Memories & Musings

This prompt from Generations Cafe had me channeling John Denver...Thank God I'm a Country Girl! I grew up in Gurnee, Illinois, a small farming town north of Chicago, population 3000. It was a 45 mile trip "into the City". My first experience into the city was taking the North Shore train with my Mom and… Continue reading Week 32: In The City

I pondered on this topic from the Generations Challenge of 52 Weeks, 52 Ancestors. On Ancestry.com I did the search to list all people on my tree alphabetically to see if a name would pop out. Names in abundance are BAKER, LANE, LOVEALL, QUIST, and VARNUM among others. I did a bit of research on… Continue reading Week 31: Favorite Name

Horace Bradley Rust, my 2nd cousin, 4 times removed, was born in Danville, Vermont, in 1836. Why do I care to write about him? Because he died in 1850 somewhere along the Pioneer Trail from Iowa to Zion, Utah. He was one of about 600 documented children who died while traveling with their Mormon parents… Continue reading Week 30: Health

I wonder why my ancestors would choose to leave their homes, all that was familiar, and emigrate to the New World, to America? I decided to take a look at when my ancestors came to America and what might have been the motivator based on what was going on in their country at that time.… Continue reading Week 27: Free

In the 70's I did a lot of sewing to keep my family fashionable! Bell-bottoms, crochet vests and hats, leisure suits for men and hip-huggers for women. Stretch and Sew was a popular method of making garments from stretchy polyester material. I took a couple of classes and managed to keep my family of five… Continue reading Week 29: Fashion

"Conflict" brings to mind my ongoing search for a grandparent who served in either the Revolutionary War or the Civil War. I think I may have found a candidate! Capt. Elisha Smith, my 4th great-grandfather, was born January 2, 1755 in Brentwood, New Hampshire. That would make him 20 years old in 1775 when the… Continue reading Week 26: Conflict

Recently I've been writing my blog on Google's Blogger and my topics have been prompted by a challenge word on Generations Cafe: 52 Weeks, 52 Ancestors. With the encouragement and assistance from my daughter, Laura, and granddaughter, Mary, I decided to move my blog over to WordPress. This is my first entry/test on the new… Continue reading Well, This is New

When I was in 4th grade, probably 10 years old, I was fascinated by a picture in my geography book. It was of a city with a plane in the sky. In 1949 a plane flying overhead in my little town was an "event". To think of flying over cities seemed like magic to me.… Continue reading Week 28: Transportation

My favorite group is my immediate family - 3 kids, 6 grandkids, 5 great grands and all their spouses. I'll be spending the next several days with this group so I'll hold off writing about that adventure. We're having a family reunion in Myrtle Creek, Oregon where Grandson Zachary lives. I'm excited to be with… Continue reading Week 25: Groups

This seems like a good time to collect some early memories about my husband, James Edward Weise, father to our three children,  grandfather to 6 and great-grandfather to 5. Jim died at age 78 after a long battle with cancer. He was born in 1935 in Chicago, Illinois to Alice Isabelle Leckie Weise and Otto… Continue reading Week 24 Challenge: Father’s Day