June 2015 – the mix that makes up me

same name, different people different era (52 ancestors #13)

Week 13 (March 26 – April 1) – “Different”

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What a fun exercise, I thought, to examine the life of a same-named person, see how different(ly) — or, same — we are and, lived?

Now, this was not as easy as I thought it would be. Not for lack of other Susan or Susannah or Susie BUCKNERS out there bearing a kinship to me, no way, but: for lack of same accompanied by, a person photo. (Gotta have a photo of the person. Firm requirement. No fun otherwise. 😉 ) And, for a general lack of actual biographical information, as opposed to the drier facts netted via censuses, death certificates, etc.?

So: below, my chosen Susan BUCKNER candidate, with her husband Silas Elbert (Elbert) BUCKNER and six of their children:

THE SUSAN J. BUCKNER & SILAS ELBERT BUCKNER FAMILY. Pictured, back row, are: sons Levi Newton (born 1895- ), Dallas Madison (1891- ), &, daughter Lillie (1883- ). In front, per my best guess is, on dad’s lap, Eula Augusta (1902- ); squashed somewhat ‘tween Pa & Ma, Otto Bayard (1898- ); &, on mom’s lap, Arzula (1905- ). (Photo at Geni.com had names, birthdates, & who was IN photo but, lacked specifics as to which child was which…) DATE OF PHOTO: 1905-’06.

And below, my own Susan BUCKNER family:

THE SUSAN M. BUCKNER FAMILY: myself, son, & grandson. DATE OF PHOTO, 2009.

One hundred four-to-five years apart, the two photos. Roughly a hundred years apart, the two Susans’ lives.

Being second cousins themselves, both Susan Jane (Susie) (May 18, 1861 Madison Co., NC, U.S.A.-Oct. 24, 1908 Madison Co., NC; buried Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery, Mars Hill, Madison Co., NC) and Silas Elbert (Elbert) BUCKNER (Apr. 4, 1855 Madison Co., NC-Feb. 16, 1928 Madison Co., NC; Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery) are my 5th cousins three times removed. They share great-grandparents John Riley/Reiley BUCKNER (Abt. 1765 VA-1854 NC) & [either Elizabeth or Isabella] Lucretia TATUM (1767 VA-1822 NC).]

Susan is the daughter of Newton J. BUCKNER (1837-1916) & Mary Ann (Polly) DEWEESE (1840-1909); Silas Elbert, the son of James Mattison (Matt) BUCKNER ( -1926) & Matilda CHANDLER (1833-1926).[1]

In addition to the children pictured, Elbert & Susan had sons Leander Gaither & William Horace; and, by second wife Phinettia/Finetta (Nettie) BRIGGS (1874-1965), Elbert had daughter Carmel Mack (1918-1918) who died as an infant.[2]

Me, I only had the one son, but of course now that the option is closed 🙂 , I really do wish I’d had, oh, six? Childbirth is not for the faint of heart, but I find children themselves very rewarding.

Elbert appears in the 1870 U.S. Federal Census in his father James M.’s NC household; at age 14, he attends school, which impresses me: more often at that age, male children are listed as farm help. James, who farms, is noted as owning $400 in real estate and, $250 in personal assets.[3]

By the 1880 U.S. Federal Census of NC, Madison Co., Middle Fork Township, newly married (1879) Elbert & “Susie” are in their own household with five-month-old baby Gaither, their first child. Elbert farms and Susie is listed as keeping house.[4]

By 1910, two years after wife Susan’s death, Silas Elbert shows in the U.S. Federal Census of NC as a farmer with 14-year-old son Levi helping on the family farm.[5]

Silas farmed right up until his 1928 death at age 73. His death certificate doesn’t even note a cause of death, simply, “No medical aid, found dead in stock barn.”[6]

Myself, occupationally: I’m a retired “civil servant” with a Bachelor of Science degree. I’ve actually always thought it would be really neat to live on a farm, although women I’ve worked with who grew up on farms have always spoken against it. (But I did live on a dairy farm for a year in high school and, I truly loved it.)

In contrast to rural 19th-century Madison Co., NC, the northern city I was born and mostly raised in has a population of roughly a quarter million, many of that population associated with the large university here.

But back to Elbert: five years after Susan’s 1908 death, he remarried to Phinettia (Finetta) BRIGGS. (After Silas’ 1928 death, Phinettia (Finetta) remarried to William G. ELKINS (1861-1940).)

When Susan Jane was born, the American Civil War was a month underway. Elbert would have been roughly six at the start of the war. Susan’s daddy Newton J. BUCKNER had joined the Confederacy as a member of the 64th NC Infantry Regiment (Allen’s) — rank in, Private; rank out, Corporal — and on Sept. 9, 1963, was captured by the Union at Cumberland Gap. He was received on the 26th at Camp Douglas, IL. He would not be “discharged”/freed, until May of 1865.[7]

Silas Elbert’s father James Mattison (Matt) BUCKNER would fight in the Civil War too — also for the Confederacy — but the only record I’ve been able to turn up for him is a pension application in wife Matilda’s name giving a NC Infantry Regiment that simply doesn’t correspond to any other available records. (Frustrating.)

In an odd sort of parallel, my father moved five of us kids down to Memphis, TN, for a year and a half in 1960-’61 after my mother died, plopping us right down in 1960s Civil Rights protests in the south. Freedom Riders, segregated lunch counters, Colored and Whites Only signs. It was more than “culture shock” to my pre-teen self: it was akin to, watching a civil war.

It was also a pretty horrifying introduction to The South. I held a dizzying fear of the southern United States for years to come, convinced it was a land of evil, crazy-scary white people. (I was only just 12 when we arrived in Memphis.)

This was an interesting exercise. I feel more of a “real” kinship now to this Susan BUCKNER I never knew — what hard lives these people had: one senses it just in studying the adult faces in the family photo, let alone learning through research of bits & pieces of their lives.

It’s easy to romanticize the past when one doesn’t know the details of lives. It’s not so easy on closer look.

GRAVE MARKER OF SILAS ELBERT BUCKNER; Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery. Photo from FindAGrave.com, contributed by “Lady Nan.”

GRAVE MARKER OF SUSAN JANE (BUCKNER) BUCKNER; Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery. Photo from FindAGrave.com, contributed by “Lady Nan.”

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ENDNOTES

1 FindAGrave.com, “Silas Elbert BUCKNER,” at http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=19125051 , accessed June, 2015.

2 Geni.com, database of “Private User,” at http://www.geni.com/people/Silas-Elbert-Buckner/6000000001391103845 , accessed June, 2015.

3 Ancestry.com, “1870 United States Federal Census,” NC, “James M. BUCKNER” household, original image at http://interactive.ancestry.com/7163/4277623_00022/34406147?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3d1870usfedcen%26h%3d34406147%26ti%3d0%26indiv%3dtry%26gss%3dpt%26ssrc%3dpt_t79831532_p34440246321_kpidz0q3d34440246321z0q26pgz0q3d32768z0q26pgplz0q3dpid&ssrc=pt_t79831532_p34440246321_kpidz0q3d34440246321z0q26pgz0q3d32768z0q26pgplz0q3dpid&backlabel=ReturnRecord , accessed June, 2015.

4 Ancestry.com, “1880 United States Federal Census,” NC, “Elbert BUCKNER” household, original image at http://interactive.ancestry.com/6742/4243283-00354/19638129?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3d1880usfedcen%26h%3d19638129%26ti%3d0%26indiv%3dtry%26gss%3dpt%26ssrc%3dpt_t79831532_p34440246321_kpidz0q3d34440246321z0q26pgz0q3d32768z0q26pgplz0q3dpid&ssrc=pt_t79831532_p34440246321_kpidz0q3d34440246321z0q26pgz0q3d32768z0q26pgplz0q3dpid&backlabel=ReturnRecord , accessed June, 2015.

5 Ancestry.com, “1910 United States Federal Census,” NC, “Elbert BUCKNER” household, original image at http://interactive.ancestry.com/7884/4449369_00477/20459126?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3d1910USCenIndex%26h%3d20459126%26ti%3d0%26indiv%3dtry%26gss%3dpt%26ssrc%3dpt_t79831532_p34440246321_kpidz0q3d34440246321z0q26pgz0q3d32768z0q26pgplz0q3dpid&ssrc=pt_t79831532_p34440246321_kpidz0q3d34440246321z0q26pgz0q3d32768z0q26pgplz0q3dpid&backlabel=ReturnRecord , accessed June, 2015.

6 Ancestry.com, “North Carolina, Death Certificates, 1909-1975,” “Silas E. BUCKNER,” original image of, at http://interactive.ancestry.com/1121/S123_215-0357/136548?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3dNCdeathCerts%26h%3d136548%26indiv%3dtry%26o_vc%3dRecord%3aOtherRecord%26tid%3d79831532%26pid%3d34440246321%26rhSource%3d7884&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRecord , accessed June, 2015.

7 Ancestry.com, “U.S., Civil War Prisoner of War Records, 1861-1865,” “Newton J BUCKNER,” original image of, at http://interactive.ancestry.com/1124/M598_53-0201/441301?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3dCivilWarPOW%26h%3d441301%26ti%3d0%26indiv%3dtry%26gss%3dpt%26ssrc%3dpt_t79831532_p34440244820_kpidz0q3d34440244820z0q26pgz0q3d32768z0q26pgplz0q3dpid&ssrc=pt_t79831532_p34440244820_kpidz0q3d34440244820z0q26pgz0q3d32768z0q26pgplz0q3dpid&backlabel=ReturnRecord , accessed June, 2015.

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the oldest homestead in lancaster co., pa (52 ancestors #25)

Week 25 (June 18-24) – “The Old Homestead”

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The 1719-built homestead of my 6th & 7th great-grandfathers, Mennonite bishops & ministers Christian HERR (1662-’80 either Switzerland, or, the Palatinate, Germany-1745-’60 PA, America; buried Willow Street Mennonite Church Cemetery, Willow Street, Lancaster Co., PA, U.S.A.) and his father, Hans (1639 Switzerland-1725 PA, America; Willow Street Mennonite Church Cemetery) stands yet today in what is now Lancaster County, Pennsylvania:

Built by Christian and wife Anna, and, home to their family as well as Christian’s father Hans in his later years, the house served as the first Mennonite meetinghouse in Lancaster County and is now a registered historic landmark and museum.

Religious persecution in Switzerland caused Hans HERR and many of his congregation to emigrate to the Palatinate in Germany, “which was then governed by a ruler who promised them protection and religious freedom. This was satisfactory until the Palatinate fell into the hands of other rulers, when the Mennonites were again subject to severe religious persecution.”[1]

A number of Bishop HERR’s Mennonite congregation then consulted William PENN — founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the British North American colony that became the U.S. state of Pennsylvania — who, in circulars and pamphlets distributed in Europe in several languages, had extolled the American colony, especially for its “freedom from religious persecution” that “settlers would enjoy.”[1] A Quaker, PENN had himself experienced persecution for his faith and was sympathetic to the groups’ plight.

The result was that Mennonites “Hans HERR, John R. BUNDELY, Hans MYLIN [aka John Martin MYLIN; my 5th great-granduncle-in-law; married Christian HERR’s daughter Anna per my data], Martin KENDIG, Jacob MILLER, Hans FUNK, Martin OBERHOLTZER, Wendel BOWMAN and others bought 10,000 acres of land on the south side of Pequea creek in the Pennsylvania Province. A warrant was issued for the land October 10, 1710, and it was surveyed Oct. 23, 1710.”[1]

On this 10,000 acres sits yet today what’s come to be called the “Hans Herr House,” the oldest existing dwelling on the property.[2]

Reads HansHerr.org: “The Hans Herr House was home to several generations of Hans Herr’s family until the early 1900s, after which it was used as a barn and storage shed. It was restored to colonial-era appearance in the early 1970s. It is now part of a Museum complex which includes three Pennsylvania German farmhouses, several barns and other outbuildings, and an extensive collection of farm equipment spanning three centuries. The 1719 House is perhaps the most frequently pictured building in Lancaster County.”[2]

Wikipedia states that the house is “a 1 1/2-story, rectangular sandstone Germanic dwelling” measuring “37 feet, 9 inches, by 30 feet, 10 inches.”[3]

Above the front door of the house, is a “17,” Christian’s initials — C H H — followed by a symbol meaning “in the year of our Lord,” and, “19” for the year 1719:

FRONT DOOR OF HANS HERR HOUSE, CHRISTIAN’S INITIALS AND YEAR, ABOVE — HansHerr.org

Images of the Hans HERR House abound, from this beautiful, quilted fabric version by descendant Elsie Vredenburg…

QUILTED IMAGE OF HANS HERR HOUSE BY DESCENDANT ELSIE VREDENBURG

….to this famous watercolor by Andrew WYETH (who claims HERR decendancy):

ANDREW WYETH WATERCOLOR OF HANS HERR HOUSE

I am not quite as confident as others in definitively naming a wife for Bishop Hans HERR. I have seen various given. From the “Janet and Robert WOLFE Genealogy 2013/05/29” website: “Disputes about the name of Hans HERR’s wife: Some report that Hans HERR married Elizabeth KENDIG, daughter of John KENDIG and Jane MYLIN (HERR Lineal Descendants). Some report that Hans HERR married Elizabeth KENDIG, daughter of Jorg KENDIG and Barbel HUFFELLBERGER (Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage, 1992 January page 5, 9). Some report that he married Barbara KUNDIG born 1643, sister of John Jacob KUNDIG, and a daughter of Hans Jacob (Jagli) KUNDIG.

“Richard DAVIS at Mennosearch and Jane BEST in the GROFF Book Vol 2 suggest that he married Elsbeth LOTSCHER, as shown here. ‘Elsbeth LOTSCHER may have been a daughter (of Hans LOTSCHER and Anna KAMMER of Erlenbach, Bern, Switzerland), and/or she may have been related to the Rudolph LOSCHER, Mennonite, living in 1685 at Gaiberg, Germany, near Hohenharter Hof, where Christian HERR is also recorded in 1685 and 1710.’ (BEST, The GROFF Book, Vol 2, part 1, p 35).”[4]

Bishop Christian HERR’s wife is generally “agreed upon” as, Anna UNKNOWN. 😉

My own descent from the Bishops HERR is through my paternal great-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth FASIG (1848 Clark Co., IL-1886 Clark Co., IL; buried Ridgelawn Cemetery, Martinsville, Clark Co., IL), wife of American Civil War veteran, Union allegiance, Richard (Rich) BUCKNER (1846 IL-1932 TX; Hillcrest Cemetery (Section A, Lot No. 17), Temple, Bell Co., TX). I descend from Hans HERR to Mary E. (FASIG) BUCKNER thusly: Hans HERR > Christian HERR, I > Maria HERR > Barbara Ann BACHMAN > Mary STAUFFER > Christian FASIG (1825 PA-1901 IL) > Mary Elizabeth FASIG.

ENDNOTES

1 Genealogical Record Of Reverend Hans Herr And His Direct Lineal Descendants : From His Birth A.D. 1639 To The Present Time Containing The Names, Etc., of 13223 Persons, Compiled, Arranged, Indexed In Alphabetical Order, And Pubished By Theodore W. HERR, Genealogist, Lancaster, PA., 1908. Archive.org, at https://archive.org/details/cu31924029842204 , accessed June, 2015.

2 HansHerr.org, “Herr House History,” at http://www.hansherr.org/home/history/ , accessed June, 2015.

3 Wikipedia, “Hans Herr House,” at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Herr_House , accessed June, 2015.

4 “Janet and Robert WOLFE Genealogy 2013/05/29” located at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bobwolfe/gen/ms/m11078x11115.htm when accessed June, 2013; currently “Janet and Robert WOLFE Genealogy,” http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bobwolfe/gen/WolfeGenealogy.htm .

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john falls & sarah shower (52 ancestors #12)

Week 12 (March 19-25 — Psst: some of us are playing catch-up…): “Same”
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Passing on this week’s optional theme of “Same,” I decided instead to focus on my 4th great-grandparents, American Revolutionary War veteran John FALLS (1743-1830; buried Ebenezer Methodist Church Cemetery, Chuckey, Greene Co., TN) & his wife Sarah SHOWER (1754-1849; Ebenezer Methodist Church Cemetery).[1]

John FALLS (1743-1830) & Sarah (SHOWER) FALLS (1754-1849) grave marker at Ebenezer Methodist Church Cemetery, Chuckey, Greene Co., TN.

Sarah SHOWER & John FALLS were married in August of 1781 in PA by the Rev. Traugott Frederick Illing, both living at that time in West Nantmeal Twp., Chester Co., PA.[2]

Just who Sarah’s and John’s parents are is a mystery yet to me. Although I have seen various names put forth for John, I have yet to see any documentation of same. For both John & Sarah, actual facts seem precious and few, although anecdotal stories have been repeated all over the web. (My goal, primary documentations…)

John’s American Revolutionary War Pension Claim reveals that he served as a Private in Captain Joseph POTTS’ Company of the 5th Regiment Pennsylvania Line, commanded by Colonel JOHNSON/JOHNSTON. Enlisting on January 2, 1777, FALLS was at the battles of Brandywine; Germantown; White Plains; Monmouth; Peola; and Stony Point. He received a wound in his right leg near the ankle. He was furloughed, he states, by Major George TUDOR in Dec., 1783, “and was never called on after that, and by that means was never Regularly Discharged.”[3]

These same records name Washington & Greene Co.s, TN, as John & Sarah’s’ place of residence from sometime before 1798 through 1818, their residence Greene at the time of John’s Apr., 1818, pension deposition. John’s health is in decline at this point, his deposition reading: “….deponent states [2nd page above] that he is now considerably advanced in life his constitution much impaired and much afflicted with diseases of long standing. And extremely poor and unable to support himself and is in much need of the genorous [sic] provision of the government.”

John affirms in his pension deposition that he has no “debts due to” him that might provide him income, nor income other than,

“2 ploughs 1 axe

“2 spinning wheels

“1 cupboard & furniture

“1 looking glass

“1 charn 1 pale [sic]

“1 chear [sic]

“6 hogs 2 geese

“2 weeding hoes”

_____________

Total value, “$18.50″[4]

At this time, “John FALLS aged Seventy-three years by Occupation a Colyer[5] and unable to follow it. Sally FALLS aged Sixty-seven years one Grand Daughter Betsy FALLS aged four years.”[4]

As I continue wading through the handwritten pages of John’s Rev. War pension application, I learn he & Sarah have a son James born about 1782[6], plus a daughter Delila who states helpfully for me that she is, “the seventh and youngest child of John and Sarah FALLS…”[7] This is the best: good, solid, primary data-verification as we genealogists call it; I am feeling appreciation both to way-back great-grandaunt Delila and, to the U.S. government right now, for these details. 😉

U.S. Census-wise, I find Sarah in 1830 Greene Co., TN, with, right beneath her, the households of a Mary FALLS (a daughter or, widowed daughter-in-law??); a “Jas”/James FALLS, most likely the above-referenced son; and, two households below James, a John FALLS — no doubt John Jr., my 3rd great-grandfather. I find 4th great-grandmum Sarah next in 1840 Greene Co., TN, an Elizabeth FALLS right above her born between 1791 & 1800; likely a daughter or, widowed daughter-in-law, my hunches tell me…

I can’t wait to find more on John & Sarah, every new detail helping paint a more complete picture of these far-away-in-time kin, and, making history come alive for me — one of my favorite things about genealogy research.

Ebenezer Methodist Church Cemetery, Chuckey, Greene Co., TN.

ENDNOTES

1 WayMarking.com, “John FALLS,” at http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM6E69_John_Falls_Ebenezer_Methodist_Church_Chuckey_TN , accessed June., 2015. “Category – American Revolutionary War Veteran Graves;” “Waymark – John FALLS – Ebenezer Methodist Church – Chuckey, TN.” Photo of joint grave marker, reading: “John FALLS” / “Revolutionary War” / “Pension Claim W-924” / “1743 1830” &, “Sarah FALLS” / “Maiden Name SHOWER” / “Chester County Penn.” / “1754 1849.” Stone inscription continues, “P. Claim Indicates John And Sarah Were Buried” / “In Ebenezer M. Church Cem. Greene Co. Tenn.” / “Memorial By Floyd A. FALLS W.W. I Vet. No. 721821.” Photo contributed to WayMarking by “vhasler.”

Grave marker photo— WayMarking.com. See Endnote no. 1.

2 “Register Of Marriages and Baptisms Kept By The Rev. Traugott Frederick Illing,” “In Connection With The Churches of St. Peter’s, (Lutheran) Middletown, and Caernarvon, (Episcopal) Lancaster county, Penn’a” (Harrisburg, Harrisburg Publishing Company, 1891), Ancestry.com, “Marriages By Rev. Mr. ILLING,” p. 13, accessed Nov., 2012. “1781” “Aug. 20. John FALLS and Sarah SHOWER, both of West Nantmeal township, Chester county; the first, Aug. 2, in the Forest; the second and third, Aug. 19. Received 15s [shillings].”

3 “Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files”, Ancestry.com, “John FALLS,” orig. images at http://interactive.ancestry.com/1995/MIUSA1775D_135532-00363/20137?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fgst%3d-6&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults#?imageId=MIUSA1775D_135532-00367 (image “365 of 1288” at Ancestry.com), &, at http://interactive.ancestry.com/1995/MIUSA1775D_135532-00363/20137?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fgst%3d-6&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults#?imageId=MIUSA1775D_135532-00368 (image “366 of 1288” at Ancestry.com), accessed Apr., 2015.

4 “Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files”, Ancestry.com, “John FALLS,” orig. image at http://interactive.ancestry.com/1995/MIUSA1775D_135532-00363/20137?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fgst%3d-6&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults#?imageId=MIUSA1775D_135532-00372 (image “370 of 1288” at Ancestry.com), accessed Apr., 2015.

5 Colyer / Collier: Charcoal maker per Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collier . Collier: “Coal miner, a coal merchant or one who worked on the coal barges,” per, “Obscure Old English Census Occupations” at http://www.worldthroughthelens.com/family-history/old-occupations.php . Both, accessed Apr., 2015.

6 “Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files”, Ancestry.com, “John FALLS,” orig. image at http://interactive.ancestry.com/1995/MIUSA1775D_135532-00363/20137?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fgst%3d-6&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults#?imageId=MIUSA1775D_135532-00373 (image “371 of 1288” at Ancestry.com), accessed Apr., 2015.

7 “Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files”, Ancestry.com, “John FALLS,” orig. image at http://interactive.ancestry.com/1995/MIUSA1775D_135532-00363/20137?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fgst%3d-6&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults#?imageId=MIUSA1775D_135532-00373 (image “371 of 1288” at Ancestry.com) & http://interactive.ancestry.com/1995/MIUSA1775D_135532-00363/20137?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fgst%3d-6&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults#?imageId=MIUSA1775D_135532-00374 (image “372 of 1288” at Ancestry.com), accessed Apr., 2015.

Cemetery photo– WayMarking.com. See Endnote no. 1.

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heirlooms (a rose is a rose is a rose) (52 ancestors no. 24)

Week 24 (June 11-17): “Heirloom”

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Our optional theme for this week’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2015 Edition” is, “Heirloom” — “What heirloom do you treasure? Who gave it to you? What heirloom do you wish you had?”

😦 This one had me sad at first, and, I was inclined to pass on the theme, but I decided, No; this is important — if in reading this just one person “pays heed,” well, that’ll be worth it.

When my mother died my father sold our house, tossed most of our belongings and, all of hers, keeping only what would fit into a 1950s Buick with five kids and one adult. Was he grief-stricken, angry at her for dying on him, what? Who knows, but, nearly possession-less we were moved to another state like Witness Protection program participants or perhaps criminals on the run.

Yes, prior to this I can vaguely visualize older female cousins coming through like locusts in a crop-field before the move, but I was only 11 and not having even been aware my mother was terminally ill, my head was spinning like a top. (Oh gosh — antiquated term there? 🙂 ) Suffice it to say, between the cousins and my father, no heirlooms survived for us children to cherish / see / or even know existed.

So much for ever sitting before the mirror of my mother’s mid-century-modern vanity table applying makeup, or, enjoying the rocker at which she sat nightly with children at her feet, stroking heads demanding “Me, me, me.”

Imagine then, my surprise and delight at coming upon a first edition copy of Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, with handwritten notes all over the inside of the book written by my Norwegian, maternal great-grandmother! In Norwegian. I could not read a word, but that simply made it all the more precious, delightful and charming.

My maternal great-grandmother, Ingeborg Sigbjørnsdtr Homma (1871 Homma, Gyland, Vest Agder, Norway-1953 Norway; buried Tjørsvåg Cemetery, Flekkefjord, Norway) had, I deduced, gifted it to her daughter, my maternal grandmother, Sally Marie (Rosalie) Eilertsen Fjelse (1892 Fjelse nedre Br.74, Nes, Vest Agder, Norway-1952 WI, U.S.A.; buried Town of Blooming Grove Cemetery, Town of Blooming Grove, WI). It felt like buried treasure might, in my hands.

With a mind to it not getting marred from use? from a glass of something being accidentally spilled upon it? from, I don’t know, dust? cat hair? humidity?? I carefully packed it away with some other stored items in my apartment storage locker, and I never saw it again.

It was stolen.

Lesson One: Don’t hide the heirlooms away. Just don’t. Keep them where they are seen, enjoyed, thought of.

Lesson Two: Value the little, not-“worth”-anything, stuff: I do remember, after her death, fingering my very Catholic mother’s mustard-seed-in-a-clear-glass-bead, necklace. She had worn it constantly, frequently fingering it herself, her lips moving silently, no doubt — this was my very religious mom after all — praying that her leukemia would simply go away like a bad cold. Matthew Chapter 17: “Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Although I thought about saving the necklace, I can remember looking at it with a sort of sadness, able only to think, No. It makes me sad. I don’t want it. Same with the tree-with-many-branches rhinestone brooch my mother had so loved. It’s just a sad reminder that she’s no longer with us, I actually remember thinking.

Lesson Three: To the adults out there: for your children’s later sake, set aside mementos of a deceased parent, grandparent, other family members… The average child will not think so far in advance, nor should they be expected to.

In doing some basement cleaning for my mother’s only sister, I came upon a lovely photo of my mom circa early 1930s? PLUS, delight-delight, separate photos of both my aunt and, my mother, at single digit ages in ballet costumes — they had both taken lessons as children. Again, as with The Prophet book, these felt like unearthed treasure in my hands. (Buried treasure was a big theme in my childhood 🙂 — westerns seemed to comprise most of what was on tv back then, and, some of my favorite reads were Nancy Drew mysteries. Apparently this all stayed with me into my early 20s when these “heirloom” finds were made. 😉 )

I was thrilled.

And then I was filled with grief when all three photos very mysteriously “disappeared.”

Decades later, I learned that a sister had swiped the three pics and had them virtually hermetically sealed in frames. (Thoughtfully?? this sister had xeroxed a color copy of the 1930s portrait of our mother should I want it.) As she explained it to me, “I’m sorry, but I can’t have copies made for you; that would ruin the framing I paid for.”

Lesson Four: Share. My gosh. S h a r e. That so-very-important thing that we all learned way back in kindergarten yet Lord have mercy do we forget en masse over the years. Also, whether you are Christian or otherwise “religious” — or not — the 10 Commandments are not a bad idea to follow just as a very good list of rules to live by?

“Thou shalt not steal” is a good one to keep forefront of the mind, I tend to think, although, my very favorite “life-rule” is, quite simply, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Here in my senior years of life, I am working at creating heirlooms for my grandson and future generations:

Through my genealogy research, I hope to put together a nice, coffee-table-type, enjoyably-peruseable book on family ancestry;
I look on this genealogy blog and, another, more personal blog of mine, as heirlooms of sorts, chronicaling as they do, biographical material of interest to certainly someone down time’s pike; and,
“Story” photo albums and, other such.

Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder? I look at heirlooms as being similarly so…