Memories and Musings

 This last weekend in May brings Memorial Day in honor of all those who served in the Military to defend our freedom and our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In my research of ancestors I've found many draft registration cards and listings of military assignments. I have found relatives who served in the War for Independence, the Civil War, WW1 and WW11, and Korea, Viet Nam and Desert Storm. I think all of these men, and one woman, survived the wars but were damaged in many ways for life. I think of my uncle Lester who enlisted in the Army at 17 and went off to fight in the bloody battles of Korea. The sights and sounds of battle never left him. He and my uncle Tom, who landed on the bloody beach of Normandy, probably had PTSD although we had no name for it then.  Grandpa Carl Quist enlisted in his early 40's with several children still at home. He was too old for active service so was assigned to ship repair in San Diego. It probably meant a steady paychec...

 Week 21 of the Generations Cafe challenge is At The Cemetery. I've never been a regular visitor to cemeteries or gravesites of family members. I imagine it stems from the death of my Dad when I was 15. His death, funeral and burial in a local cemetery were devastating. As we left the cemetery a violent Midwest thunderstorm erupted drenching everyone and ripping off rooftops.  I did not return to my Dad's grave until decades later after I had moved to California. On a visit to my hometown I asked a girlfriend to go with me to the cemetery where my Dad is buried along with a few other family members who died too young.  For some reason I had an aching in my heart to see his headstone. I got teary eyed and realized I had never really dealt with the emotion of my Dad passing. My Mom had been so distraught that I stood strong and sort of boxed up my feelings. When I looked at the headstone I thought...Yes, he really died.   My Mom and her second husband are buried i...

 When I read up on this challenge from Generations Cafe, Cousin Bait, I realized that I'd recently done this...throw something out on the family tree and see how many cousins you can catch. In the past I have mostly pursued info on the direct line of parents to grandparents to great grandparents and on.  I paid little attention to siblings and children, just listing them. My goal has always been to see how far back in time I could go in recording ancestors. I really hoped I would find that I'm a Daughter of the American Revolution. (I think I am!) Recently I posted some old family photos on my paternal great grandmother's page and voila....a second cousin connected with me. We exchanged a few notes and I'm sure will continue to share pictures. This success has prompted me to research in greater depth, that is, siblings and spouses of my direct line of grandparents. I love to find pictures of relatives on other family trees or census info that tells the occupations of fa...

Three generations: Clockwise from  lower middle Amanda Caroline Mullins Lovell,  Myrtle May Lovell Lane and  Iva May Lane Quist This picture has always fascinated me. I wonder if it was Mother's Day in Iowa and someone collected these ladies for a formal picture.  Amanda Caroline Mullins Lovell , my 2nd Great Grandma,  was born in Terre Haute, IN in 1839. By 1859 she had moved to Hamilton where she married George Washington Lovell at age 16. George was a farmer and it appears their travels took them to Illinois, then Iowa with George working as a farm laborer. By 1860 they had 6 children.  In 1880 there are 6 teenage and adult children living at home on the farm. It's not clear if they owned the farm. Myrtle May was her 11th child.  No wonder Amanda looks crochety in this picture. Her husband had died in 1885.  The 1900 census shows her the head of household at age 63. She is a widow with one son, James, age 17 living at home. He was born when she...

 Today I got  hooked on researching my great Grandfather James Gardner McDearmid who fought for the Union in the Civil War. He was born in 1839 in Woodstock NH ...Live Free or Die...so of course he was on the Union side. He lived in New Hampshire and Massachusetts for most of his life but somewhere along the line he moved to Chicago. (more research)  When he was 21 he enlisted and served in the heavy artillery unit of the Mass. Soldiers. He was wounded and in ill health but reenlisted and fought at Yorktown VA. He was mustered out in 1865.  He married in 1866 and had seven children with Mary Abbie Brown. He lived to be 75 and died in Chicago. I imagine he moved there with one of his children. (more research) It is so mesmerizing to find pictures of actual records like the one I found of his stay in the wounded soldiers home detailing his service and injuries. Thank you to all who scan these records!! Wish I could find a picture of you Grandpa James.

 The Generations Cafe challenge for this week is CRIME AND PUNISHMENT. I thought long and hard on this one and was hard pressed to find a criminal in the family tree. From my personal knowledge and from my research on census records including locations and occupations I did not find any prison records. I do know, first hand, that my ancestors were not perfect! We had our share of alcoholics, gamblers, cheaters and those who made inappropriate sexual advances. But seems that no one ever got caught and prosecuted. Well, no one except Henry Loveall, aka Desolate Baker, my sixth great-grandfather who was born in 1694 in Cambridge, England. He emigrated to America, then settling in Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia. He used his status as a religious leader to engage in bigamy, sexual liaisons, disorderly, licentious and eccentric behavior. He was relieved of his duties several times. It is rumored that he was convicted of some crime and escaped from prison to continue his ...