Memories From the Past, The Mountain Road and That One HUGE Step

Copyright 2018, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

When I was a wee bit of a child, sometimes my parents, but usually, my mother, would take us to Virginia and North Carolina during the summer to visit my grandparents. 

This was before you could drive hard for one 12 hour day and get from our home in SE Michigan all the way to Rockingham County Virginia.  It used to take us 2 days to drive that route.  I remember the Ohio Turnpike (built between 1949 - 1955), and the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  As wonderful as those turnpikes were, they were not the same as they are now.  Now the tops of several mountains have been blown off and trucked away, doing away with several tunnels.  But, basically the pikes were and are the pikes, 4 lane highways, limited access and "service plazas".

This was, however, before the 4 lane wonder known as I-70 went from Breezewood to near Harrisburg. I-70 between Breezewood and Harrisburg opened around 1964 from what I have been able to determine. This was also before I-81 went through the Shenandoah Valley. I-81 was built between 1957 and 1987.

During our trips I remember driving Route 11,  which runs basically parallel to I-81 for many miles in West Virginia and Virginia. Route 11 was a two or three lane highway.  I am fairly sure we jumped on Route 11 around Winchester, Virginia.  We took Route 11 south into Rockingham County.

The route between Breezewood and Winchester was unclear, as in, my mother, nor I can remember the route numbers.  So after several hours of research, and chatting with friends, I feel it is likely that when we got off the Pennsylvania Turnpike that we drove the PA 126, to 643 to 522, through the towns of Hancock, Berkley Springs West Virginia and Winchester Virginia where we connected to Route 11.

And, I remember the trailer home on the top and side of a mountain somewhere between Breezewood, Pennsylvania and Winchester, Virginia.  This was basically a two lane highway at that time.  The roads twisted and turned up and down the mountains.  This is not the Rockies, but, mmmmmm, if you went off the side one could still get rather beat up, and mmmmm, hurt.

Yes, I remember that trailer home, and let me tell you, it was right on the very edge of the mountain.  What I remember, correct or not, was that the back door of this trailer opened and there was a drop straight to the ground, as there was no deck or porch or stoop or anything.  Just air!  OK. Lots of air!  The door hung over the mountain side, eh??  Every time we drove by that trailer home we would gasp in amazement, and my mother would say, in wonder and with a bit of a black sense of humor (hmmm, like mother/like daughter?), "Can you imagine, stepping out that back door after a few drinks?  That would be a doozy of a first step!"

And, every time we asked that question, we would go to a fit of giggiles.

Ah, the memories - -

* (No, that is NOT Tana, in case you were wondering!   LOL)

** Image of trailer thanks to Pixaby and  Wokandapix.

*** Image of I-70 thanks to Wikipedia.  (Link broken as of October 2018)

**** Yes, I am aware that highways that were 2 lane become 4.  Four lanes may become 6 or 8.  As our population and traffic increase, so do the lanes.  So, what I refer to as a 2 to 3 lane highway, may in fact now be many more lanes.  This is a piece on memories, eh??  Happy travels.

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Spelling Don't Count, I Love Accents in Writing

Copyright 2018, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

1880 U.S. Census, 45th District, Bulloch County, Georgia.

May I draw your attention to Hesachier, errr, Hezekiah.

Now, try speaking the name Hezekiah only add a southern drawl.  Yea, that's it!

We will note that you can find this 14 year old's grandfather on the same census, same county, and his name is recorded as Hesachiah Bowen.

(Now the story on me, it only took me 6 months to figure this out.  Ya, really!)




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Memory Triggers - - The Call to Dinner

Copyright 2018, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

One summer day Man was out having a walkabout at the stick built while I was cooking dinner.  When I went to call him in for the feast (ok, for the meager offering I had burnt up on the stove top),  I had one of those memory trigger moments - - -

In my mind's eye, I saw and heard my grandmother, Minnie Trumbo, calling my grandfather, Leonard to lunch.  They lived on the banks of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River and he worked right across the street out of the foundry building.  (This photo of the foundry was taken sometime in the early 1960's, estimated.  This is how I remember the property.  In earlier years there was a second building to the right of this one.)

She would prepare his lunch, and then go out in the yard (funny, I don't remember if she went out the back or front) and hollar, and I do mean, hollar, at the top of her lungs, in a rather high pitched tone

"L-E-O-A-R-D-D-D-D"

I actually don't even remember the words she used, maybe, "D-I-N-N-E-R".

What I remember was that hollering loud and long and high pitched voice, a sound I have no recording of, except in my memory.

A very good memory.



* This post was originally written in 2012, but, never finished.  As part of the consolidation process that is ongoing here at Reflections, it is now done!  The bonus of not publishing in '12, I did not have this specific photo of the foundry until 2017.  That worked out well, eh?

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"Feeding the Ducks"

Copyright 2018, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Back in 2013, I started writing the weekly meme,  "The Book of Me, Written By You".  I did not finish the challenge, I did save the prompts, this is one.  That said - - You too can be part of this experiment/experience, there is more information here, and at this Facebook page.  The beauty of this kind of challenge/meme, is that you can write when you want, think about it, not publish, and go back to it years later and contemplate it all over again.

Prompt 37 . This week's prompt is - Feeding the Duck

Think back to your childhood. Did you feed the ducks?  Not that I remember.
(Balance of questions not answered, as they did not apply or I chose to ignore.)

That said, I do remember my dad coming home from hunting trips, duck and goose hunting.  (Ya, I went there.)

Dad in the middle, his hunting buddies on right and left.  This, I believe was about 1960ish.  It is a polaroid photo, see the left side, tell tale perforations.

I suppose someone ate duck and goose, but, I don't remember doing so.  Nope.

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52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 4: "Invite to Dinner"

Copyright 2018, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

2018, and I am giving a shot at Amy Johnson Crow's "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" project. Due to time and internet connectivity issues, I am keeping my responses rather short.  Now, if you think this looks long, well, it's a cheat short.  LOL I am simply updating a prior post.

I did a challenge meme for the Book of Me, Written by You, back in January of 2014. When I saw this weeks meme, I went right back to that post. First to review what I wrote. Second to see if ANY of those peeps would still be on the invite list. Yea, they still are, ALL of them. So, I am going to use that list again and will make any additional comments/changes/discoveries/further frustrations in red.

For a family dinner, I would invite:

1. Archibald Norman Lashbrook, aka Arthur Norman Stevens, Sr. My favorite research dude, and oh, I have questions for him! Like, what is this second marriage to Dorothy Davis? She is a mystery lady. And, that FBI report I got with so much marked out with large black marker. What is THAT all about? Oh, and that uniform photo, IS that Civil Defense or not? I have some other pointed questions for you my dear, we have a lot of chatting to do.

2. Edna May Fenton Stevens. Wife of Arthur Normal Stevens, Sr. Ok, Edna, where WERE you between 1901 and 1918? Hmmmm? Did you marry someone, like I suspect, but, cannot prove? We will be having a very long chat too.  I have recently discovered that Edna did in fact marry in Nova Scotia, read all about it here.  

3. Charles Gratton Trumbo. WHO is your daddy? And, by the way, where and exactly when DID you marry?? And, why is it that neither your birth or your marriage are recorded ANYWHERE???? We do have this tidbit about your marriage, derived from two of your daughter's delayed birth certificates.  In case you cannot read it, it says, date and place of marriage was 1/16/1895 at the home of John F. Driver.

4. Anna Susan Holsinger Trumbo, wife of Charles Gratton Trumbo. How many family Bibles did you have? Truth now. Those dates recorded in what was represented as your family Bible, I am not buying all that. Why didn't you record the births of some your children with the civil authorities? And, that reported twin, that all the family says you had, the twin that died at birth. You did not record anything about that in your Bible. Why not?

5. Joseph Eugene Bowen. SOOO, you have lots to tell me, and I am ready to listen. And, ohhh, Joseph, did you EVER have a photo taken of yourself? You did not die until 1948, there just HAS to be at least one photo somewhere. So, where is it? I think I have figured out why you died in Savannah Georgia and not near Norfolk Virginia where you lived the later years of your life, but, wow, what a chase you led me on.

6. Richard Lashbrook. Your story is another of my favorites. Born in England, died in McHenry County Illinois at the age of 88. Now, I know that there must have been a photo of you as well. You did not leave this side of the gates until 1882. You seemed to have done pretty well for yourself once you reached Illinois, I believe there was enough coin laying around for a visit to the local photographer.

7.) Ann Newcombe Lashbrook, wife of Richard. How many children DID you bear? And, where were the last several that family tradition names, but, for which I find NO records, no church, no civil, no nothing! I would love to give Jacob and Elizabeth some substance in my data base. And, mmm, same question for you, where is your photo?

8.) William N. Lashbrook, son of Richard and Ann. Wanna let loose with the name that goes with that middle initial "N"? And, I know this is hard for you to tell me, but, mmm, where are you buried? No headstone, eh??  I do have the following obituary for William, and until something further comes up, I am going with he is buried at the Willow Lawn Cemetery, Plainfield, Bremer County, Iowa.  

     From the Waverly Democrat, Waverly, Bremer County, Iowa, published May 21, 1891, page 4, column 4:

          "Wm. Lashbrook, brother of Thomas Lashbrook, of this city, died at his home in Plainfield, Iowa, on Sunday night.  Deceased was born in Devonshire, England, March 27, 1826, his age being 65 years 1 month and 20 days.  He moved to America with his parents when a small boy and settled in Clinton county, New York.  From there he moved to Illinois, and afterward to Madison, Wisconsin, coming to Iowa and settling in Bremer county in 1858.  His death was caused by la grippe.  He leaves a wife and two children, two boys and two girls, to mourn his loss.  The funeral services were held at his residence in Plainfield, on Tuesday, May 20th, the Rev. Mr. Sanford officiating.  The remains were interred in Plainfield cemetery."  [Note:  this is the only reference to the place William's remains were interred that I have found.]

9. Richard Lashbrook son of Richard and Ann, brother to William N. When did you die? Where did you die? Where are you buried? And, which plats of land were yours in McHenry County? Real difficult to determine with land grants and such. A "Junior" would have been VERY helpful, eh? Did you make the move to Iowa with your brothers and sister?

10. Catherine "Kate" Dove Fawley. We need to have a bit of a chat too. Just WHERE did you die and why is there no record of it that I have been able to discover? And, while we are at it, where are you buried? I have a few other questions about your relationship with the father of Charles Gratton Trumbo, yep, I wanna scoop the, well, mmmm, dirt.  We have been able to more or less figure out you died sometime in 1889, thanks in part to some genie angels providing a transcript of "Church Proceeding Singers Glen Circuit UB Church for Conference year of 1889."  The transcript in part reads (only part because I am not sure of copyright issues):

     "Broadway Feb. 11th 1890.  Called to order by Pastor J.D.D.  ... the roll was called and all members passed favor with the following references, name No. 10 Sister Kate Fawley had died in the year.  So far as evidence could be gathered She died in Peace and hope of Salvation through Jesus Christ."

11. William Kessler. AKA, Wilhelm Kessler, and possibly AKA William Henry or Henry. WHERE did you go? The land records dry up, I never did find you on the 1840 census as a head of household. Ditto for the 1850 census, no William anywhere. No death records, no burial records, no newspaper notices, nothing. No guardianship records have been found concerning your two daughters. WHERE are you?

12. Susan Miller Kessler, wife of William. You go missing as well. And, just WHO is YOUR daddy? And, of course, since I am asking, who is your momma? What happened to you Susan? What is your story?

So, as you can see, I did make a few chips in the walls.  Chip, chip.  Review, review.  Chip, chip.

I was not going to chat about what to serve, but, on reading my piece from 2014, I have to say, YEA!! THIS!! SO:

So, what shall we serve? Well, how bout we do not serve bull. I have had all the bull I want to eat for some time. SOOO, I think this dinner shall become a cocktail party, with lots of finger foods. You can talk around finger foods better than a heavy full 7 course meal. I shall offer many choices of drink, but, since I want a bit of "loose lips sinks ships" attitude, I sure hope you all like a good strong whiskey. Just saying, it is time we talk and I am not shy about taking whatever steps may seem necessary to get to the truth!

#52ancestors

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52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 3: "Longevity"

Copyright 2018, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

2018, and I am giving a shot at Amy Johnson Crow's "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" project. 

So, the third challenge is "Longevity".

Here is my take on longevity.  From my data base software, a Statistics Report produces the following information and LOTS more.  These sections concern longevity.

After looking at these numbers, I am going to have to go review those "longest" male and female lifespan peeps.  I do have a few that I am fairly sure died when over 102 years of age.  But, seriously, 104 and 106?  OHHH, review time!

#52ancestors
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"Technology"

Copyright 2018, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Back in 2013, I started writing the weekly meme,  "The Book of Me, Written By You".  I did not finish the challenge, I did save the prompts, this is one.  That said - - You too can be part of this experiment/experience, there is more information here, and at this Facebook page.  The beauty of this kind of challenge/meme, is that you can write when you want, think about it, not publish, and go back to it years later and contemplate it all over again.

This week's prompt is - Technology
What technology changes did your ancestors see?
What technology changes have you seen?
Did your family own one of those early changes? - such as television
Do you like or dislike technology?
What do you think has been the best technological change in your lifetime and historically?

(Note: I may or may not publish these prompts publicly, and I may or may not answer each portion of the prompt.)

My grandparents were born between 1895 and 1905.  I know for a fact that one grandmother lived on a road that was not paved for many years, when she was young they went to town via horse and buggy on a dirt road which at certain times of the year was barely passable.  Today that road is a 2 lane paved road, curvy and scenic and easy to drive.

All of my grandparents saw the beginnings of the automotive industry, they saw air travel.  All of my grandparents lived long enough to see the first manned space flight (early 1961).

I witnessed the beginnings of the computer industry and owned a early cell phone (sometime in the early 1980's, to the best of my recollection).  It cost a small fortune, same as now.  It was large and quite heavy.  When we did use it, we were very careful to make the calls short and sweet and necessary.  Not necessary, no calls.  It was quite hard to find connections in those days, yes, even more difficult than it can be today.  It was NOT a bag phone, nor a "shoe" phone like Don Adams used as Maxwell Smart.

On the computer front, Man and I have had so many computers, we lost count.  I do remember that the first one we owned was a Vic 20, by Commodore.  Since then, I have had Windows desk tops and Windows lap tops computers. I used Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP, Vista, 7 and 8.1 . I may have used a few earlier versions I have not listed.  Until last fall, when I jumped ship and went to my first Apple computer.

It is a well known fact that I have a love/hate relationship with all things techy.  When technology works and interacts the way I think it should, I am good.  If it is laborious and has weird functionality, I am not so good. All that said, nope, cannot live without it. And, have no desire to either.

The best technological change in my life time would be the Internet and all it entails, the good, the bad and the truly ugly.  The good, the connections with family and staying connected, the research abilities.  The bad, spam, bots, phishing, etc.  Truly ugly, those that rip off seniors and interfere with political systems world wide.

* Image of shoe phone and Don Adams, is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1923 and 1977 without a copyright notice.  Per Wikipedia.

** Sourcing for cartoon, I'm sorry, I cannot read it in this poor screen capture I did years ago.  I am always amazed at what I have captured.  As a researcher, I am disappointed in myself when the sourcing is MIA.  SIGHHH . Fail Carol, total Fail!

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Ask yourself 20 times “Who are you?”:: Five Years Later

Copyright 2018, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Back in 2013, I started writing the weekly meme,  "The Book of Me, Written By You".  I did not finish the challenge, but, I have the prompts saved, and hope that maybe soon, I can address more of them.  I really need to spend a lot more time here at Reflections.  That said - - You too can be part of this experiment/experience, there is more information here, and at this Facebook page.

I may or may not publicly share what I write each week.

This weeks prompt is a recognized psychology test: Ask yourself 20 times “Who are you?” Each time you should give yourself a different answer, and if you can easily go beyond 20 entries then that is fine too. This prompt is about how YOU see YOU.

What you will see here, are my responses from 2013.  On review, I felt many were still fairly accurate, maybe even right on. And, some were not, 5 years after all is a lot of days, a lot of events, a lot of changes. You will also see some "line outs" with new, 2018, responses written afterwards.  To compare - - -

Here we go, I am:

1.)  Woman, and all that entails!  You figure it out!  LOL

2.)  Wife, mother, sister, child, grandmother, mother-in-law, family member.

3.)  Lover of antiques and family heirlooms.

4.)  Diabetic, I call it the Demon.  I think it is spot on descriptive.

5.)  RVer!  See # 19 and # 20.

6.)  Family researcher.

7.)  Teller of stories, some true, others???  You be the judge.

8.)  Verbose and one who is frequently accused of being an exaggerator.  Admit readily to verbose.  Not so readily admit to exaggerator, even if it is true.

9.)  Wanna be photographer.   Frustrated artist.

10.) Quiet about my political stands and belief, but, not quiet about my belief in the power of prayer, positive thinking and my Maker.

*  2018 . OK, lots has changed in 5 years on the political front. And, so have I.  I may have reverted to my youth, the anger of the 1960's and 1970's.   Those hippy days.  Only now, I have something I had little of in the 60's and 70's.  Time.  Time to research.  And, something else I did not have.  The internet.  And, for those who are friends over on Facebook, I have rants and opinions, which I have on occasion shared on my personal wall and in discussions on others walls. (Just once or twice, mind you - - tongue in cheek - - sarcasm intended.)

11.)  Lover of color, bold color is best.  Purple is the bestest of all!

12.)  Lover of yorkshire terriors, yorkies.

* 2018 . Since I wrote the first time, we lost several of our fur kids, and have a new one, Winston.  He has his own Facebook page, Winston's Wonderful Wanderings.

13.)  Badger, as in tenacious.   Not a quitter.

* 2018.  Not sure this still applies, at least not full strength.  It's been a tough few years.  I think the badger has a weird sense of humor, just sayin.

14.)  Strong believer in volunteerism, believing strongly in giving back and paying it forward.  (Thank those that volunteer and give it more than 1000%. Thank them again.)

* 2018.  For now, I have resigned from almost all of my volunteer jobs.  There are days, I am so sorry that I am not in a place right now that I can help others as I used to. HOWEVER, I still value those that volunteer and help others.  Special people those volunteers, and done with so much love.  Thank you always!

15.)  Your true blue friend, but, as a personality flaw, don't lie to me, cause, I then I will have trouble continuing being your true blue friend.  Yep, HUGE personality flaw.  I can take the truth, even ugly truth, I don't do lies.

* 2018.  Also not a fan of sexual predators, bullies and racists.  Stated in no particular order. See # 10, above.

16.)  Lover of techy, hater of techy.

* 2018 . The computer these days is a Mac.  I went to the other side.

17.)  Sometimes a gardener, must have my house plants with me, even when we travel.

*2018 . I am finding I am a fan of orchids.  Who knew??  I just purchased another, if I had more room in Tana - - - - - there were two at the store I went wild over - - -

18.)  Crafter, sometimes, sorta.

*2018,  mmmmm. even less than 2013.

19.)  Lover of water, ponds, lakes, oceans, waterfalls.  Especially waterfalls.

* 2018  OK, I still love waterfalls, but, I have become more and more enamored with mountains.  Particularly, mountains in the west. The more time we have been blessed to visit the west during winters, the more I love mountains.  Make em red and you have me heart and soul!

20.)  Lover of history, small town USA, peanut butter, U.S. National Parks, state parks cross the nation, peanut butter, (ooo, said that one already), libraries, archives.

* 2018 I am a supporter of the Alt National Park movement.  See # 10 above . Yes, again!

All this and more, some call me brave and adventurous, but, don't be taking me on a tram, especially the one in Palm Springs California.




*Graphic found somewhere on the internet several years ago, source data long lost.

** I find it interesting, and weird, that the first part of the list, basically remained the same. When I got down to # 10, stuff started morfing.  Hmmmm???

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52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 2: "Favorite Photo"

Copyright 2018, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

2018, and I have expressed interest in Amy Johnson Crow's "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project.  Then, I thought, Oh, my! WHY??  Well, partly because it's a great project.  Partly because I really am interested in keeping this blog alive, instead of gasping for breath.  At this point, due to the ongoing consolidation project and other stuff (like horrible and slow internet connectivity), the posts may be "short and sweet".  Well, short, anyway.

So, the second challenge is "Favorite Photo",

So, I have lots of favorite photos, but, I will restrain myself.

This photo may be my all time fav.  Until I find another.  LOL

Above, Monument Valley, my office view, taken out of the window at my desk in Tana.  I seriously, could have stayed right there, in that campsite at that window, oohing and ahhing at this view for months.  

However, since this is supposed to be a genie type challenge, I shall nominate this photo.  It is not an ancestor, but, my descendants, the grand twins.  They are sitting in the "ancestor" part of the story.  

Above, the Whitmer cradle.  Crafted around 1900 by Sellestine Whitmer.  He made it for his daughter, Ida Matilda Whitmer Halterman. Ida was expecting her first child. It is solid walnut.  

Five generations have slept in this cradle.  I have photographic proof of three, Moi, at least 2 of my sons and my grandtwins, as seen above.  I have blogged about it several times in the past. If you are interested, I direct you to the search box (top left of this blog) and type in Whitmer Cradle.

#52ancestors

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52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 1: "Start"

Copyright 2018, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

2018, and I have expressed interest in Amy Johnson Crow's "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project.  Then, I thought, Oh, my! WHY??  Well, partly because it's a great project.  Partly because I really am interested in keeping this blog alive, instead of gasping for breath.  At this point, due to the ongoing consolidation project and other stuff (like horrible and slow internet connectivity), the posts may be "short and sweet".  Well, short, anyway.

So, the first challenge is "Start", I choose to remember how I began this genie journey back about 1991.

With these two!!

Son # 1 and Man's mother. One summer while on break from University of Michigan (go Blue), Son # 1 and his grandmother started recording their family lines.  When he returned to college, he handed the project to me, with a, "well, do something or not with this, here it is, for what it is worth".

And, an addict was born.

The "Start".




#52ancestors

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