Happy Anniversary to ME!!

I just realized that my blog's one year anniversary was three days ago. It's a little dusty from being put on the shelf, but I have shared a lot of sweet people that I've grown to love as I've learned more about them.

Sporadic Blogging and Life in Progress

I haven't blogged much lately - sorry about that. I have a son who is having some health issues, along with everything else that life throws at a person. I just want to let you know that I'm still doing research, but some things have taken a back seat - one of those is blogging. Meanwhile, I have fabulous family stories floating around in my head for when things calm down - one involves a martyred saint in 16th century England!

A Valentine's Day Proposal

Newlyweds - Eva and Gene

On a crisp Valentine's evening in 1940, two lovers walked hand in hand down an unpaved road towards the Vernal Mill, just outside Vernal, Utah. Near the mill ran a branch off of Ashley Creek, over which a small bridge stood.  This was a favorite spot for the sweethearts. The night was cold and beautiful, and a full moon was rising through the great, leafless branches in Split Mountain Gorge.

This is blurry, but it's cute - the last exposure on their film roll, they took this fun snapshot

Gene and Eva had met seven months earlier, in July of 1939, while walking down the streets of Vernal.  Each walked with two other friends, and as the groups met there were introductions, flirting, and a promise to meet at the dance later that evening.  Vernal had as many as four dances a week at The Imperial Hall, which had the only spring floor west of the Mississippi. Gene's full name was Eugene Victor Rhinehart.  As he walked away, Eva remarked to her friends that if she ever married him and had a little girl, she'd name her Victoria Jeen.

Gene at age 19 (driver's license photo)

Gene was from Cambridge, Ohio, son of Ernest Rhinehart and Goldie Agatha Myers.  He had come to Vernal as part of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Roosevelt's program to teach young men an occupation, and keep them occupied, during the Great Depression.  Gene was learning how to run heavy construction machinery, which became his lifelong career.  In 1940, Gene was a Clark Gable-esque, well-liked 19-year-old with black, wavy hair and twinkling green eyes. 

Eva, about 1940

Eva was born in Vernal and had lived there all her life.  She was the daughter of James Edwin and Lena May Collier.  At 19, she was beautiful, with brown, curly hair, green eyes, and a slim figure. She was a smart, popular girl, active in dance and sports.

The beautiful couple on their wedding day

As the couple settled on the railing of the bridge that Valentine's night, Gene pulled something out of his pocket - a gold locket with a tiny diamond chip in it.  He carefully clasped it around Eva's neck and asked her to be his bride. They were married four months later on June 14, 1940.  Eva still has that locket today.

Victoria Jeen

Seven years later, Gene and Eva welcomed a baby girl, their second child, into their family.  They named her Victoria Jeen.  That little girl is my mother.

Heirlooms

The prompt for Week #6 of "52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy" is Family Heirlooms:  For which family heirloom are you most thankful? How did you acquire this treasure and what does it mean to you and your family? A lot of the following is redundant from previous posts, but I've never posted pictures of the actual glassware, and I really can't talk about these two ladies enough!

The beautiful Rosepoint design from the Cambridge Glass Company

When I graduated with my degree in Family History, my sweet grandmother gave me a beautiful set of crystalware that was a wedding gift to her from her mother-in-law, Goldie Agatha Myers Rhinehart Bonnell. Goldie worked for the Cambridge Glass Company working on the beautiful Rosepoint design. When grandma married Gene Rhinehart, my grandfather, Goldie gave her a beautiful set of the Rosepoint crystal. Goldie didn't have an easy life, but she was fiercely dedicated to her children and is one of my favorite people that ever walked the earth. She was never a wealthy woman, but she created this beautiful depression-era glassware and shared it with her new daughter-in-law, who she accepted with open arms into her family.

I had done my undergraduate research on the Rhinehart and Myers families, and Grandma was my moral support, laundress, and cab driver while I was at college, and a window into the world of my grandfather and his family. She introduced me to Patricia Rhinehart Kennon, my grandpa's last living sibling, told me stories about the family and their personalities, and provided a wonderful collection of photos and memories.  She regularly drove down to Provo, picked me up with my laundry, drove me to the Family History Library in Salt Lake, went home to do my laundry, then came back to pick me up and take me back to Provo. She listened to me talk about my research, sometimes sat for hours in a chair next to me while I cranked the microfilm reader handle, and continues to be one of my best friends and my personal cheerleader at the young age of 91.

Detail of the Rosepoint design that my great-grandmother Goldie etched by hand

So this beautiful crystal is a connection to my great-grandmother, Goldie, who I've come to love and adore and feel close to, even though I've never met her (if you've done any genealogy at all, you know exactly what I'm talking about), and it is a physical reminder of my sweet grandmother and all that she has done and continues to do for me.

Win a Ten Hour Research Package!

Anne Bradshaw, over at True Miracles with Genealogy, is holding a contest this week featuring yours truly!  I am donating TEN hours of genealogy research for FREE and you could WIN!! My main area of expertise is U.S., especially Eastern, Midwestern, and Western states.  I live and work near the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, so I have access to millions of records!  

Head over to the contest and follow the instructions to enter. While you're at it, check out her inspirational books!

Life Experiences

Amy Coffin, MLIS, has a 52 week series of blogging prompts relating to genealogy.  The prompt for this week is:

Week 5 – Life Experiences: Sometimes the challenges in life provide the best learning experiences. Can you find an example of this in your own family tree? Which brick wall ancestor are you most thankful for, and how did that person shape your family history experience?

First of all, can I just give an "ain't that the truth?" to "challenges in life provide the best learning experiences."  Most often I find that those aren't especially comfortable to go through at the time, but if I look back at my challenges in life, most of them are things that I wouldn't have chosen to go through, but I wouldn't change the past.  Nor would I volunteer to go through them again.  LOL!  But I've gained a lot of experience and insight and my entire "self" has evolved into someone stronger, and hopefully a little better.

As far as brick wall ancestor's on my family tree, I'd have to say Andrew Myers from Aleppo, Greene County, Pennsylvania and his family have been a huge influence on my family history experience.  His daughter, Goldie Agatha Myers, was the first person I researched, way back when, in college.  I knew her name, but nothing about her parents and family.  Speaking of challenges, this lady had so many of them.  On paper, with the bare facts, she sounds like a troubled soul, but from the things I've learned about her and her family, she was an amazing, spunky, wonderful woman with a heart of gold.

Goldie Agatha Myers, daughter of Andrew and Emaline Duncan Myers

The Myers family were dirt poor. Andrew served in the Civil War (Co. L, 6th WV Infantry), and claimed to have been in poor health due to his service.  He married his wife, Emaline Duncan, when she was 16 and he was 31, ten years after the war.  They had 13 children, but as he got older, Andrew was in progressively poor health. His father had been a fairly well-to-do farmer, and it appears that Andrew's older brothers fared a little better than he did, financially.

I learned a lot about researching, have found obscure little records about hidden cemeteries (thank you, FDR!!!) that have long since crumbled, and have had to really expand my outlook on research.  Poor farmers in rural Pennsylvania, who would rather travel one mile to the town across the state border than twenty miles to the county seat to makes things "official", are hard to track!  They don't leave a huge paper trail.  Some of them bury their children on the farm with wooden markers.  Itinerant preachers that married them don't have church records, per se, that are handed down to the next installment.

They don't get mentioned in the society column of the local newspaper.  In fact, society tends to shun them.  But Jane Eyre said, "Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! I have as much soul as you, and full as much heart!" And these poor, obscure people did have fully as much heart!  Piecing together from the different records, sleuthing down pension files with descriptions from family and friends, just reading the bare facts - a little daughter dying young, a teenage son drowning tragically, teenage pregnancies, alcoholism, and Andrew finally dying of the effects of a stroke, after lingering for several months in a shack, with his wife too poor to call for a doctor - these things all fill in the blanks.  These people had such a hard life! 

And yet, as I've talked to younger generations who were able to meet some of the children from this family, they all talk about what raucous, joyful family gatherings they had.  Always laughing, joking, and happy. You have to admire the human spirit that can survive hardship and come out with a joy in life! 

So not only did this family history experience help me grow as a researcher, it also gave me a sense of strength in my life.  I come from this stock. Their DNA provides some of my genetic makeup.  I may have inherited a little of their attention deficit disorder, but I also inherited their sense of humor. There are times where I have wanted to wallow in self-pity, and pictured my great-grandma Goldie laughing at me with a twinkle in her eyes.  Kind of hard to wallow at that point.

Some people who do family history are disappointed when they aren't connected to someone rich or famous or notorious.  I love learning about the quiet masses and finding out what they were like, what they went through.  I love putting a name and a life story to each of them and discovering all that I can about who they were and what their lives were like. I love the challenge of finding the records they show up in and piecing together the clues.  And I love knowing that they survived, what to them may have seemed insurmountable challenges, and pulled through and went on to thrive and find joy and carry on. 

Hanging Out My Shingle

After spending several years raising my five beautiful children, I've decided to step back into the professional arena and re-start my genealogy business. And lest you think that I haven't done genealogy in years, I assure you, it's been the main cause of unfolded laundry and "cereal-for-dinner" nights in our household.

I've worked on several projects over the years for family and friends, pro bono, because it's kept me sharp and given me experience outside of my own family tree.  I've enjoyed learning about fascinating people from all over the United States and various countries (British Isles and Romania, most recently).  One of my favorite projects of all time involved a young rogue who changed his name and made and lost fortunes - and families - moving on to the next adventure, leaving his family thinking he had died.  The piecing together hung on his naming one of his son's a very unique name - which happened to be the name of his younger brother back east. He deserves an entire post (if not book) about his life and shenanigans. 

I've also had the opportunity to do a few transcription projects.  One involved a beautiful letter box of a young woman, handed down through the generations, with remarkably preserved letters written to her from would-be sweethearts, family and friends.  Another project came about as I "met" a new relative on-line, and she mentioned that she had a cassette tape from the 1980's of an amazing and spunky aunt who lived over a century, that immigrated from Romania as a girl. Hearing her talk about her life story, from a child in Romania, to a young girl working in a textile factory in Los Angeles, to losing her husband to the 1918 flu epidemic, to owning her own grocery store and raising her three daughters, was one of the most priceless experiences I've ever had. 

I love researching and discovering people in history.  I love old letters and recorded memories and journals and newspapers, too - they flesh out the skeleton of the pedigree chart and bring people from black and white back into rich color (it amazes me how human nature hasn't changed much over the years.)  I'm excited to use my knowledge and experience and intuition, doing something I love, to help others discover their family.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Relatives With Dusty Photo Albums and Wonderful Memories

My husband's cousin, Tammy, and I have been working on their side's Fond family genealogy.  Mordechai Herscovici married Sarah Schwartz about 1873 in Moinesti, Bacau, Romania.  He was 18, she was 15.  Soon after, they found they were expecting their first child.  Mordechai also learned that he would be required to serve in the Romanian army, and knew they didn't treat Jewish soldiers very well.  A friend told him that he would take care of it for $25.  He obtained papers that said that Mordechai, now Marco Fond, was a foreigner to Romania, and he escaped military service.  He and Sarah had twelve children:  Elka, Chaim, Mindel, Harry (who died young), Tidia (who also died young), Mary, Clara, Sadie, Mollie, Manus, Celia, and Lottie.

Marco and Sarah and their family immigrated a few at a time from 1903 to 1906 from Moinesti, Romania.  Sadie and Clara came first, with Uncle Zeidel Binder Fond and his family.  Then Chaim, their brother, came, followed by their Marco, and sister, Mary.  Sarah started several months later with the younger children:  Mollie (our great grandmother), Manus, Celia, and Lottie, and Chaim's wife, Eva, along with a few friends.  Mindel stayed behind with her husband, Sol Snyder (unsure on the last name - family source) because Sol was very religious and didn't think he'd be able to live a kosher lifestyle in America.  They had one son at the time.

While passing through Germany on the train, Mollie was severely burned when the train jerked and she was splashed or fell into the percolator used to heat up coffee.  The train had to be stopped, Mollie was taken to a hospital, and Sarah was told that the group couldn't wait anymore and she would have to leave her child behind to recuperate alone, or stay with her and find some way to support herself and all of the children in a country that she didn't understand the language, and make her own way to America, eventually.  She had no choice and had to leave Mollie behind, begging that they would send her as soon as she was well enough to travel. 

Sarah arrived in New York with the children on 31 July 1904.  Mollie arrived 14 August 1904, but was detained 10 days because she didn't have enough to finish paying the fare.  She eventually made it to Los Angeles, her mother beside herself the entire time, and was finally reunited with her family.  She had scars on her neck and chest from the burns for the rest of her life.

Mollie worked as a seamstress in Los Angeles, and a young man named Jack Shapiro worked as a supervisor there.  Mollie made beautiful handmade button holes, and Jack admired her work and wanted to get to know this girl better.  They married on 25 January 1914 in Los Angeles. They moved a few years later to Salt Lake City where they went into a partnership with two other brothers-in-law, Sam Bercovitz and Ben Berkouf, in a grocery store.  When brother-in-law, Sam Bercovitz, died of the Spanish flu in 1918, Jack and Ben took his wife, Sadie (Mollie's sister), on as a partner in the grocery store, Sadie moved in with Jack and Mollie, and Mollie cared for her three daughters while she worked.

Tammy and I recently visited with Mollie and Jack's oldest daughter, Marion, along with Judy and Floyd, her daughter and son-in-law.  They had several photo albums, put together by their niece, with notes on the backs of most of the photos saying who was who.  These wonderful and generous people allowed us to carefully lift each photo out, scan it, and replace it.  They had no idea what was in the books, and we found the most amazing treasures. Several times I couldn't see well enough to work, from the tears in my eyes.  In addition to beautiful old pictures, Marion is sharp as a tack at the age of 95 and had many stories to tell.  If we showed her a picture, she could immediately tell us the occasion and who was pictured. 

Marco and Sarah Schwartz Fond, 1890's

Mollie Fond, age 21

Mollie Fond, age 23

Jack Shapiro, 1918

Jack and Mollie on their honeymoon in Tijuana

Mollie's sister, Mindel, and her husband Sol Snyder? Mindel and Sol stayed in Romania, survived World War II, and Sadie and Clara sent them enough money so they could emigrate to Israel.  They lost contact with them.  This picture is a treasure!

Tombstone Tuesday - Eugene Victor Rhinehart

Do you see that handsome man up in the corner of the page?  That's my grandfather, Eugene Victor Rhinehart.  I met him once when I was a tiny infant, and I'm told he held me in his arms, but I never saw him again, and yet, he's one of my favorite people to have ever walked this green earth.  It's funny how learning about someone you've never met can make you feel so close to them.  I believe in a hereafter, and I'm so excited to sit down and talk to this wonderful man.

He had his problems in life - he battled alcoholism - but everyone loved him. I think he just loved the people in his life dearly.  He was born June 22, 1920 in Cambridge, Guernsey, Ohio, and died January 21, 1980 in Newark, Licking, Ohio.  He was part of the Civilian Conservation Corps, sent from Ohio to Vernal, Utah, where he met my beautiful grandmother, and where he learned his trade.  During World War II, he served in the 1st Special Construction Battalion (Seabees) in Guadal Canal.  He was a gifted machine operator and worked in construction all of his life.

Thankful Thursday - Collaboration

Today I'm feeling very thankful for the many resources that allow me to collaborate with other genealogists.  I've had the amazing opportunity, in the last couple of weeks, to connect with distant relations, either of myself or my husband, that have been extremely generous and helpful in furthering my research.  I hope I've been helpful to them, as well.

One amazing woman, who I found on Jewishgen.org, compared notes with me - she'd kept up with the family, and had much more information than I did - and it turned out that she had a tape from 1985 from a wonderful 95-year-old aunt, who talked about her immigration experience, life in Romania, and all of her siblings and their descendants, as well as both humorous and  heart-wrenching stories from her life.  I don't have permission to post it, so you'll just have to feel jealous and take my word for it.  She asked me if I knew of any services out there to get it transferred to CD, and it turned out I had a cousin that had the equipment.  She sent me the tape, we transferred it, and I had the completely enjoyable experience of transcribing it. 

Said newly found relative also sent me pictures in the mail, one of which is of the family, right before they were separated forever from a daughter who stayed behind in Romania with her husband, the parents and the rest of the siblings emigrating to America.  I cried as I found that picture in the package - tracing the sad faces of people that now had faces to names. 

Another relative I found on Ancestry.com, related by marriage, didn't have very much information to share, but I was able to send her everything I had for her niece, who she's been doing the research for.  It so happens that she's traveling to Salt Lake for a genealogy research trip and we're doing lunch! 

I've found family on Rootsweb boards, Geni.com (haven't used a lot yet, but I've had people nth cousins, thrice removed contact me), along with just reconnecting with family that I haven't talked to for a while. 

There's nothing like feeling like you're the only descendant from a somewhat obscure couple and finding a cousin that is as passionate and loves family history as much as you do.  I'm so thankful that technology has advanced to the point that, at the click of a mouse, I can connect to people and share and be shared with.  It has me singing Kip Dynamite's famous love song, "I Love Technology."

Family Recipe Friday - Romanian (or Jewish) Apple Cake

I found a recipe for Romanian Apple Cake on allrecipes.com, but my husband's family has made a "Jewish Apple Cake" for years, and I thought it was cool that their Romanian heritage has a little to do with it.

Jewish Apple Cake  

Preheat oven to 350*.

Mix & put aside:

3 apples sliced and peeled

2 t. cinnamon

¼ c. sugar

In large mixing bowl combine all in order:

4 eggs                       1 T. baking powder

2 ¼ c. sugar              2 ½ t. vanilla

1 c. oil                       3 c. flour

¼ t. salt                     7 T. OJ

In a well-greased bundt cake pan, alternate cake mix with apples, begin and ending with batter.  Keep apples from touching sides of pan. Bake for 1 ¼ - 1 ½ hours. Let cool for 10 min. or longer and invert onto serving plate.

Follow the link here for the allrecipes version.

Sentimental Sunday - Scentimental Suitcase

My grandma, the one I brag about all the time on this blog, has infused my children (and my siblings and I) with a wonder and love of the outdoors, science, birds, rocks, learning, reading, etc.  When the kids find an interesting rock or see a new bird they haven't seen before, they can't wait to tell Grandma P. about it.  When she had triple bypass surgery when my oldest was about 7 years old, he took two little home-grown crystals from a science kit to the hospital, for her to look at and to keep her company.  She still displays them proudly on her end table of "specials." 

Several months ago, I took the kids to visit her and she recruited them to help her lug two very old-timey (and very heavy!) suitcases out of her storage closet.  She popped them open, and to their wonder and delight, they were full of beautiful specimens of rocks that she and Grandpa P. had collected on their many forays out into the deserts of Utah.  At 90 years old, she could remember several of the rocks, where they found them, even telling interesting stories about their discovery.  She knew what each specimen was and let the kids pick out as many as they wanted.  In the end, both suitcases ended up in the back of my minivan, with kids squabbling over who got what. 

One of my sons, who has been collecting rocks since he was a tiny boy and who idolizes his grandma, has a veritable rock museum in his room, with all sorts of interesting and unique rocks and minerals.  He ended up with most of the collection, and put the empty suitcase in the garage.  I cleaned the garage for several hours yesterday and found the suitcase.  It's pretty trashed, and my first thought was to throw it away or send it to the local thrift store.  I opened it to make sure there was nothing left inside, and the smell of my grandma's house hit me so hard I started to cry.  After holding it and sniffing it for a few minutes (it's a lovely smell!), I closed it back up and put it in a safe place in the garage.  Needless to say, I won't be getting rid of the suitcase. 

I think it's interesting how smells can take you back so sharply and suddenly to a memory you hadn't even remembered you'd forgotten.  My mom wore a particular brand of blush that had a scent to it when I was little, that I loved.  She also wore Jovan Musk. Both of those scents take me back to a little-girl-cuddle, nuzzling my face against hers. My dad wore Russian Leather cologne.  He asked for some a couple Christmases ago, and I managed to find some.  As soon as I smelled it I was back on a weekend visit, riding on his shoulders at the park.  My mom's house has a specific smell, and every time we get a package from her the kids love to sniff at it.  "It smells like Grandma's house!" Scents have a very nostalgic element to them.

Apology...

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while.  We've been wrapping up school - public and homeschool, dealing with five sick kids, my daughter's baptism with 70 guests!, and now that that's all over, I'm trying to reclaim my house and yard from lots of neglect.  I'm hitting some big projects so I can settle down to my favorite things without the guilt of weeds going to seed or a garage with half-unpacked boxes from our move three years ago.  I promise to get back to this blog soon, but I need to take care of the living before I can focus on the dead.  Even though I often get along much better with the dead people.  Only a genealogist would take that the un-creepy way.  :)

Sorting Saturday and Happy Birthday, Grandma P!

Grandma P last Christmas

It was my Wonder Grandma's birthday this week.  91 years young!  She is an amazing lady, I talked about her before on my first Thankful Thursday post.  She works out at the gym three times a week, is in better shape than I am (I'm not kidding), and is sharp as a really sharp tack.  I was able to go with her Tuesday night to her church women's group and listen to her talk about part of her life - the nine years she spent married to her second husband, Dr. Robert C. Pendleton, who was an amazing, kind, man, and a genius.  He was head of the Radiological Health Department at the University of Utah and was one of the, if not THE, biggest force that stopped above ground testing of atomic bombs in the US.  He was very outspoken against the government, dedicated his life to studying the impact of the fallout on plant and animal life, and was interviewed by People Magazine in 1980, at the request of the children of Dick Powell, John Wayne, Susan Hayward, and others, because they all died of cancer after filming in Utah's west desert, downwind of atomic testing.  Just a wonderful man.  He died on July 10, 1982, when I was almost 7 years old.

Grandpa Pendleton loved hiking, fishing, hunting and camping

Anyways, what does this have to do with sorting?  Well, I have the unique privilege of having my 91-year-old grandmother, who can remember some of the smallest details and faces and stories from her life and others over the last 85 years.  She has these great old photo albums and she knows who almost everyone is and the stories behind the pictures, and I need to get them scanned in and tag each person in the album so we don't lose that great information.  I need to get her to write down more of her life story; this woman lived through the Depression, World War II - she sent my grandpa off to war as a Sea Bee, and saw him home after he was sent home with malaria.  She moved all over Utah and Nevada, has read and learned about everything related to geography and history, knows about flowers and rocks and birds, she was president of the Salt Lake Chapter of Dental Assistants, and then has had that amazing chapter with Grandpa P.  And in the 30 years since he's died, she's parasailed, skied, hiked mountains, visited Nova Scotia, ridden horses, spun around a racetrack, and lived through bypass surgery, hip replacement, an artery replacement in her leg, she's our bionic grandma!

I need to sort through her mind (sounds creepier than I intend it) and take advantage of the time I have with her so I won't lose any part of her amazing story.  She's in great health and I pray all the time that she'll have many more years with us - I can talk to her about everything and she always cheers me up with a bright, "Hello, Pretty Girl!" whenever I call or visit.  I'm so thankful for her and her influence in my life.

Wordless Wednesday - Gene and Eva Rhinehart (again)

The Newlyweds - Gene and Eva Collier Rhinehart ca. 1940/1941

Tombstone Tuesday - Emmaline Duncan Myers

Emmaline Duncan Myers, born July 1856 (1858?) in Greene County, Pennsylvania, died 19 April 1929 in Wetzel County, West Virginia.  She's buried in Quiet Dell Cemetery, in Aleppo, Greene, Pennsylvania. She married Andrew Myers on 17 Feb 1875 in Greene County.  Their families had lived practically next door to each other since before Emma was born.  Andrew was about 14 years her senior, but according to his pension papers, neither were married previously.  He apparently had poor health and lingered several months after a stroke, finally dying on 29 April 1908 in Cameron, Marshall, West Virginia.  They were extremely poor and had only his pension from the Civil War to live on.  They had 13 children:  Mary Sharlota, Lena Myrtle, Loucena (Lucinda?) - who died before 1900, John L., Easter B., James G. B. - died at age 15, Ethel, Wiley, George Washington, Goldie Agatha, Charles, Anna, and Encil Raymond.

Amanuensis Monday - Will of Andrew Myers, Senior

"Will of Andrew Myers:
The last will and testament of Andrew Myers, Senior - In the name of God Amen I Andrew Myers Sen. do make this my last will and testament hereby revoking all other wills by me heretofor made in manner and form following to wit:
Item   I will and bequeath unto my wife Elisabeth Myers the Interest of one third of my estate during her natural life.
Item   I will to my son John Myers, heirs the sum three dollars.
Item   I will to my son Andrew Myers the sum of Two Hundred and fifty dollars
Item   I will to my Daughter Margaret Deboldt the sum of two hundred Dollars.
Item   I will unto George Myers, Anne S. Debolt, Mary Hinerman and Stanton Myers the remainder of my estate to be equally divided betwixt them.
Item   I do hereby appoint and establish Lindsey Hinerman my executor of this my last will and testament.
Signed with my seal this 22nd day of April 1872
Andrew Myers (his mark)
Signed in the presence of us by Andrew Myers Sen. and in his presesnse and at his request have signed the same as witnesses.  A.J. Hinerman, A.B. Pipes, Lindsay Hinerman
State of Pennsylvania,
Greene County"
(Note in sideline:  "For Assignment of the dower interest of George Myers, hereunder, see Deed Book 33, Page 577."
Will Book Vol. 5, Greene Co, PA, will #3343, FHL #1318266

Sentimental Sunday - Special Day Breakfast

Since today is Mother's Day, and my kids made me the most amazing breakfast ever, I thought I'd touch on that family tradition.  I know a lot of families do this.  When I was growing up we took my mom breakfast in bed every Mother's Day.  A couple years ago I decided to make it a little easier on my kiddoes and told them to just set the table, then they can come get me and bring me out.  They love that, because now they decorate my chair and put their presents and homemade cards around my plate.  I heard them from about 7:15 this morning, but they didn't come get me until 8:40.  It was fun to hear them in there trying to be quiet and working together.  I have older kids now, so I "slipped" them a more difficult recipe and they pulled it off like a five star restaurant.  It's been a wonderful morning.

As I was thinking about it, I remembered visiting my dad for Father's Day.  He always made the most amazing food when I stayed with him, and I wanted to give something special to him, so I decided to make him french toast.  I was six, but we'd made it together many, many times.  So I cracked the eggs and added a little milk, and mixed them together.  Then I got my fork and dipped the bread into the egg and put it in the pan.  I turned it over after a few minutes, then I put my delicious concoction on a plate and proudly presented it to my dad.  And I'll be darned if that man didn't eat it.  Uncooked.  That is true love.  He never said one word about it being completely, disgustingly raw, and I didn't know until I was an adult and he was telling that story to my kids that I hadn't cooked the french toast. 

A very Happy Mother's Day to everyone out there who has nurtured and cared for children in any way.  Happy Mother's Day to my ancestral women who sacrificed and lived and raised their children through hardship and happiness.  And a Happy Mother's Day to my own amazing mom - we laugh until we cry, we talk forever, she's been my best friend, my example, and a huge strength my entire life.  I love her dearly. 

My beautiful mama, about a year before I was born

My beautiful mama with her cute hubby, Bob

Family Recipe Friday - Skunk Creek Cabbage

This is a recipe my mom made a lot while we were growing up, and one I still make today for my kids.  She calls it Skunk Creek Cabbage.  Cooking the potatoes and cabbage with the kielbasa gives them a great taste.  You can omit the cabbage, as well, which is how my kids like it.  It sure beats her tofu phase (picture chunks of tofu floating in spaghetti sauce.)

Skunk Creek Cabbage

1 Package Polska Kielbasa (I use Hillshire Farms Turkey Kielbasa, for less fat), sliced into 1/2 inch disks
3 Potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 small sweet onion, sliced into rings or 2" slices
1 small head of cabbage
2 T butter
salt and pepper to taste
water or chicken broth

Melt butter in a large pot or frying pan.  Panfry potatoes, onions, and kielbasa for a couple of minutes until potatoes start to brown a little.  Pour in a little chicken broth or water, add cabbage, and cover, stirring occasionally and adding a little more liquid to keep things from burning and to allow the potatoes and cabbage to steam until soft.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Thrifty Thursday - Utilizing Free Online Resources

I've been very lucky to within a few hours drive of the LDS Family History Library for much of the past 18 years.  However, being a mother of five kids doesn't lend itself well to genealogy expeditions, even if they're only an hour or two away.  I've been so thankful, especially in the last few years, for an increasing number of websites and records that are available for free search online. This might be pretty basic for old pro's, but it's always nice to get tips.  Some of the ones I've frequented (in no particular order) are:

• FamilySearch - As more records are digitized and transcribed, this increasingly becomes a great resource for me.  I'm not totally happy with the organization of results from a search, yet, but I've been able to find important information that I hadn't found in years of research, because I didn't know where to look.  
• Utah Digital Newspapers - I LOVE newspapers!  I have a Newspaper Archive subscription that I utilize regularly, but it's not comprehensive.  Having a lot of ancestors that lived in Utah at some point, the Utah Digital Newspapers site has been a wonderful resource for me.  I've found clues, obituaries, scalliwags, and funny stories that flesh out the bare facts and make my ancestors personal.  
• Utah Death Certificate Index - Death records and more for the State of Utah for the years 1904 - 1958.
• Find A Grave - I think most of us has used this.  Many thank you's to the amazing volunteers who make this site possible.
• Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness - This is a free and great way to have someone in the area that you're researching (and can't get to immediately) do some legwork for you.
• West Virginia Vital Research Records - Birth, Marriage, and Death Records for West Virginia.  I love when states put these resources online.  HUGE help!
• USGenWeb - One of the original resources for online genealogy, volunteer-driven, this has been a great resource over the years.  Some county pages are better than others, but it's been a helpful website for me.
• Ohio Online Death Certificate Index - 1913 - 1944.
• Google Books and Images - I always run these searches on someone I'm researching - I've found pictures, digitized county histories, business directories and almanacs, etc.  
• Family Tree Magazine's 2010 Best State Websites for Genealogy - Self-explanatory, and very helpful.  I just found this.  :)

Anyways, these are just a few of the ones I've found over the years.  I know there are more.  Many universities have digitized records for their state, including photography collections.  

Please comment with other websites you've found to be helpful, I'll add them to the list!