The Cookie Shot:: The Whitmer Cradle

Copyright 2016, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

I have not been blogging much.  I have been reviewing, researching, linking, all on the family history data base.  I have a backlog of photos and documents, so large, I am not going to count them.  It would be discouraging and embarrassing.  It is so wonderful to be so blessed.  It is so easy to just keep researching and having fun.  I need to do better at recording and linking.  I procrastinate.  And, then, I go have more fun, and research more!

I did find this jewel tho, yes, little Carol.  In the Whitmer cradle.

This is another photo, very similar to the one in this blog post from 2009.

However, in the new one, taken from a slightly different angle, I discovered, what I think are bribes to keep me still for the photo op.

I see a cookie in my left hand, or some food goodie.  Yummy.  And, in my right hand, a comb??

Hey parents do what they have to do, eh??

By the way, the original post on the Whitmer cradle is here.  I believe I have discovered another photo of generation # 4, buried somewhere in all these files.  There are no known photos of generation # 1 or # 2 in the cradle.

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Where oh where is that photo, FOUND, that is where!!

In the continuing scanning and "lookie what I found" project, I have located photographic proof of generation # 3 and the Whitmer Cradle. A bonafide Genie-WAHHOOOO minute here this afternoon. And here it is:


Photographic proof of generation # 4 and # 5 are here at the original Where oh Where is that photo? blog.

*Moi in the Whitmer Cradle. Believe the photo was taken at my grandmother's house (identified from the carpet). Moi's age guestimated to be just over 1 year.

Where oh where is that photo??

While scanning the last few days, I have re-discovered some great photos, like the one in yesterday’s blog. Not that a photo of Moi is such earth shattering news, but Man is awful cute, eh?? Seriously, it was a fun discovery, or re-discovery for me.

I dismantled some of those awful photo albums the last couple of days, goodness, what they did to the color on some of the photos. Adobe Photoshop corrected some of the discoloration, not perfect, but you know what they say, beggars cannot be choosers.

One of the discoveries in the last album was of Son # 3. True it is not the best photo in the world, it is rather out of focus. However, I will over look that, for this photo has Son # 3 sitting in the Whitmer cradle. Look close, there it is.

The Whitmer cradle was hand made from black walnut in about 1900. Sellestine Whitmer made it for his daughter, Ida Matilda Whitmer Halterman. Ida was expecting her first child.

Sellestine is my great great grandfather. Ida is my great grandmother. We have had 5 generations use this cradle since Sellestine made it. I currently am the caretaker of the cradle, it is one of my most prized family heirlooms.

When I re-discovered this photo, first thought was, out of focus, second thought, HEY WAIT A MINUTE! That is the cradle. Photographic proof of generation # 4. I know I have proof of generation # 5, L & M. L & M's parents humored me and brought the girls over and put up with all my fussing over HAVING to have a photo of the girls in the Whitmer cradle, thank you Son and daughter-in-law!

I believe there was photographic proof of generation # 3 (Moi), I remember seeing such a photo years ago. Was there photographic proof of generation # 2 (my mother)? You bet I am gonna ask her. I doubt there were ever any photos of any of the 3 girls that represent generation # 1.

So, now I will be hunting for photos of the Whitmer cradle to see how many generations I can photographically prove used the cradle.

Where IS that photo??

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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, Genealogy Scavenger Hunt!

Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings comes up with some interesting challenges. Tonight it is a scavenger hunt.

Randy's challenge is in 2 parts:

1) Is there someone on your list of 16-great-great-grandparents that you don't have a census record for, and for which one should be available?

2) Tell us about it in your blog........While you're at it, give us a source citation for your census finding too

Ok Randy, this sounded good, as I have not done any significant research in well over a month. I did not participate in the 16 great greats, but, the assignment gave me a great excuse to stop everything else I was doing and RESEARCH!!!

So, I start looking at the list of the great greats, and what research chore I might have indicated on their individual to do list. Maybe I can delete some to do items from the data base, hmmm, that is always a very good thing!

Hezekiah Bowen, 1834-1908, to do list shows I am curious about some Emanuel County Georgia Land records. Hmmmm, lets skip that for the moment.

Martha Sikes, no to do items.

William H. Remley, to do list says, find maps for enumeration areas of Colleton County South Carolina. I want to see if I can figure out where in the county he lived. I love maps. But, lets skip that for the moment too.

Mariah Grant, no to do items.

Edward Dews, 1830 census and some more land records from Princess Anne County Virginia this time. I decide I am not ready to tackle the 1830 with all those tick marks, gonna skip the land records.

Martha Dews (his wife, maiden name unknown), no to do items. Ditto for Solomon Benjamin Eley, Sarah Anne Darden, Zachariah Z. Trumbo or Catherine (Kate) Dove.

Peter Preston Holsinger, Rockingham County Virginia. Oh, yea, here is some census work that needs doing. 1860, oooohhh, realize he is still enumerated in his father’s household, so get to take that off the to do list. Also need the 1900 census. This is when the bottom fell out, so to speak. Had NO trouble locating Peter, but, did have a bucket load of trouble trying to print from Ancestry. I still don’t know if it is my computer or Ancestry. My frustration level jumped through the roof and I decided that the dogs needed grooming more than I needed to deal with Ancestry, my computer and my printer or this challenge. So, I went and groomed. One dog looks a lot better, but I can guarantee, he was not happy with Ancestry, the computer or printer either!

Hour or so later, I returned to the torture chamber of Ancestry and census. Next on my list of 16 great greats was Mary A. Kessler, nothing indicated, ditto for Daniel Halterman and his bride Barbara Delawder, so I skipped on to Sellestine Whitmer.

I needed just about all census reports for Sellestine. In 1860 he is still enumerated with his father. I discovered I did not have the 1860, so, mucked around, figured out a substandard method of printing and filled in the blanks and eliminated another to do item. (The bonus of looking for Sellestine in 1860 is that I got his father’s report, but, I also found on the same page data for Philip Delawder, including 2 additional children not on the data base, correction of birth year on another of his children, birth year and place for his wife.) I hunted down the 1870 census for Sellestine, no surprises there, and again made a substandard printout of the report for my files.

At this point, it is late, I am tired, I am short of temper with printer, computer and Ancestry and the rest of this challenge will have to wait. I still need to locate for Sellestine the 1880, 1900 and 1910 census reports.

That leaves great great number 16, Sarah Bayse, but she has no to do items attached to her.

Yes, Randy, I source. But, I am going to skip this portion of the challenge for now. My views on sourcing may make the purists cringe. I have talked about sourcing* a few times already on my blog, and I know I will again in the future, so stay tuned.

Evening was not quite “Fun”, but it was interesting, and I did find 3 census reports, deleted several to do items from the data base and added some goodies to Philip Delawder’s family, even tho he is not a great great.

Now, I have to find a way to ask Man to have a lookie see at the computer set up and see if the difficulties are on my end.

* See Sourcing? anyone really sourcing?
Sourcing? anyone really sourcing? Post Script
Exact Science - - You’re Kidding, Right??