Boo!! Happy Halloween

Man's mother, about 1957.  Photo taken by Man's father.

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Carnival of Genealogy, 83rd Edition—Musical Instruments

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be: Musical Instruments! Do you play a musical instrument or did one of your family members? What instrument did you or they play? ... Thanks to Janet Iles, over at Janet the Researcher, for sponsoring this blog topic.

Between Man and Moi, we actually have a number of musicians. They have played piano, organ, ukelele, autoharps, flute, drums, trumpets and more. My mother, actually could play any instrument except the bass fiddle, her fingers could not hold down those heavy strings. Man’s grandparents played at barn dances and barn raisings, she played the piano and harmonica, he the accordion.

If you start with my mother, we have 4 generations that have played some instrument. My mother, as stated, could play anything, cept that fiddle, and she taught high school band. I played a number of instruments and have some photographic proof of same, piano, organ, flute, bass drum, bells, cymbals, gave a short try at viola and oboe. Our sons played instruments. Son # 1 played trumpet and marched in the band. Son # 2 also played trumpet and marched in the band. He also plays the keyboard. Son # 3 studied drums for a short time (thank goodness for those electronic drum pads and headphones, he could bang and we did not hear a thing!).

Now the fourth generation comes along, L & M are taking piano lessons. Here they are performing at their very first piano recital, February 2009. They had been taking lessons for only about one half of a year, we were amazed how well they did.

The family tradition of playing an instrument continues, as grandparents we are pleased as punch.

* Top photo is M, bottom is L. Yep, they are twins.
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Treasure Chest Thursday, Edna's Crimping Iron

This is a crimping iron, it sorta looks like some kind of torture tool, doesn't it??  I believe that you heated the crimping iron on the stove and then used it to crimp your locks.  I can imagine if you over heated it, it might be torture on your hair.

This belonged to Man's grandmother, Edna May Fenton Stevens. 

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Wordless Wednesday, Patricia Bell Lombardini

Patricia Bell Croskey Lombardini, 1941 - 1997.  Photo taken sometime in the 1980's in Wisconsin.

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Tombstone Tuesday, Basye

Basye Cemetery, Basye, Shenandoah County, Virginia

Looking up the hill to the cemetery.

Basye Cemetery, 17 recorded burials, including one Unknown Soldier.

Basye Cemetery at Find A Grave, lists all of the burials, and shows all of the headstones, as of Spring 2008, when we visited the cemetery and photographed every stone found at that time.

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Tana update

Man received a phone call quite early this AM.  Was Mr. Bad Business Man (Mr. BBM) who does not follow RV driving rules.  (HUGE LONG SIGH HERE)

He informed us that he will be writing a personal check to cover Tana's repairs.  He did inquire how we found the repair shop, and asked Man if he was happy with the shop.  Man replied, yes, I am pleased with the shop, as he does specialize in fiberglass repairs and proudly showed us some photos of his work including some Big Rig repairs, in with fenders duct taped in place, out like brand new.

Man asked a number of very specific questions about the work on the brakes (and bearings) done by Mr. BBM and received detailed responses.  Mr. BBM was quite surprised by Man's knowledge, asking where Man learned all this.  Man's response, I read forums, lots of forums. I read,  I learn .

Man feels that Mr. BBM will follow through on promise to pay.  I want to see the bill marked "Paid In Full".  OKKKK, call me Ms. Skeptic.  I earn the name.  SIGH

Man feels the brakes were adjusted and repairs were done by Mr. BBM.  Mr. BBM was fully informed of our hopes to run the mountains, and that our safety is of upmost concern.

So, after a good night's sleep for Moi and a not so good night's sleep for Man, and after a phone call from Mr. BBM this AM, we are focusing on all the other work and appointments that must be handled before departure.

Thanks for all the supporting messages from friends.  Tana, Man and Moi appreciate it!  Special mention to the MOC members, as they understand our distress so well.

*By the way, Mr. BBM did not charge us for the brake adjustments and bearings work he claims he did.  Stay tuned, I may change his name from Mr. BBM yet.

Tana and Big Butt at our favorite fall camping campground near Jackson Michigan a few years ago.

RV Driving Rules

Rule 1, Do NOT back up RV’s without a spotter.

Rule 2, RV’s, especially 5th wheels, need a lot of room to make turns, LONG LONG wide turns.

Rule 3, Long RV’s, especially 5th wheels, swing in the rear, you must allow for said swing.

So, why am I lecturing tonight?? Because someone did a nasty to our Tana today, because that someone did not follow any of these rules, especially Rule 1!

OK, I admit, I am ticked off, very very ticked off. Now those that know me, will realize that I am a lot more than ticked off, they know how passionate I am about things, and how over the top passionate I am about Tana. I know, it is just a thing, and things can be fixed, but, my emotional bond to Tana is more than that. She is more than just a thing to me. Nope, not as important as my Man, my kids, my grandkids, my yorkies, but, right in line after that. Yea, I even put Tana before the stick built house. I love my Tana.

SOOOO, we drop her off this AM for her brakes to be checked. We hope to travel some in the west in the next 6 months, and may see a mountain or two and her brakes have been squealing. Time for a check.

Man asks the business owner, do you want me to back her in?? Nope, says business owner, we do it all the time, we can get it.

So, we leave Tana, go have a quick breakfast, run some errands and return to see how Tana is doing. Her tires are all on and it looks as if she is ready to go home,

CEPT for this!

Yep, our business man drove and backed up Tana without a spotter. In truth, the damage is rather minimal, he did not destroy the back end cap, he did not pull the end cap off. He claims he will pay for the damage, but, I guess he was a bit surprised when he heard the bill will come to over $1,000.00. Two of the first places we called or stopped at could not do the repair, the one we left Tana at, not only could do the repair, but they specialize in fiberglass repair and were willing to squeeze us in and do the repair immediately.

We are questioning in our minds if this business man did in fact, adjust Tana’s brakes?? Will he really pay the repair bill?? We have some photos, we have a claim number, we did not get more than one estimate, we were happy to find anyone that can fix her.

As a very dear friend of mine says, "It is what it is!"

That is true, but idiot business man, YOU DON’T BACK UP WITHOUT A SPOTTER! Hope you learned your lesson!

*If you are wondering why the big hurry to get Tana's end cap fixed, we are working very hard towards a departure date of November 9th.  We hope to be outta Dodge before the snow flies.  So, as they say, stay tuned.
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Looking for Oil, WHERE???

Got a letter in the snail mail a bit ago, announcing that they would be doing seismic testing on our road. Say what??? So, Moi gets on the phone and gives this company a little jingle. I am informed they are looking for oil or gas and this is the preliminary test for same. Interesting.

Today when Man returned from a short visit with his mom, he tells me to go have a little lookie see out by the road, here is part of what I saw, lines stretched from lot line to lot line, over 350ish feet, and on down the road for who knows how far. Man, they must have a lot of plugs and cords, eh??

A few hours later, here come the trucks (there were 3 of these):

Here is a close up shot of that seismic thingy:

That big square thing protruding from the bottom of the truck does some fancy dancy vibration stuff which they they monitor and record something or other from. If they get "favorable" readings, they come back with more sensitive equipment.

Man tells me he could feel the vibrations when he walked out in the road to talk to one of the dudes holding the "Stop/Slow" signs.

Our burning question is, but of course, WHAT HAPPENS IF THEY REALLY FIND OIL OR GAS?? Do they just come on our property and plop down an oil well??

And, who has enough $$ to fund such a search?? There were 3 trucks and drivers and at least two traffic controller types, and this was a SUNDAY??? Do they get overtime??

No, I don't think we own the mineral rights on our 4.9 acres. Another interesting day living in the country.

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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, Your Most Unique Ancestral Name

Randy over at Genea-Musings has his Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge up, this time it is "Your Most Unique Ancestral Name".  Here is the challenge:

"What is the most unique, strangest or funniest combination of given name and last name in your ancestry? Not in your database - in your ancestry."

Hmmmm, Moi contemplates. Unique, strangest or funniest name, in combo. I walked around the house for quite a while thinking bout this challenge. Then I remembered for a number of years the WO’s kept a list of oddities in names, some were really the true names, others were the hysterical results of someone who had trouble indexing. So, I grabbed the WO’s list and extracted a few that I suspect (or knew) were my contributions:

Evril Cedorah Sherman Conyers (real person on my data base, a lady);

Farnie Lee Sutton (real person on my data base, male, died a suspicious death, of “Suicide drowning" while in the local lockup);

Sardine Stowe (have no idea where we came up with this one);

Dimple Lashbrook (not recorded on my data base, but, I do have LOTS of Lashbrooks);

Strange Eley (another one of my surnames);

Euphronius Seeds (related, he is a first cousin 4 times removed, and reportedly died during the Civil War);

Effa Cupp (yep, in my data base, sorta linked, via marriages to Mary Lovely, AKA MOMM, who was mentioned the other day here at Reflections From the Fence);

Urban Hughes Moffitt (yep, again, in my data base);

Puss Darden (oh, please, lets not even go there!)

In reviewing the WO’s list, I have to admit that some of these are hard to believe we found, and I am gonna borrow just a few more (not mine, but other WO's submissons) to use as examples.  We found a Manless Hunt (male), Henry Flushole, Bland Stone (female), Early Snow (no idea), and of course, the ever popular, Fanny Rash.

Then I realized Randy said IN YOUR ANCESTRY. Well, dang, more contemplating, thinking, I don’t have any?? So I go to the data base and I study an ancestral chart, 20 generations back. Found: Exum Eley, I even have an Elizabeth Gambling and a Thomas Lear. And that is about the best I can pull out of Moi’s ancestral charts.

Randy, if I stick to the guidelines you set out, I flunked this challenge. So, I gotta ask (tongue in cheek, of course) - - - - - - - -

But, I had fun with the challenge, and reviewing the WO’s “Guide to Screwed Up Names...”

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Go directly to jail, over and over again

Amy, of We Tree, has a weekly challenge for genealogy bloggers, number 43 for this year is “Go directly to jail and talk about your ancestors in the slammer.”

Now, every family researcher will find a few black sheep. Some don’t want to admit to finding them, and I have heard researchers that turn their backs, ignoring the black sheep, not listing them or their difficulties in their data base. Actually black sheep are kinda fun to research, at least there is a possibility of some choice news articles, which may not be said for so many of our ancestors that farmed or worked hard, kept their noses to the grindstones and never made any press except for their death notices (if then). All that said, I have changed the name of my guilty party to “XXX YYYYY”. After all, it is NOT his name that is important, but his story, and some of it is pretty interesting and humorous, if you have a black sense of humor, which I do.

In 1906 we find our first newspaper article about our troubled XXX YYYYY, parts of this very long article follows:

"Judge Wofford in the criminal court... made this statement recently to three young men, each of them 18 years old.


‘It is an absolute certainty that a boy of your age who goes to the penitentiary will come out a crook’, the judge continued. He folded his arms, dropped his head forward and for a minute or two sat in a deep study. The three young men stood in a row before him. They wore good clothes and are rather good looking. They are XXX YYYYY, F. W. and S. H. Each had pleaded guilty to burglary of the home of Mamie Sullivan....


‘XXX’, said the judge to YYYYY, ‘you’ve been here before.’
‘Yes sir.’
‘What were you here for before?’
‘Burglary of a drug store at Fifteenth and Holmes.”
‘Yes, yes. I remember now. And I paroled you then upon your promise to do better. That’s where I made a mistake.’...


Then the judge turned again to YYYYY. The judge moved his chair out to the edge of the judicial bench and beckoned the youthful burglar to him and questioned him. YYYYY said he was the eldest of seven children; that his father worked in a packing house, and his mother was a janitress of a school.


‘Why did you steal?’ asked the judge.
‘I was learning the bricklayer’s trade and mashed my finger up and had to quit work ‘nd I got out of money ‘nd met W. ‘nd he got me to go out and do this job.’
‘Honest, Injun, now how many burglaries have you done in all your life?’ asked the judge.
‘Four altogether’, answered the boy.


The judge took his hand and examined the wounded finger and held it as he looked into his eyes and said:
‘XXX, I like your looks and manner in spite of the fact that you fooled me and broke your promise. I want to give you another chance. Suppose I do, will you go to work and be good?’


‘Honest, I will, judge, I can go back to work right now. I’ll learn that bricklayer’s trade and then you will know I’ll be all right’.
‘I believe you will. Anyway I’ll chance it. I’ll give you a year in jail, and as soon as the weather opens, I will parole you and let you go to work’.”

Despite a compassionate judge, five years later, in 1911, XXX was in trouble again, there are several news articles covering this incident, the final article included:

“Stolen Goods Sell Easily
Merchants Here Are Ready Buyers, a
Thief Told the Grand Jury.
The grand jury this morning spent the greater part of the time examining witnesses in the investigation it is making into the statements made by XXX YYYYY that many Kansas City merchants knowingly, purchased stolen goods. YYYYY is a transfer wagon driver who has been sentenced to two years in the penitentiary for stealing goods off his wagon. It is believed that indictments in this investigation will be returned this afternoon or tomorrow."

In 1913 our XXX really is desperate, as he steals a cow from the soon to be police commissioner. Part of that news article reads:

“Sometime last year a thief stole Mr. O’Dowd’s cow. Mr. O’Dowd was very indignant over the theft and took the detection and apprehension of the thief into his own hands. He found his first clew - - the rope which was on the cow when she was stolen and followed this clew to the end. Something about the end of the rope led him to find the wagon which conveyed the cow from the end of the rope to her destination. By a mysterious system of sleuthing Mr. O’Dowd learned that the wagon tracks led to Crider Brother’s Commission Company. The rest was easy; Crider Brothers easily identified the man who had sold them the cow, and the man was arrested, convicted and sent to the penitentiary for two years."

Just released from jail in 1915 XXX moves from cows to drug stores:

“A BARN THIEF PROGRESSIVE
First XXX YYYYY Stole a Cow;
Now He Robs a Drug Store.
XXX YYYYY, who gained considerable notoriety as the thief of Alvah H. O’Dowd’s cow when the latter was police commissioner, and who was released recently from a 2 years sentence for the theft, again was taken into custody last night in connection with the robbery of H. R. Davis’s drug store at Twenty-third Street and Indiana Avenue. Knives found in his possession by E. C. Kritier and S. B. Harrison, detectives, were identified as having been stolen from the store. A charge of burglary was (??cannot read??) against him by Michael O’Hern.”

From a 1918 newspaper, where our XXX seems to have sunk to new lows:

"XXX YYYYYY Fined $500 for Stealing Fifty Cents from “Poor” Box
XXX YYYYYY, 28 years old, received an unanimous vote in the South Side police court this morning for the “meanest man.” YYYYY was arrested yesterday while coming out of St. Vincent’s Catholic Church, Thirty-first Street and Flora Avenue, after he had broken into the box for contributions for the poor and taken about fifty cents in pennies and nickels. He has a long police record. Judge Joseph P. Kelrnan gave him the maximum fine, $500."

XXX was in trouble again in 1922, arrested once again:

"Police records here show that YYYYY included in his operations highway robbery, theft of a cow, robbery of a drug store, theft of a poor box in St. Vincent’s Catholic church and strong arm jobs. YYYYY, the records show, received a total of nine years in the state prison for his crimes here.”

Seems Judge Wofford was correct, a young man who goes to penitentiary comes out a crook. But can you imagine a 2 year incarceration for stealing a cow??

* We have records for 2 separate incarcerations and source data for the news articles.

** Cow's behind graphic thanks to Webweaver's Free Clip Art.
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A Detroit Legend - - Soupy Sales

OK, if you grew up in the greater Detroit metro area during the 50's (that is the 1950's), you knew Soupy Sales. You ate lunch with him, you watched the pies fly, you rolled on the floor laughing at the antics of Soupy and his White Fang, Black Tooth, Pookie the Lion and maybe the not so famous, Hippy the Hippo (I personally don't remember Hippy).

And all on black and white telie!

Soupy, AKA, Milton Supman was born Janury 8, 1926 and died October 22, 2009.

You will be missed Soupy.

Thanks for the laughs, the corny and innocent humor and the memories.

* A long bio of Soupy can be found at Wikipedia.

**Photo found online at a URL that no longer functions in 2018.
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Treasure Chest Thursday, The Pot Bellied Stove

This pot bellied stove (with FAKE venting pipe, it's just for show folks!) belonged to David Halterman (1876-1965).

He used it to warm one of his chicken houses on the family farm near Bergton, Rockingham County, Virginia.

Another view of the stove. I cleaned it with stove black many years ago.

Below in front is an old iron and a trivet to place that hot iron on. The iron had to be heated by placing it on a stove. There is also a handle to remove the stove lid on the top of this stove. The log slice is a remembrance of the tree that wanted to fall the wrong way, which, just happened to be, towards Man and Moi. I brought it in the house as a reminder to be careful out there with a chain saw and falling trees!

*David is my great-grandfather, I have previously posted about his wife, Ida Matilda Whitmer Halterman and her (?) snuff can.

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Can We Come In Mommy?

One of my favorite photos of the yorkies, taken arond 2000, from the left, Gallagher, Chantilly, Captain Hook, Abagail (gone to the Rainbow bridge 2007).

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Tombstone Tuesday, Mary A Lashbrook

Mary A. Lashbrook was born October 20, 1857 in Illinois and died there on February 20, 1858.  Her birthday is surmised from the death date and age on her tombstone.  Her parents were Moses Lashbrook and Mary Lovely (Mary Lovely's surname is in question and we could write an entire book on Mary Lovely alone.  We have dubbed her Mary of Many Marriages, MOMM for short.  Stay tuned for future posts, we surely will chat about MOMM.)

Mary A. Lashbrook, the subject of this post was buried at the Jerome Cemetery, Harvard, Dunham Township, McHenry County, Illinois.

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Birthday Observances, Wallace Washingon Stow

Wallace Washington Stow or Stowe was reportedly born on October 19, 1855 in Delaware County, Iowa to David H. Stow and his wife Betsy Clark.  (Stated as "reportedly", as I have no birth record for Wallace, family tradition supplies the information.) 

Wallace married Sarah Ann Stuart, daughter of Charles Stuart (also found spelled Stewart) and his second wife Margaret Ann Sharp.)

Wallace reportedly died on April 1, 1933 and is reportedly buried at Graceland Cemetery, Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa.  (Have no death record or verification from the cemetery that he is buried there.)

Wallace and Sarah had two children, Ray R. Stow (1882 to 1949) and Grace Althea Stow (1890 to 1968)  Ray married Rekah Johnson, of whom we know little.  Grace married Frank Arthur Waitman (1888 to 1972). 

Some of the family research that has been so graciously shared with me over the years concerning this family had physical descriptions of many of the family members, Wallace was described as "a small man with a light complexion." *

Wallace, Ray, Grace and Sarah Stow **

Spelling Don't Count: 

Wallace's father's name is spelled as Stow in our data base.  Marriage record of Wallace and Sarah has name spelled as Stow, however the index to marriages for Hamilton County has the name spelled Stowe***.  Ray's World War I Draft Registration has the name spelled as Stow.  On Grace's death certificate, her father's name is given as Stow, and her mother's maiden  name is spelled Stewart.  However, we have Wallace's surname recorded as Stowe in the data base and on the 1910 census enumeration report.

Spelling Don't Count.

*  Libbie Jaquis Ressler, compiler, "Record Book of Stuart, Lashbrook and Jaquis Families" (:, 1923)

** Photo courtesy of  Helen Gallmeyer DeWitt and Janet Jaquis Barnes.

*** Iowa Genealogical Society, compiler, "Hamilton County, Iowa, Early Marriage Records, 1857-1899" (Des Moines, Iowa: Iowa Genealogical Society, May 1983)
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Fall Carpet

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Birthday Observances, Oscar Ira Lashbrook

Oscar Ira Lashbrook was born October 16, 1876 in Butler Center, Butler County, Iowa to Aaron D. Lashbrook and his wife, Amanda Houghton.

Oscar was a butcher in his youth and later farmed his land around Arkansas City, Cowley County, Kansas.

Before 1905, Oscar was married and divorced to a young lady whose full name has not been discovered, her given name was Lena.

On December 29, 1913 Oscar took for his second wife, Luella Wiltsey.  Sadly, Luella died on Juanuary 28, 1917 in Augusta, Butler County, Kansas.

Oscar registered as was required for service in the armed forces during the World War I era.  He registered in September of 1918 and the registration reveals that part of his right thumb had been cut off.

Oscar passed on March 22, 1958 at Arkansas City, Cowley County, Kansas and was buried on the 26th of that month at the Parker Cemetery there.  We have no photos of Oscar, but do have one of his headstone.

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Belva - Ada update, thanks mostly to "hummer", fellow blogger and very kind soul

Thanks to hummer over at Branching Out Through The Years I am able to bring some new information to light on Belva - Ada.

When I wrote the blog about Belva - Ada, I never in my wildest dreams expected someone to go out hunting for her. You can imagine my delighted surprise (and shock) when this AM I woke to find several email messages from hummer informing me that she had located Ada on the 1920 census, with her parents and the marriage record of her parents, plus a few other tidbits. I was really aghast when hummer told  me she had been up till 3 AM searching my Belva - Ada.

So, thanks to hummer I can now report that we know these new facts about Belva - Ada and her heritage:

In 1920 Samuel Riley, age 76 (or 46, according to the indexers), with his wife, Louisa, age 19 and daughter, Ada, age 1 year and 2 months are residing in Vermillion County, Illinois. *

Samuel married Louisa in 1917 in Randolph County Missouri.

There is a baptism for a Samuel Edward Riley in 1867 that we are investigating.

Louisa was Margaret Louisa Thompson, daughter of William Lafayette Thompson and his 3rd wife, Ada Mott. William and Ada had 3 children, Margaret Louisa and 2 sons, William Joseph Thompson and Morgan E. Thompson. In 1910 we find William, Ada, Joseph and Louisa living in Randolph County, Missouri.

William Lafayette Thompson died in Missouri in 1912. It appears that Ada remarried, maybe several times, as we find Ada and Morgan Tompson on the 1920 census in Randolph County Missouri. Ada is shown as the wife of Martin Shawver (this surname is quite hard to read and may be in error). In 1928 we find a marriage for a Ada Shawver to a JR Williams in Randolph County Missouri.

There are several family trees on Ancestry.com where we find William and Ada and their families listed. William’s parents are said to be William J. Thompson and Sarah Ball. Ada’s father is said to be Thomas J. Mott, her mother’s given name is said to be Mary Jane. These family trees give fairly complete dates for the birth and deaths of Margaret Louisa’s siblings, William and Morgan. So far we have found 2 marriages for Morgan and his obituary in 1992.

Thanks to hummer and her curiosity and kindness, I now know a lot more about Belva - Ada and her parents than I did just a short 24 hours ago.  As they say, the search has just begun.

I am having trouble finding words to express my appreciation for hummer's help.  Usually ole Carol has no trouble finding words, I usually find too many.  So, lets keep this sweet and simple.

THANK YOU HUMMER!!

* By the way, on the 1920 census the surname Riley was indexed as Raley on Ancestry.com. Seeing that the 1920 census find was the key to breaking down Belva - Ada’s wall, I humbly point out, that Spelling Don’t Count in Genealogy.
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Three passings, one week, overwhelmed

Just a few hours ago, I was informed of the passing of the 3rd family member in less than a week.  Two were expected, one was not.  Man and I offer our prayers to all the families.  Our hearts are heavy and overwhelmed.

Joseph Robert Simmons, October 8, 1958 to October 10, 2009

Martin Leroy Noland, October 11, 1945 to October 10, 2009

Norvell Preston Trumbo, Jr., April 25, 1923 to October 13, 2009.

May you rest in peace.

Graphics courtesy of Gran Gran (link does not function in 2018).
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Belva - Ada - who are you really, and where did you go?

Belva Mary Riley Lashbrook, on what would have been your 91st birthday, I have to ask, where did you end up?

Belva Mary Riley, father reported to be Samuel Riley according to the records of St. Louis Parish, Kansas City, Missouri was born October 14, 1918, reportedly somewhere in Illinois.

We know her mother to be Margaret Louise (Marie), possibly Riley. Margaret married Malachi Joseph Lashbrook in 1923 in Jackson County, Missouri.

Belva, also found recorded as Ada Belva Riley married Derrel Edward Johnson on August 18, 1934 in Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri. Despite numerous searches, nothing more about Belva is known. A death for one Darrel Edward Johnson was found, he died November 23, 1982 in Kansas City, Clay County, Missouri, his obituary states his wife to be Mrs. Mildred G. Johnson.

No further records of Belva Mary or Ada Belva have been found. We have no photo of Belva/Ada. Oh, Belva/Ada where did you end up? What IS your story?

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