Memories and Musings

 The 1920 census records show my paternal Grandma, Louise Kathryn Juhrend McDearmid, living with her mother, Amelia,  and two brothers, August and Herman, in Highwood, Illinois. Amelia who was twice widowed, owned the house. August owned a jewelry story and Herman was a laborer. Amelia and daughter Louise took in laundry.  But here's the thing the census doesn't say. Louise had two children, Arlene and James (my Dad), and her husband, Gardner Clark McDearmid, was in the State Hospital (for the destitute, insane, tuberculosis) on the Northwest side of Chicago. Where were the children? In Dorcas Home, an orphanage in nearby Deerfield. Arlene was 9 and James was 5.  Here's what I think happened based on various records and family lore. Gardner was a motorman for the Chicago Surface Lines - a streetcar conductor. Legend has it that he was injured in a motorcar accident. He was known to have many abdominal/bowel issues so apparently he did not recover. He is listed as an ...

 This week's topic from the Generations Cafe challenge is FORTUNE. I've decided to search each of my ancestry lines and find more information on when and where my ancestors came to America to seek their FORTUNEs. I'll start by going backward in time and finding the first person in each line who was born outside the USA and died in the the USA. I'll be tracing the ancestry of my Mom's parents and my Dad's parents:          Anne Louise Quist                                                       James Gardner McDearmid Carl Quist   /  Iva Mae Lane                                  Gardner Clark McDearmid   /  Louise Kathryn Juhrend Starting with Carl Quist, my grandfather, it's easy. I...

 Where did it begin?  My paternal Great-grandfather was James Gardner McDearmid, born in Woodstock, NH in 1839. His son was Gardner Clark McDearmid, and his son, my father, was another James Gardner McDearmid. Everyone loved my Dad, Jim. He passed away in 1954 when I was 15. It was very traumatic for my family, especially for my Mom who lost her true love. She was in deep mourning for several months and I know that I boxed up my emotions. As I look back I doubt I ever really grieved for my Dad. So as I've moved through life I've collected Jims! In fourth grade when love starts to blossom I had a crush on Jimmy Keifner. It didn't last long because he moved back to Mississippi and I had to wait a few years to find another Jim. In 8th grade my class took a trip to Springfield, Illinois and I recall being serenaded on the bus ride by my then favorite boy, Jimmy Caldwell. He had a great voice and was a great dancer. Too bad he was a head shorter than me (most boys were) but my h...

 1+1=12 Back in the day families were generally large or I'd say huge by today's standards. My Mom, Anne, was third in a family of 12 siblings. I'd call this MULTIPLES. Between 1920 and 1935 Iva Mae Quist gave birth to this amazing line up of 7 girls and 5 boys. This picture looks like it was taken about 1939. I knew all of these Aunts and Uncles pretty well...some were more like siblings to me. In looking at my Family Tree on Ancestry I thought this would be a good challenge and learning process for me...to flesh out the info on this group.  Emma Lucille was the eldest, born in 1918, and the tallest. I remember her as being about 5'11".  Emma was very pretty and outgoing.  She had a husky ballad singing voice and was known to show up at local venues to sing some of the popular songs of the day like I'll Be Seeing You. I think Emma was a bit of a wild child. She married Charlie Huffhines in her mid twe nties, divorced him, had some serious boyfriends, then joi...