One Hundred Years and Counting

Yesterday was a great and fun day. Thanks to some friends Happy’s (my father-in-law) 100^th birthday party came off without a hitch. Don, Sharon, and Dean did an absolutely wonderful of decorating, providing the delicious food, and serving in a gracious manner. Their expertise and generous gift of time and talent removed great stress from the family and allowed all of us to enjoy the day greeting and meeting with friends and relatives. We, especially Millie (my sister-in-law), were able to stay near Happy, giving him the emotional support he needed. What a blessing!

Here’s a four-generation photo:

Seated Francis Joseph "Happy" Higgins

Front row: Granddaughters Tammy & Samantha

Next row: Great-Grandsons Stewart & Kristian and Son Jim (my husband)

Back row: Great-Grandson Derek

Great-Granddaughter Randi was unable to attend because she is in school in Texas.

I can't close without showing the wonderful spread provided by our friends:

Happy's 100th Birthday Project

I'm still working on my new and short term project. Getting ready for my father-in-law's 100th birthday.

I have gathered a little over 100 pictures (I wanted an even 100 but my sister-in-law had other ideas), digitized the ones that needed it, and renamed them so they will play in the proper sequence on the slide show. Pretty much that part is ready to go. Yay!!

We also are putting together a binder highlighting major and some minor events in his life. His birth certificates, baptism certificates (born Catholic, converted to Baptist before his marriage), marriage, work awards, a copy of every census in which he is found, etc. Since I'm the one who has collected the records for the family history, I'm the one assigned this task. Actually it's a very good exercise because I have to review all my documents and sources for him.

I created a collage for the front of his binder:

This project has also caused us to clear off the old cedar chest holding the goodies my in-laws saved over the years. I know I'll find more items for his binder in there but there are also many gems for my writing project for next year. That goal is to publish a book about my late mother-in-law and her ancestors.

Now it's time to get back to the task at hand.

~ Becky

Wordless Wednesday - Larson Kids

Alma, Lida, Clarence, Ethel Larson - abt 1897
in Ishpeming, Michigan

Finding the Hagstrom Connection

I really need to focus on my current project but for some reason or other little mysteries have sidetracked me lately. First it was the Uncle Angus Miller and Granny Kennedy Walker marriage issues resolved by the return to the newly-updated Indiana records on FamilySearch.org mentioned in a previous post. More recently, it has been the “who are the Hagstroms?” question.

Over the years, my mother-in-law, Alice Davey Higgins, mentioned the Hagstrom family in passing. She would tell me she remembered her mother taking her to Elmhurst, Illinois to visit some relatives named Hagstrom. How they were related she had no idea but she knew the older lady as Auntie Hagstrom.

Back in the day, Alice sent Christmas cards to just about everyone she had ever met so she had a pretty extensive address book. In the book were listed Mr. & Mrs. Axel Hagstrom. With what little information I had and, I must admit, the little time I allotted to these questionable relatives, I pretty much eliminated Axel as a relative even though he was from Sweden and lived in Marquette County, Michigan. He just didn’t seem to connect with Alice’s Mom’s Ellstrom family.

So I put the Hagstroms out of my mind and went on to more pressing issues. Until last week that is when I starting working with some scans I’d made with my FlipPal a while ago. I was renaming, adding captions and, generally, organizing them. Among these scans were three of the Hagstrom women. They consisted of Olga, Teckla, and Auntie! BAH!! However, on the back of one photo was the address in Elmhurst.

Olga, Hannah, and Teckla Hagstrom

Olga Hagstrom

Hannah (Christiansen) Hagstrom

Why this got me going again I don’t know but, for one thing, I wanted to find out: who was “Auntie” and what was her given name? Armed with the other names and the address, I went first to the census records and there with her girls was Hannah or Hanne depending on the census year. Axel had died in 1917 in Chicago so I easily found his death record but it wasn’t much help in my quest.

Because I now knew that Teckla (by the way Teckla is also the given name of Alice’s Mom’s sister) was born in Michigan in 1878, I went to the Michigan records on FamilySearch.org and found the marriage of Abel [sic] A. Hagstrom and Hannah Christiansen. He was born in Sweden and she was born in Denmark.

This, my dear friends, is the AHA moment!!  You see, Alice’s grandfather was Hans Christiansen from Denmark. This is looking good.

I went to the folder I have of research done by my husband’s cousin, Kay Davey*, to see if a connection could be made there. It turns out, based on Kay’s work, Hanne was most likely Hans’ half-sister. They had different fathers; however, both men were named Christian. How’s that for coincidence? Hanne’s birthdate in the Danish records is the same as what is recorded on her death record.

I know there’s a lot more work to be done to be absolutely sure about this connection but, for now, it will suffice for me as I really must get back to my Leisure project!

*Kay Davey died 09 Mar 2012 and boy do I miss her! We shared an interest in family history and she was a wonderful researcher.

Word Wednesday - Alice & Clifford Davey

Alice and Clifford Davey about 1916, probably, in Ishpeming, Michigan

Antique or Not?

Many years ago when I had a brief interest in collecting antiques, someone told me “anything at least 50 years old is considered an antique.” Well, by that definition I reached said title some years ago and now so has my marriage. Today, my husband and I are celebrating our golden anniversary cruising with our girls and their families. How fortunate we are to have our whole crew with us for this occasion.

June and July of 1962 held significant events for me. I graduated from North Park Academy in Chicago in June and married my longtime friend in July.  I was extremely happy to put high school behind me and overjoyed to move towards building a life together with my new husband.

Jim and I met at Second Baptist Church in Chicago when he was 12 and I was 10. My family had recently moved from small town Indiana to Chicago; Jim’s family had been in Chicago for several  generations. We spent most weekends attending the various activities offered by our Church. As time went on we were on-again off-again dating, then Jim graduated and joined the Air Force. After his first leave, we were on-again for good

.

Although not exactly thrilled about our upcoming union, (they thought we were too young) Jim’s parents came through with flying colors. They, with my soon-to-be sister-in-law drove me up the then unpaved Alcan highway to Anchorage, Alaska where Jim was serving at Elmendorf  Air Force base. What an adventure that was!!

Ours was a small wedding in the chapel on base. We had six in attendance, not counting Jim, me and the Chaplin. One additional friend was supposed to come and take pictures but he forgot. So we have very few pictures of the day; however, some is better than none. After a lunch at a pancake house, Jim’s parents headed home and Jim went to work (that was a prank and they sent him home almost immediately).

It was fifty years ago today but for me it seems like yesterday. Yes, we have two grown daughters who have four grown children but it has all passed so quickly.  If not for mirrors and the occasional aches and pains from an aging body, I’d swear I was still that young woman looking into the loving eyes of that dashing Airman.

Stewart, Leisure, Ging Gathering ca. 1930

It's been awhile but I've finally gotten around to scanning the second family gathering photo for the Stewart, Lesiure, Ging group. I'm sorry it's a bit fuzzy but I've done the best I can with the original.

The names were given to me by my mother. I had a record for everyone except Evelyn and Junior Ricker. If anyone out there recognizes them, I'd love to know how they fit in the family. Mom may have gotten the surname wrong or I may have heard it wrong, but I just don't know who they are.

Enjoy!!

 

Wordless Wednesday Almost - Eliza Jane Hinton Leisure

All that's missing from the photo of Eliza Jane (Hinton) Leisure is her corn cob pipe. No joke; she did enjoy her pipe upon occasion. 

Leisure, Ging, Stewart, Emay Family Picture

I'm not sure just when this photo was taken. It was obviously in the late fall, winter, or very early spring as the trees are completely bare. The temperature must have been mild because there are only a couple of coats or sweaters visible and most of the children are in long sleeves. I'm sure it was taken in Rush County, Indiana but exactly where, I don't know. The year is about 1921; the youngest child in the picture, Eloise, was born in June of 1921 and the youngest boy, Charles Wayne Stewart, was born in April of 1920.

The Leisure, Ging, Stewart, Emay Gang ca. 1922
Left to Right, Front Row: Evie (Powell) Leisure, Eloise Ging, Glen Ging, Earl Stewart, Charles Wayne Stewart, Gail Ging
Back Rows: First person is cut off and unknown, Fanny (Leisure) Emay, Luva May (Reeves) Emay, Irene Stewart,
Hugh Leisure, Lizzie (Emay) Stewart, Charles Stewart, Hypatia (Birt) Leisure Turner, Unknown, Oliver Carr Leisure,
Ruby Stewart, Joseph Emay, Jenny Leisure

I'll be posting a few other photos of the same or similar group in later years. Seems they got together around the same time of year. The trees are always bare:)

My Ponderer Is All Tied Up

Wow, it's been awhile since I've had a chance to post here and I will probably be remiss for a while longer. As silly as it sounds, it's all because of our dog, Bessie.

That's a picture of her before she injured her knee and before the surgery last Friday to correct it. Now the back leg you see is shaved and looks like a naked turkey leg.

She is four and a half years old and very energetic. In fact, it is her athleticism that got her in this fix in the first place. She had what in humans in called an ACL tear most often suffered by athletes who run fast and turn too quickly.

Her incision seems to be healing well and the swelling is finally gone, although she still isn't using the leg too much. From what I gather, it will be eight weeks before the leg will be healed and probably three months before she is back to normal.

Right now the trial is keeping her from licking the incision area and keeping her quiet and off her feet most of the time. Really it's not like dealing with a person; she doesn't seem to understand all this is for her own
good. She only knows she's starting to feel better and "why can't I get off the deck and chase those squirrels?"

Anyway, between my husband and I, we're on 24/7 watch the dog duty at least for another week when the wound should be healed. Maybe after that my pondering mind will get back to thinking about research, writing, and family history. For now, it's "No, Bessie, leave it alone!!"

Wordless Wednesday - My Girls

Just a sample of the 500 plus photos scanned from the box under the bed!! Project complete!!

Waiting for Julia

Back in February of 2011 I posted about ordering divorce records for Julia (Rush) and Peter Jacobsen from the Cook County, IL archives. Since I didn't want to make another trip to the Loop (that's downtown Chicago for those who may not know), I was told the archives would notify me of the charges and once I submitted a check they would send the copies.
So I waited and waited and waited. Finally in June I called to check the status. The woman (I should have asked her name, I know) told me the file was in the stack and I would be contacted when she got to it.
So I waited and waited and waited. Finally, last week I called again to check the status. I was told that I "had not replied to the bill that was sent" and the file had been returned. Ummm, I never got a bill but I wasn't about to argue. I just asked that it be reordered and that I be billed by email.
Yesterday, I received the email. Bless their hearts!! The cost might seem a bit pricey but is no more expensive than taking the train, spending the time at the archives, doing lunch and maybe some shopping (hey, I'd be downtown!), and taking the train back home. So, the check went in the mail today and, I think, my wait is almost over.
I'm hoping these papers will shed some light on the the mystery of "Jule's twins".

All I have is their picture and the family story that they died at about 9 months within days of each other - no names, no birthdates, no death dates. I'd been looking for Browns but maybe they were Jacobsen children.
I can only hope:-)

Wordless Wednesday (almost) - EMAY children

The beautiful girl on the left, Lizzie, is my grandmother and the person whose bio I'm currently on. This picture was taken about 1900. Not included in the photo is the children's little brother, Cleveland, who died 24 July 1885 at the age of 10 months. Ola - or as we called her, Aunt Oli - was born 31 Mar 1886, just nine months later.

Wordless Wednesday - Joseph Leisure

Joseph Leisure 1837-1896

Love the beard!

Thankful Thursday - 2 Generations of Love

I may not have mentioned this before but I've been - slowly -  working on my memoirs ( for want of a better word) and have been looking for a certain photo I remembered of me and my two wonderful brothers. I knew it was among of the collection of papers from my mother but it has been evading me for months. Well, this morning, while the dog was walking on the treadmill, I took a millionth look in a box of miscellaneous "stuff" and there it was! Not only the one I was searching for but also one of the only "studio" photos of my two beautiful daughters! Wow, what a thrill.

So here's the picture of my two big brothers - I've always and will always call them, "the boys" - when Larry was 6, David (my little brother) was 3, and I was 6 weeks old. Of course, over our growing up years we had some of the usual sibling issues along the way but I couldn't have asked for better brothers. They were often my "cocoons" in troubling times.

Then, I grew up, married and had my own family. My two girls have been the light of my adult life. Of course, we had some of the usual parent/child issues along the way but I could not have asked for more wonderful children. I had more fun growing up with them than I ever had in my own childhood.

Tammy age 2 1/2 and Samantha age 6 weeks

So there they are. Two generations that are so very dear to my heart. I'm so thankful to have had them in my life.

Wednesday Child: Mildred Mary Higgins

This beautiful little girl died just before her 5th birthday of complications from the Measles.

Mildred Mary Higgins  1908-1912

It's Not Fancy But It's Done!

For Almost Wordless Wednesday: The RUCH book is in print!!

Marie Perttula

I'm still looking at some old photos of mostly people unrelated to our family but who were most likely friends & acquaintances. Here is a picture of Marie Perttula in her early teens (?). According to the 1930 census, she was born about 1909 in Michigan. In 1930 she was living in Ishpeming, MI with her parents: Nels, a butcher age 59, and Lizzie, age 56, who were both born in Finland. Also in the household were her siblings: John, age 30; Eino, age 26; William, age 24 and Edna, age 18. Marie is listed as age 21, a saleslady at a retail dry goods store.

If anyone is looking for Marie, here's a beautiful shot of her. I love the Little Orphan Annie hairdo!!

Surname Saturday: EVEN Lost Relation

I've been rummaging through some old pictures, most of which are unidentified. The image below is a of a darling looking little girl unrelated to my family but I'm sure she belongs to someone else. Written on the back of the photo: Dorothy Even, 2 years old, 1929.
With that information, I found her in the 1930 census living at the same address as my mother-in-law's family. Dorothy was listed with her parents: Matthew & Alma and her two siblings: Elizabeth, age 13 and George, age 7. Her father age 45 had been born in France; mother age 30 had been born in New York. He father's occupation is "cutlery helper" in a cutlery factory.
Hopefully, this post will help her find her find her way back to family.

Surname Saturday: Ruch, Fell (Fehl), Colum

This is a bit of a repeat but I've been trying to find Maggie (Ruch) Fell's death/obituary for some time with no luck. Maybe a long lost relative will see this and point me in the right direction:)

Margaret RUCH was born on 24 Mar 1882 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois.  She married Oscar FELL on 05 Mar 1902 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois.  She lived in Chicago, Cook, Illinois in 1920 (2836 Kedzie Ave., Ward 27).  She lived in Chicago, Cook, Illinois on 05 Apr 1930 (3036 N. Kedzie Ave.).  She died after 1966.  She was also known as Maggie.  She was also known as Blanche M. RUCH.

Margaret & Oscar had one child:
Elva FELL was born about 1904 in Illinois.  She lived in Chicago, Cook, Illinois in 1920 (Ward 27).  She married William K COLUM before 1925 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois (probably).  She lived in Chicago, Cook, Illinois in 1930.  She died on Jan 1961 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA.  She was buried on 04 Jan 1961 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois (St. Adalbert's).

William & Elva had one child:
Laverne COLUM was born 06 Apr 1925 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois