mother and her family.  I was baptised in this church.  This 187 page cookbook contains 38 recipes from family members.

The beginning of the cookbook gives a short history of the church.  Trinity Lutheran Church was organized on 26 December 1887, in the home of Richard F. Wendel.  The following were listed as charter members of the church constitution:  Gottlieb Schimke, August Wendt, Christian Schimke, Fritz Diechman, John C. Schroeder, August Zosel, Heinrich Erdman, Fritz Krahe, Christian Schleif, Heinrich Mueller,Carl Mueller, Fritz Duesing, Daniel Meister, Carl Braun, Wilhelm Schimke, Fritz Salowsky, Joachum Brandt, John Neitzke, Heinrich Trettin, John Pietsh, August Schimke, and Richard Wendel.  The church building was dedicated on 17 November 1889 with Pastor Heinrich Schmidt as pastor. 

The following relatives have recipes in this cookbook:

Kathryn Puryear (my mother's oldest sister)-Aunt Kate was on the cookbook committee and has 17 recipes in the cookbook.  Kathryn's maiden name is Fredricks, daughter of Otto and Daisy Fredricks.

Kathryn Welch (my cousin-daughter of Kathryn Puryear above)-Kathryn has 5 recipes.  Kathryn's maiden name is Tritten.  She is the daughter of Carl Tritten and Kathryn Fredricks.

John Tritten (my cousin-son of Kathryn Puryear above)-John added 1 recipe to the book.  John is the son of Carl Tritten and Kathryn Fredricks.

Susie Tritten (married to my cousin, John, above)  Susie added 2 recipes.

Heather Tritten (the daughter of John and Susie Tritten, above)  She contributed 2 recipes.

Audrey Glover (my mother)-Mom has 2 recipes included.  Audrey is the daughter of Otto and Daisy Fredricks.

Lola Brown (my mother's sister)-Aunt Lola contributed 3 recipes.  Lola's maiden name is Fredricks, she married Walter Brown.  She is the daughter of Otto and Daisy Fredricks.

Rose Marie Hilliards (my cousin)-Rosie added 5 recipes.  Rose Marie is the daughter of my mother's sister, Daisy Marie Fredricks and Leo Sandberg.

I have a few of the recipes in my collection from the book.  I remember my mother making a few of these when I was younger.  I chose the following recipe to share because I remember getting this recipe from my Aunt when I was in college.  I have made this recipe many times.  Enjoy!

Barbecue Spare Ribs

3 pounds loin or spare ribs

Combine the following ingredients and pour over ribs.  Bake at 350 degrees for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
1 medium onion chopped
2T salad oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup catsup
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup prepared mustard