Like Mother, Like Daughter

Copyright 2020, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

I am in a group on Facebook, well, many groups, dealing with genealogy.  The other day a question was asked by one of the administrators, "any photos of your children with their great-grandparents memorials/headstones?" Let me tell you, there were some cute kids grinning from ear to ear in some of those photos. So precious.

I do not, but, I do have these.  It only took me a couple of hours to locate them. They are now linked to my data base properly.

We climb gates when necessary, and yes, we did have permission.  It is a family cemetery and my cousin owns the property it sits on. She has always been kind and considerate about granting me access, even if I did have to gate climb.

We were visiting the Halterman clan, Ida and David, you can see their names on the stone in the photo of me atop the gate. Both visits were in the month of April, 4 years apart.

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National German-American Day

Copyright 2014, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Today is National German-American Day, 2014.  

German-American day, celebrates, in part, German American heritage.  There is a short article about it on Wikipedia.

Man and I both have German heritage.  My lines include, but are not limited to, Halterman, Holsinger, Kessler, Lehman, Argobright (Ergebright).  Man's line include two strong German lines of Gerth and Ruthig, both of which spent a number of years in Canada before actually coming into the thumb area of Michigan.

Man also has the "Gehrke" blood, via his mother, grandfather and great-grandparents.  The clan left Germany in 1888 aboard the J.C. Pfluger bound from Bremerhafen to Honolulu. They lived on the island of Kauai until around 1904 when they moved on to the Oakland California area.  After living through the 1906 San Francisco earthquake the clan moved to Huron County Michigan, one son by 1909, the rest were found on church records in Huron County by the end of 1911.

The patriarch of the Gehrke clan was Karl/Carl/Charles Herman Gehrke.  The matriarch was Charlotte Louise Gruendemann-Grunbaum Gehrke (the story of her maiden name is long and convoluted and no, I am NOT sure it is Gruendemann-Grunbaum.)

Carl about 1910:

Charlotte about 1910:

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Tuesday's Tip :: Here We Are, HERE!

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Tip of the day.  Don't give up and be creative with your search terms.  OK, be SUPER creative with your search terms.

I figured David and Ida HALTERMAN (spelled with an "A" after that "H") were going to be MIA on the 1940 census.  They lived on the farm in Virginia for years!  Have them there for the 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930 census enumerations.  They lived on the same farm basically until they died, he in 1965 and she in 1963.

Virginia was one of the early states that showed up on the FamilySearch index.  I found others I was looking for, just not David and Ida.

I tried a lot of search terms trying to find them, first names, last name only, searched for her, searched for him, searched for one of them with the other name included.  They were not to be found.

Last night, after a LONG weekend of printing the book, ya, that book, I finally finished the first print.  I have more to do, but, I was tired of THE book and decided to reward myself with some genie snooping.  With no goal in mind, just casual snooping, I found some fun things, and posted on Facebook, "Still cannot find David and Ida in the 1940. I still believe I never will."

And, then, because I either felt challenged or David and Ida were screaming, "HERE WE ARE, HERE", I did another search.

This time I searched only Ida, but, put in the county name and the enumeration district name, BAM, there they were.

Not indexed as HALterman, but as, HOLterman, see:

head David Holterman M 64 West Virginia
wife Ida Holterman F 65 West Virginia
daughter Sarah Holterman F 37 Virginia

Of course, I looked at the image, I see the A, not the O, I looked up and down the entire page, what do you think, A or O?  You will note they got David, Ida and Sarah correct, and they all have that A thing going on.

The original full page of this image can be seen here.  Tough call, eh??  I agree.

So, be creative, and remember, "spelling don't count" in genie!  And, snicker, not in indexing either!

*FamilySearch, Facebook and any other web site I may mention here on Reflections have their own copyright issues, I use them, I chat about them, in case of pay sites, I may or may not use them, I may or may not endorse them.  I do not earn any $$ from said mentions, not even a pat on the back from said sites.  That is my disclaimer for the day.
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Yes, I WILL Go Over The Fence For Cemeteries

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Yes, I had permission.  My grandparents, great grandparents, great great grandparents, great great great grandparents and possibly other greats are buried here.

We also ducked barbed wire and this thin wire that we suspect may have been electrical fence??  We were not going to touch to test it though.

Yep, I WILL go over and under fences to visit a family cemetery.  And, I'll go in a rain storm, stomp through tall weeds and grass (checking for ticks later), in heat, in cold, and a lot more.  I can still manage this, and I'll continue until I cannot.

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Treasure Chest Thursday, The Halterman Bottles

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

This small collection of bottles (and one vase) came from my grandmother, Minnie Agnes Halterman Trumbo.  Some of them may have come from her parent's (Ida Matilda Whitmer Halterman and hubby David Halterman) farm.  They have been in my possession for well over 20 years.  Not particularly valuable, but, treasures to me.

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My Priceless Minnie, Women's History Challenge, COG 103

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

The Carnival Of Genealogy traditionally honors women in March each year in conjunction with National Women's History Month.

Thanks to Jasia and Creative Gene for sponsoring the Carnival of Genealogy.  Thanks to footnoteMaven for the poster.

For this issue of the COG I have decided to write a bit more about my grandmother, Minnie Agnes Halterman Trumbo.  I have written bits and pieces about her before here on Reflections.  Remember that wringer washer photo, where she is teaching my two eldest sons how to do laundry, her way??  Maybe you remember my Sentimental Sunday tribute to her and her lovely lillies.

Minnie was born on August 2, 1905 in Rockingham County Virginia and died June 15, 2003 in Broward County Florida. Her ashes are buried in the Halterman Cemetery (on land owned by the Halterman family for well over 150 years) near Bergton, Rockingham County, Virginia.  On July 25, 1923 Minnie married my grandfather, Leonard Homan Trumbo in Frederick, Frederick County, Maryland.

Minnie and Leonard lived and raised their two children in Broadway, Rockingham County, Virginia. Minnie was a great seamstress, working many years in the business, sewing clothes for private clients and doing alterations for a local store's customers.  She also worked in "chickens" for a number of years, when I was quite young she raised baby chicks.  At some point she went to work at the local "egg factory", looking at eggs with light to see if they were appropriate for market.  But, there is no doubt her family and friends in Broadway remembered her for her sewing/stitchery skills.  One distant cousin told me that at one time her closet was filled with beautiful clothes all sown by Minnie.

From left:  My mother, Minnie, my uncle.

For this presentation, I have decided to recite, more or less accurately, the words I spoke at her memorial service, back in Broadway in the Baptist Church.  Originally, when we were advised by the preacher that we could make comments I had thought I would not.  But, at the last minute (well, the last hour), I decided that indeed I did want to say something in her memory.  I started furiously making one-liner notes and elaborated on those one-liners as I stood in front of her friends and family.  What follows are notes I recorded in the written form a few days later, while not a perfect transcription, it is pretty close to what I said that June day in Broadway.  (Note:  Photos were not part of the memorial service.)

"When I was a small child and would be visiting her, she would try to get me to take naps, like any young lady, I did not really want to take those naps, so gramma would "bribe" me by allowing me to take one of her baby chicks to bed with me. Sad to say, a number of those chicks did not survive the afternoon nap.

She lived on the North Fork of the Shenandoah River. I think she loved the river but also feared it, and its power. She constantly warned us to be careful of the river.

From left, Minnie, my grandmother.
Jessie Eloise, my mother.
Moi, holding Son #1 (1st birthday).

Her home had a very long oak stairwell, covered with a long runner, the runner was held in place on each step by a gold bar at the back of each step. She was always warning us to NOT run and to be very careful on those steps. She was always protecting us.

When I was about the age of my nephew, and was learning to drive, I came to visit, she helped me to learn to drive.

When I married and wanted antiques I knew where to come. The Valley is the best place in the world to shop for antiques. I would come with a long list of items I wanted to find. She would drag me around to Clory's (a furniture store), Harrisonburg, New Market as well as every antique store within miles and even to a sale or two. We would find everything on that list, and I would go home with a loaded car.

Minnie and Moi, about 1984

I remember her oven fried chicken. She would cook wonderful HUGE breakfasts, with the best gravy in the world.

She taught me to sew, but she REFUSED to teach me to crochet. She said crochet would ruin my eyes. I learned to crochet however, and also learned cross stitch.

When I would come to visit, she would take me "calling". She would tell me, we have to go visit Pauline, we have to go visit your gramma Halterman. Thanks to her, I met a lot of my relatives.

My twin granddaughters were born in XXXX, Minnie was thrilled with the girls, always wanting photos and bragging on them. She loved them dearly, even tho she never got to meet them.

The last time I saw gramma was in February of last year, when Man and I managed to drag our old trailer to Florida. I called her and asked her if she would like me to come visit, she cried in delight, "WHEN?". I said now. She asked how long it would take me to get to the nursing home. I think she called my mother 5 seconds after I hung up the phone. We had a nice visit over the 2 days that we were there. She told me family stories, and I realized that she still was a little bit "fiesty".

Minnie and Moi, 2002, our last visit.

Now when I lose my temper, I think to myself, I know where that "fiesty" attitude came from, Gramma.

I always have felt that my two grammas gave me different parts of my personality. One was the business side, the other was my country side. Minnie was my country side.

She lived almost 98 years, her mind was clear until almost the end of her life. I could only hope to duplicate that long life and clear mind, and still have a little "fiesty" left, and a little country left in my soul. I hope that I will be as good a gramma to my twin granddaughters, as my gramma was to me."

In retrospect, I believe I know where I got my genie bug, from Minnie.  Oh, could she cook, Man and I both recall huge breakfasts topped off by gravy, fresh green beans with a bit of salty ham for flavoring.  Her oven fried chicken, was to die for, I never could duplicate it.  I also learned about antiques, learned how to sew, and learned some driving lessons that I remember to this day, all from my Gramma.  However, her true gift to me was her unqualified love.

My Minnie, my country gramma.  Priceless to me.



* Even tho Minnie taught me to sew, I never came close to her skills with the needle and sewing machine.

**Reference to sale means an estate sale, most likely an auction.

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Sharing a Slice of Life, The Harvest

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

The challenge at Sharing a Slice of Life this week is "The Harvest".  After some contemplation, I decided to share this photo, even tho it is in horrible condition.

The Harvest:  Carrying bags of walnuts,
ready to be shucked by David.

To the left is my great grandfather, David Halterman. (Middle is my brother, right, Moi.)

David was born 16 Mar 1876 in Brocks Gap, Hardy County, West Virginia.   He died 15 Nov 1965 in Harrisonburg, (Rockingham County), Virginia.  I remember him well. I have fond memories of this old farmer with the largest hands, fingers and knuckles I had ever seen.  I always figured he worked hard and that was why his hands and fingers were so large, I suppose he could have had arthritis, I will have to ask my mother about that.

I was raised in Michigan, but we made trips back to Rockingham County to visit my grandparents, great grandparents and other kin.  I loved most everything about those trips (except trying to fall asleep those hot muggy summer nights pre-air conditioning days), the smells of a particular weed (still have no idea what that weed is called, but, I have rarely found it in Michigan, odd thing, when I have found it, it is growing in cemeteries).  But, I digress, as I frequently do - -

I loved the mountains, the Shenandoah Valley and River, and I have lots of memories of visiting David and his wife, Ida Matilda (nee Whitmer) Halterman at the "farm".  I felt (as I still do) the pull of my ancestors home lands, my family roots here go back a LONG time, way before 1800.  This is my heart's home.

David would gather walnuts and shell and shuck them.  He always had a small linen bag full of them for his grandchildren.  They were delish!  And, we were always warned, be careful, there may be some shells mixed in with the nutmeats.  Those shells would be sharp, and could break a tooth if you chomped down too hard.

Another strong memory is of Ida's dinner table.  She grew an extensive garden and canned and "put up" so much of it.  She canned, she pickled, she made jellies and jams.  When she had company, she pulled out all the stops and ALL the varieties of vegies she could dig out of the garden or her stash of canned goods.  She would FILL a large table with bowls of all these goodies, bowls and bowls of vegies.  And, one small (maybe 2) platter of some kind of meat.  I can honestly say, I have never seen anything like it since.  So many vegies!!  I wish I had a photo of that table to share.

The harvest in Rockingham County, rich in walnuts, vegies and poignant and vivid memories, and one photo in less than stellar condition.

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December 7th, the Day of Infamy and Birthday Observances, Geneva Florence Halterman

December 7, 1941, the "date which will live in infamy…”, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  According to an article found at Wikipedia, "Ninety minutes after it began, the attack was over. 2,386 Americans died... a further 1,139 wounded. Eighteen ships were sunk or run aground, including five battleships."

While deciding what I might write about today, I did what I frequently do, checked my data base for births for the day.  There are a number of relatives distant and interesting that happened to have been born on December 7th.  Then I saw the perfect relative to talk about today, on the 68th remembrance of Pearl Harbor.  My great-aunt Geneva Florence Halterman.

Geneva was the first born child of David Halterman and Ida Matilda Whitmer Halterman.  Geneva was born on December 7, 1900 in Bergton, Rockingham County, Virginia.  Some of you may remember my posts about the Whitmer cradle on August 26th, Where oh where is that photo??  and September 5th, Where oh where is that photo, FOUND, that is where!!  Geneva was the first baby to have rested in that cradle.

Geneva received a master's degree from the University of Virginia, and conducted doctoral studies at Columbia University in New York and George Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee.

During World War II Geneva served as a German translator in the Army Memorial Division in Washington, D. C., and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 


Geneva never married; hated thistles with a passion (passed down to me); assisted with the gathering of information for a Halterman family history, "Genealogical Record, Ancestors and Descendants of Christian Halterman of Hardy County Virginia, now West Virginia", compiled by H. Gamble Grady (shows an interest in saving the family history - - passed down to me); and was quite the story teller (maybe passed down to me??  I would be so humbled and honored).  Man and I both remember with much fondness her unique way to tell story, always interesting and always with her eyes closed!  She would close her eyes, tip her head back a bit and start remembering.  Gosh, we miss her story telling.

 
Geneva lived her last years in the home of her parents, the home of her birth.  She died May 24, 1983 in Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, Virginia.  She was laid to rest in the Halterman Family Cemetery with her parents.
 
I never heard Geneva talk about her birthday being the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbor, it would have had to made a lasting memory, don't you think??

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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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How many ancestors did you "meet" ?

Well Randy Seaver is at it again, challenge time for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.

Here is your challenge for tonight (or whenever you read this):

1) Write down which of your ancestors that you have met in person (yes, even if you were too young to remember them).

2) Tell us their names, where they lived, and their relationship to you......

While compiling the list, I realized I had written blogs about most of these people, see links. Cept for Ida’s, hers is, well, maybe, sorta about her.

I have color coded the relationships, Blue for Father's lineage, Red for Mother's lineage.

Father: Donald Eugene Bowen, born Virginia, lived many years in Michigan, died in South Carolina.

Donald’s Father (my grandfather): Hayden Eugene Bowen, born Georgia, lived most of his live around Norfolk Virginia where he died.

Hayden’s Father (my great-grandfather): Joseph Eugene Bowen, born Georgia, lived many years in both Georgia and Virginia, died Georgia. I could have met him, we were both alive at the same time, with just a month or so overlap, I seriously doubt I ever met him. So, I won’t count him.

Donald’s Mother (my grandmother): Florence Ruth Dews Bowen, born Virginia, lived in Virginia and North Carolina, died in North Carolina.

Florence’s Mother (my great-grandmother): Lorena Estelle Eley Norsworthy Dews Harlow Lenahan Collins (ya still with me here???), born, lived and died in Virginia.

Mother’s Father (my grandfather): Leonard Homan Trumbo, born, lived and died in Virginia.

Mother’s Mother (my grandmother): Minnie Agnes Halterman Trumbo, lived most of her life in Virginia, moved to Florida where she died.

Minnie’s Father (my great-grandfather): David Halterman, born West Virginia, lived and died in Virginia

Minnie’s Mother (my great-grandmother): Ida Matilda Whitmer Halterman, born West Virginia, died Ohio.

How many of my ancestors did I meet, 8. Cannot count Joseph. I have written about 7 of these ancestors on my blog since April. Sorta, cause of Ida’s entry.

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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??

Ancestor Birthday Celebrations, Minnie Agnes Halterman Trumbo

Minnie was born on August 2, 1905 in Rockingham County Virginia and died June 15, 2003 in Broward County Florida. Her ashes are buried in the Halterman Cemetery (on land owned by the Halterman family for well over 150 years) near Bergton, Rockingham County, Virginia.

This photo, is another "Lookie what I found". I do not remember having it. But, I am so glad to have re-discovered it. My grandmother, Minnie Agnes Halterman Trumbo, teaching Son # 2 (on the left), and Son # 1 (on the right), how to do laundry in a ringer washing machine, in her basement in Rockingham County Virginia. July 1979.



Wow, what a blast from the past, and no caught fingers on those precious hands.

Minnie's memorial at Find A Grave is here. Part of what I said at her memorial service is found there.

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Ida's Snuff Can, mmmmm, maybe not

This is what I was told is Ida's snuff can.

Ida was my great grandmother, Ida Matilda Whitmer Halterman, born December 9, 1874 near Upper Cove, Hardy County, West Virginia. She died November 28, 1963 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. She is buried in the family cemetery on the family farm near Bergton, Virginia. She had lived on this family farm for most of her life. She was visiting her daughter, Sarah in Cleveland when she died.

During my many visits to the Shenandoah Valley I collected some family heirlooms, some old and well used, others, not so.

I know it does not look like much and I have no idea why I really wanted it. But, I did and my grandmother, Minnie, Ida's daughter gave it to me.

A few years ago I decided to photo my family treasures, including the photos in my family history data base. I have linked to the person who owned them, and have a special fact linked to Moi in which I show all the photos, sorta an inventory of heirlooms.

When I got to the snuff can, I took a lot of photos, it is small, I am not so good with macro photography, it took a lot of photos to get a few good ones. I wanted the top, the back, the front. When I got to the back, really looking at the snuff can in close detail I discovered, BAR CODES!!

Bar codes, say what?? Off to the internet I run, google Bar Codes, and in minutes I am discovering that they did not appear on products sold till around the first of the 1970's. Interesting reading on the history, try Wikipedia.

At this point, I seriously doubt this was Ida's snuff can, don't you?

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