Wednesday, February 29, 2012

115th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy :: Lashbrook Flash Family History

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Jasia, of Creative Gene is once again hosting the Carnival of Genealogy, the 115th such carnival!  WOW that is a lot of parties, err, carnivals.  She has challenged us, and, I do mean really challenged us this month.  The challenge is to write your family history in 300 words or less.  Really, 300?  I hear you all laughing, verbose Carol, less than 300 words??  I gulped, I laughed, I stewed and brewed, and then I did it!  And, it was FUN! 300, ON the button!    See:


My approach was to see if I could write an introduction to a compilation of the Lashbrook clan that someday I hope to make available to other Lashbrook researchers.  I have been trying to finish this work for too many years.  I thought, well, maybe if I have the introduction, I can jump start my procrastinating self.  We shall see, but, I did manage to finish the challenge.  And, it became that, a challenge, I had 325 words at one point, dropped back to around 280 words, and with many tweaks finally finished right at the magic number of 300.

Now, I will let out this little secret, I had to contact Jasia to ask her how to count the words.  She said she uses word processors on and off line, and there is a magic little counter with most of them. Word Perfect in fact does have one.  Word processors count each and every word, even "a", "is", "the".  When I learned to count words way back in the dark ages in high school, we did not count those types of words, only words with 4 letters or more.  Whew, I am not sure if the way words are counted by the word processor works for us or against us.  Now, truthfully, isn't that all just a tad bit interesting??

Jasia also told me she will not become the word count police, so, I was not real worried about it and find it quite amusing that I hit 300 on the button.  Oh, by the way, none of what I have written up to this point counts!  But, from here on out, let the counting begin.

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Richard and Ann (nee Newcomb) Lashbrook were married in the fall of 1814 in Thornbury, Devon, England. Between 1815 and 1830 they became the parents of ten children, all of whom survived to adulthood.

Sometime between 1830 and 1832 Richard and Ann and their ten children boarded a ship, crossing the Atlantic for a new life in the Americas. According to family tradition they migrated to Canada. About a year later, the family moved over the border to Clinton County New York.

While living in New York, two, possibly four additional children were born. Two of these children lived to adulthood, two have not been located anywhere, we do have their reported names.

Records are hard to come by during the 1830's and early 1840's in New York, but there are indications that the four eldest Lashbrook children were married there.


By 1843 the entire Lashbrook clan started moving to McHenry County Illinois, part of their trip was via the Erie Canal, part by wagons. Before 1850 the move from New York was complete, no Lashbrooks lived there.

Six of the Lashbrook children married in McHenry County. Over the next 10 years most of the Lashbrook children and their families started moving away from McHenry County, heading west. Two sisters (one a widow) and five brothers lived for many years in several northeastern Iowa counties. Over the years migration continued, with Lashbrooks ending up in many western states.

Richard and Ann died in McHenry County Illinois by 1883, they are buried in the Jerome Cemetery, near Harvard. A number of their descendants are also buried in McHenry.

The Lashbrook family history is fairly typical, filled with farmers, teachers, professionals, and a few “interesting” souls to color the story.

Come join us as we discover the story of the Lashbrook clan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



* Photos, from the top:

1.)  The Altar at St Peter's Church Thornbury Devon England, where Richard Lashbrook and Ann Newcomb were married.

2.)  The Erie Canal, today.  Photo courtesy of Pam Martin.

3.)  Lashbrook headstones, Jerome Cemetery, McHenry County, Illinois.  In the foreground:  Richard and Ann Lashbrook.  To the rear:  John and Lydia Lashbrook, son and daughter-in-law.

**  Thanks Jasia, it was fun, honestly!
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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Tombstone Tuesday, Barrancas National Cemetery, Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Recently we paid a visit to the Naval Air Station in Pensacola Florida.  Last time we visited there we drove by the cemetery, but did not stop.  This time we made a point of paying a short visit.  The Barrancas National Cemetery is on the base.  There is of course, a Wikipedia page, where they state the size of the cemetery to be about 95 acres, with something over 32, 500 burials as of 2005.



There were many of these stones, Unknown.


There were also a lot of these small stones with numbers, the spacing indicated possible burials.  We did not stop at the office to ask about them.


Barrancas National Cemetery has a monument honoring soldiers who died from yellow fever. It was erected in 1884 by the Marine Guard of the Pensacola Navy Yard.  This tall spire is actually what is lovingly referred to as a "zinker".   At colorado-cemeteries.com there is a very nice article about zinkers, which are sometimes called White Bronze, but in reality are made of cast zinc.


Close ups of a couple of the sides, as you can see the detail is amazing and still sharp looking:


One of the tail tell features of a zinker for me, even when I am yards away are the panels.  They are held on by screws.  There is one zinker in our home county in SE Michigan where one of the panels has been lost to the ravages of time, there is a hole there, and you can look inside the monument, it is hollow.


Thanking them for their service, we leave them to rest in peace:






* The last photo has had photo editing filters applied for effect.

** Barrancas National Cemetery has a Find A Grave presence.  
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Sunday, February 26, 2012

I AM Going to Index, I AM, I AM, I AM

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

As a family researcher/genealogist, unless you have had your head in the sand for the last year or so, you know what April 2, 2012 means!

1940 CENSUS RELEASE!!

Yep, here it comes, ready or not!

I am happy to announce that I have become an Ambassador for the 1940 census indexing project.


Now comes the confession:

I have never indexed one thing at FamilySearch, or anywhere else online. I have not joined in the fun or the projects till now.  My excuse, err, reason, I have been too busy.  Blame it on THE Trip, blogging, Man, fur kids, family, my volunteer work for our local genie society, need for sleep, need for meals, the Demon and limited amounts of energy and time. (That's my story and I am stickin' to it!)  Blame it on a lot of things, simple truth, I have just not made the time in my life for indexing on line. I appreciate all that have, they bring us wonderful stuff over at FamilySearch.org.  My research would be seriously lacking without all the dedication and hours volunteer indexers have donated.  I thank them daily!

Next confession:

I have not done ONE single thing to prepare for the 1940 census.  I have not contemplated one person I would love to go hunting up, other than the obvious, my parents and grandparents, and great grandparents.  I blame it on the same issues as mentioned above, time and energy.  This fact alone makes me realize just how much I NEED the indexing to be done.  Really need it!

Next confession:

I do not like learning curve, OK, I HATE learning curve.  So, this is where I am going to start, Getting Started -  Make History.  (If you have not signed up yet, this is where you do that.  Come on, click in!)

OK, that is ENOUGH confessions for one day.  Now, is time for the pep talk:

Join me!  Help index the 1940 census.  If we all jump in and do some, it can be done in record time.  Really!   I will thank you all time and time again when I can find my ancestors in those big cities like Norfolk Virginia where my daddy was living then.  I don't want to do a page by page browse search for him.  HELP ME!!  Sign up and index!

Thank you!




* I really need this to be done in record time, because selfishly, I don't want to still be indexing after November 1, 2012, cause Man and I are planning a followup to THE Trip, and then I really won't have the time!  Please help me be ready for THE Trip THE Encore  - - oh, oh, think I just named it!

** Oh, and guess what, you don't even have to be a family research enthusiast to do this indexing, all you need is the desire to help me get this done!

***  The disclaimer stuff:  No one paid me anything to join the indexing effort, to use or not to use any of the sites I am mentioning.  The key word here is VOLUNTEER!  The monetary pay for volunteers is non-existent, the payback in satisfaction and self worth garnered from the time and effort used to volunteer, PRICELESS.

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Gulf State Park, Gulf Shores Alabama, Another New Critter, WAYYY Up There

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Not long after my post, Gulf State Park, Gulf Shores Alabama, A New Critter Sign, I was contacted by Grant Brown, Director of Recreation and Cultural Affairs for the city of Gulf Shores, who just so happens to be a friend of the artist, Gene Hoagland.  Gene stopped by Tana the other day, tried to get Man to trade the new ride (Big Butt's Big Brother, real name STILL undetermined) for $1.00 and Gene's truck.  Man, did not jump at that deal, hmmmm, wonder why?

At any rate Gene told me "something big" would be added to the park Saturday, February 25th and that we would need a telephoto lens to get a photo of it because we could not walk to it.  Gene said, it will be talked about around the park.  When I indicated I would  LOVE to get a photo, he asked, do you have a telephoto lens??   No, but, I have Sony and a 20 zoom lens.

Gene seems like a fun guy and he really knows how to tease and spark interest.  I promptly dropped an email to our friends Donna and John and we made plans to go out for lunch on Saturday and then go hunting for Gene's surprise.

After lunch we decided to walk one of the trails here in the park.  With the hints from some others enjoying the trails, it was suggested we go have a look way up in some trees by a playground in the park.  It was a rather long walk, but, lookie here, Man, a pine tree and wayyyyyyyy up there, what is that dark blob??


Zoom it Sony:


Try a zoom from another angle:


Gotcha!

When Gene dropped by I was so surprised that I neglected to ask him what he calls his art and how he does it.  I'll be stopping by Gene to ask you a few more questions.



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Saturday, February 25, 2012

THE Trip, Nebraska to Amana Colonies, Iowa,The HEAT Continues

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

After the Nebraska MOC Rally Man and I headed east once more, we are closing in on SE Michigan and home, but, we eek out a few more stops.

We drove about 270 miles on I -80 from Greenwood Nebraska to near Amana Colonies Iowa.  And, if we thought it was HOT in Nebraska, well, it was even more so in Iowa.  In fact, this might have been the hottest day we have ever driven in or experienced.  This was killer heat.  When we stopped for rest breaks we had to take the dogs with us.  One of us would stand outside in the shade, IF we could find a tree, and the other would go into the rest rooms.  I almost burned my leg by simply leaning against the running boards and door frame of Big Butt.  The heat factor was at least 120 degrees F.

Little did we know but, Big Butt was keeping us alive, and we are not sure how. The next morning when we started BB up we lost 1 quart of oil in less than 5 miles.  We realized with a sense of dread and fear that if we had been driving in that 120 heat factor mess that if BB had blown oil, we might not known it until we blew the engine.  The thought of being stranded on the side of the road in that heat really set us back a bit, ok, set us back a LOT!  But, our Maker and Big Butt watched over us and we thank them both.

When we got to our campsite it was 96 to 98 degrees in Tana, it took HOURS and HOURS for the air conditioner to cool the unit down.  I worried about the fur kids in that kind of heat, the boys are both older and have health issues.

Whew, I would be happy to never experience that kind of heat again and we surely thanked our Maker for keeping us safe.

We would spent parts of the next several days visiting the Amana Colonies, before we headed east one more time.

I promised some of you some more Nebraska sunsets, so, here are 3 more photos, all that heat and humidity sure made for some beautiful sunsets.

I liked the first one because of the 2 birds:


Two nights later, watch as we go from orange to orange-red.  First:


I did not digitally edit this one much, just a sharpening the edges type of thing and resizing. Isn't this color amazing??


Hot sunsets for hot days,

HOT!!


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Friday, February 24, 2012

THE Trip, Threshers, The Gals Tools

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

So, I have shared with you the boys toys from the 35th Annual Camp Creek Machinery and Threshing Show.  Now, gals, it is your turn to ooo and ahhh over the antiques.  Some I so love, and others, frankly, I am SOOO glad I don't have to use!  LOL

First, this washing machine reminds me of my grandmother's machine.


This lady had a wonderful collection of old soap boxes, and yes, I recognize some of those boxes.



Here is a washer that I have NO interest in trying out.  According to the sign, this is a 1893 Sunshine Wooden washing machine.  I snooped around a bit in Google Patents looking for something similar, and could not find anything with this wooden 4 legged swisher thingy on the top of this machine.  (How's that for a techy description??)  Oh, yea, after looking at some of those patents, I am so happy with my little Spendide combo washer/dryer!  See image below.


That said, I would sooooo take this display of clothes pins and hang it as a piece of art in my home.


So, ladies, anyone want to travel back and time and try doing your laundry with some of these, mmm, relics??  No???  Really??  Snicker!



*  My Spendide washer/dryer combo in Tana.  See me smile!  WOOT!!


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Thursday, February 23, 2012

THE Trip, Threshers, The Boy Toys

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

July 16, 2011, while at the Nebraska MOC Regional Rally one of the local attractions was the 35th Annual Camp Creek Macinery and Threshing Show held in Waverly Nebraska.  You may remember I mentioned that I had no intentions of attending this little local event (which was not SO little, by the way).  But, wires got crossed, confusion reigned in my old heat suffering brain and Man and I found ourselves on the way, ill prepared as we were with no hats and not much water.  DUHHH.  Like I said, I was confused, I won't speak for Man!  LOL

Despite the confusion, we had a blast!  MOC friend turned guide extraordinaire, Jan, shared her wealth of knowledge of all this farm stuff with us.  I don't remember a lot, but, it was fascinating.  I think I enjoyed her telling of the stories almost as much as I did taking almost 100 photos.

Today, the boy toys:


Below this is a 1925 Model T Ford, per the sign.  Let me tell you, all this equipment was very well loved and cared for.  Beautiful to behold!


Below, OK, I am glad we don't have to cool the engines of our modern day vehicles this way:


The ultimate boy toy!  A train!


Jan can tell you about this, all I know is it is a lot of machinery, belts, a sight to behold.


Look at the size of that belt!


Moments after I snapped this photo that belt also snapped.  WOW.  Don't want to be in the way of that, quite dangerous, dudes, you could really get hurt with that!


Next, I'll show you the lady's tools.  You may worship your current household tools when you see this stuff.  I know I do!




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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Wedding Wednesday :: Dr. Conklin Takes His Bride, Again

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

From the January 20, 1897 issue of the Michigan Messenger, Adrian, Lenawee County, Michigan:

"AFTER 21 YEARS

An Aged Couple Meet and are Married
Again.

RIDGEWAY, Mich. Jan. 16 - - Dr. C. H. Conklin, of Saline, and Mrs. Mary E. Betnett, of Milan, were quietly married in the Smith house Thursday, by Justice C. W. Culbertson.

About 20 years ago the same couple were married, but separated after a short time. The groom has since been twice married and the bride once. Now their old love has broken out anew, and they look forward to unclouded happiness.

The groom is 68, the bride 56. They are making a wedding trip in a carriage.

SALINE, Mich. Jan. 16. - - Doc. C. H. Conklin is maker and proprietor of a famous salve. He was divorced from his first wife, who he now remarries, 21 years ago. He has scarcely even seen her since although she has been living at Milan. His second wife died while he was living at Clinton . He married a third time, but two weeks ago secured a divorce and has now gone back to his first.

Conklin has traveled all over the county selling salve, having made California three times by wagon."





*Bride and groom graphic was originally found at horton-szar.net, which seems to have gone the way of many web sites - - poof.  Anyway, thanks for the graphic.

** I did a bit of quick internet research and did not find a marriage record for them at FamilySearch.org.  I know nothing more about this couple.  I am not researching this clan.  Hope this helps someone, good luck!
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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Mardi Gras Boat Parade, Gulf Shores, Alabama

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence


Happy Mardi Gras


This afternoon Man and I took a break from doing paper work and such for the new ride and took the new ride for a ride over to the Intracoastal Waterway and soaked up some sun and grabbed a few beads during the Gulf Shores - Orange Beach Mardi Gras boat parade.  Sony got photos!  WAHHOO!

There are boats with beads and jesters:


There are boats with lots of shiny stuff:


There are boats with lots of flags!


Usually they just toss beads at you, these guys got really serious about being sure the beads reached the shore, air guns!


And, the hats were all fun and fab and full of feathers:


The pirate theme was well represented.  By the way, what do they call a female pirate?


And, this is probably my favorite, more pirates, including a flag up top the mast:


Lisa:  He might not be Johnny, and he has on sunglasses so we cannot see his eyes, but, I think he is a pretty cute pirate, don't you?  He even has a cute little yellow duck!




*  What a difference two years can make, first 2010, look at the beads and look at that winter coat, earmuffs and gloves!


And, today, giving Big Butt's Big Brother (still officially unnamed) a hug, just a few beads, but, a t-shirt.


I think I like the fewer beads and the warmer temps!
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