Preparing for Leisure Reunion

Next weekend is the 90th Leisure Reunion and I'm working hard in preparation. Not that there is much I need to do for the reunion itself but I will have a day and a half for research in Rush County.

I did receive a copy of the newspaper article reporting our very 1st reunion, if you're interested you can read it here. I think it's pretty interesting. Now I'm going to see what I can find out about the people mentioned in the article so I can relate them to the current attendees.

Guess I'm better get to it:)

True Progress on Earl Stewart

I don't doubt that you can hear my "Yeas!!!" or see my dance of joy! I just finished a complete draft of Dad's bio!

Except for some pictures I haven't included yet (but I have them in digital form and ready to add), I actually made it through to the end. Now, I'm sure I'll be thinking of things from time to time I'll want to add and I know I'll have to make many revisions before I publish it - but THE DRAFT IS DONE!!!

I'll be moving on to my grandmother, Clara Elizabeth (Emay) Stewart next. This one may be a bit difficult as well but probably not as hard as Dad's. After all, I'm more removed from her. I'll have to work through an issue or two but, here's hoping I'll be able to fly through it.

Update on Dad's Bio

I’m still spending as much time as I’ve been able to allot to writing up Dad’s biography.  Today will also be given to that task.

Knowing what to include and what to leave out is becoming the issue for me. I keep reminding myself that this is the story of his life and not his life’s influence on mine. That may seem like a small difference but it really isn’t. My desire is to see the events and situations in which he found himself from – as best I can – his point of view. The things he did or didn’t do throughout his lifetime had an influence and effect on my life but, for this writing, my feelings or views shouldn’t be obvious.

I’m finding it much easier to write about people more distant to me who, though they are part of what makes me “me”,   have a less direct impact. In fact, I didn’t experience anything like this when I wrote about the Ruch family. They were on my husband’s side and, for the most part, I’d never met them. I could easily tell their story with objectivity.

Well, I must get back to it. I really need to get this finished, at least in draft, so I can move back a bit farther where the words will probably come with less effort. Of course, the next write-up will be my grandmother and, unfortunately, I have some issues there, too. Who knows, maybe this will help me understand her better.

So Much to Do, So Little Time

I'll take this brief opportunity to say I'm still here and hope to get back to more frequent posts soon. For the time being, I'm caught up in household duties - both inside and out - which have been taking up most of my time and pretty much all of my energy. I've only been able to keep up with the tasks required to fulfill my volunteer jobs - EGS & ISGS - and, thus, have sorely neglected other far more fun and interesting activities like blogging!

However, I have been carrying on more consistent email correspondence with one of my brothers. He has been so helpful sharing his memories of our Dad and some great stories they are! David is three years older than I and he is able to fill in earlier years I don't remember at all. Besides, another view is always useful. With his additions, I know Dad's story will be far more interesting. Can't wait to get back to writing !!

Once the painting is finished - if it ever is - ...

Earl Stewart & his Graduating Class of 1933

Leisure Family History: Earl Stewart & his Graduating Class of 1933: Looking for names of class mates. Please go to link to see photo of the 13 students who graduated in Mays, Indiana in 1933

Making My Way Back

At last, I'm back at the keyboard preparing to delve, once again, into my project for the year. The great delay has been because I went on a vacation. I was only gone 13 days but it's taken me much longer to get back on track. I guess sometimes you just need a vacation from your vacation.

I have done a bit of research on some individuals in my Leisure line since I've been back. It's been hit and miss, though, and they have been mostly distant cousins.

My current task is to write my Dad's biography. The spark came this morning out of the blue. My husband and I went out for breakfast at one of our local cafes. Sitting at a booth in my direct line of sight was a man who could have been my Dad's twin - at least, when my Dad was about 20 years younger than when he died. It was difficult to keep from staring. Oddly, every time I looked at him I saw a different aspect of his features which reminded me of each of my brothers and also Dad alone.

I'm taking this experience as a push (from Dad?) to stop procrastinating and get that bio finished. I'm picturing him standing with his feet apart, hands on hips and that look that said, "NOW!"

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Surnames

Randy Seavers of Genea-Musings has posted our weekly challenge game:
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1)  Go into your Genealogy Management Program (GMP; either software on your computer, or an online family tree) and figure out how to Count how many surnames you have in your family tree database.

2)  Tell us which GMP you're using and how you did this task.

3)  Tell us how many surnames, and if possible, which Surname has the most entries.  If this excites you, tell us which surnames are in the top 5!


I'm using Family Tree Maker 2011 and this is the first time I've look for this option in this version. It only took me a couple of minutes to figure out I needed to create a report. Go to Publish, choose the Person Reports, then create a Surname Report. In the report options choose All Indiviuals and Sort by Surname Count. Choose Create again and voila!


My report is 25 pages long but, many of the surnames are only recorded once. As my Irish relatives would say, "They're the blow-ins". Really they are just the distant collateral lines I haven't investigated yet.


I like this report because I gives more than just a count of a surnames use; it also breaks the usage down by Male, Female, Earliest, Most recent. I find that very interesting.


Since I always have a problem following directions:) here are my top 12 most used surnames:

	Surname Report
Surname	Count	Male	Female	Earliest	Most recent
LEISURE	371	217	154	1719	2004
MILLER	193	106	87	1702	1979
STEWART	179	93	86	1720	1966
WALKER	158	91	67	1655	1923
KENNEDY	155	86	68	1750	1994
BARBER	150	82	68	1652	1896
BENEFIEL	111	53	58	1759	1916
BLUE	94	47	47	1735	1917
STEPHENS	83	45	38	1730	1904
HIGGINS	77	39	38	1808	1996
BUCHANAN	67	33	34	1651	1899

Looking at this, I'm beginning to see why writing up the Leisure family is taking me so long!