HollingsworthRobbinsFamilyTree

Why My Mother-In-Law Used 629 On Her Luggage Locks

2012-01-21T13:25:00.000-06:00

My mother-in-law Fannie Harriet Love Robbins (1901-1987) used 629 for her luggage combination locks when traveling in her later years after she retired from teaching. I did not know the significance of 629 until I began researching her life in genealogy.

Ken, Fannie, and Robbie Robbins about 1948 before Robbie passed away on May 6th

629 is significant because it was the marriage date to her only husband, William Augustus Robbins, on June 29, 1929 at First Baptist Church (American) in Syracuse, NY until his death on May 6, 1948 in Islip, NY where they lived on Rose Street and Grant Avenue. His death was due to a perforated bowel obstruction. He spent 10 days at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, NY. They were married for 18 years, 10 months, and 7 days.

Fannie had taught home economics in central and western New York, in smaller towns south of Rochester, NY including Cooperstown, NY before she married. She also had been a 4-H sponsor in several small towns in central NewYork. Her degree was a bachelor of science in home economics from Syracuse University in May of 1925.

Fannie Harriet Love, Cooperstown, NY about 1926

During her marriage to William Augustus Robbins, she worked as a family case worker, home economics substitute in many school districts in the Islip, NY area, a census enumerator for the U.S. Census in 1930 and 1940, and a pet enumerator for the state of NY. Fannie also was the bookkeeper for her husband's civil engineering/land surveying business. She was a PTA President at Ken's Islip Elementary School and President of the American Legion Auxiliary.

She became a second grade teacher by returning to Syracuse University for two summers while living at her parents' second home on Madison Street after her husband's death. She taught for almost 20 years in the Hauppauge, NY school district as a second grade teacher before retiring.

In 1951 Fannie began traveling abroad with a trip to visit her friends Christy and Judge William H. Roberts in Germany, France, and England. She would continue with many flights and cruises to all parts of the world in the next 20 years.

Fannie's 1951 Passport, pages 8-9. The right side of the passport page shows Fannie was accepted by the German immigration authorities to enter Germany.

She bought a new set of three suitcases that nested inside each other when she began overseas traveling. Each had the same 3-part dial combination lock. Her son, my husband Ken, told me the numbers on the locks were all the same: 629. He did not know the significance of the numbers until I discovered Fannie and William's (Robby's) wedding date in my early days of genealogy. Then it became clear about the importance of that date in Fannie's mind and her use on her luggage. After Fannie passed away, we became the owners of her luggage and continued to use the set until we donated it to charity about 10 years ago. My only regret is that I did not take a picture of Fannie's set of luggage. It was a black leather-like set with red and yellow banding around the lid of each piece.

Ken told me one story that happened many years before TSA. Someone figured out her combination before a flight to visit relatives in Florida and removed a knife that she planned to use in the family's kitchen in Florida. The official wrote her a note that explained that he/she removed the knife from her luggage.

I doubt that anyone would be given a note of explanation today. Sometimes my checked luggage has been opened and rifled through, but nothing has been taken since I try my best to not put anything of value in my checked bags.

I am grateful to my husband Kenneth Charles Robbins for sharing many of the facts with me that are not able to be documented.

Google+ Presents Problems with Google Picasa Web Albums

2012-01-20T10:23:00.000-06:00

I havehad to work through several problems and processes to possess, retain, and usethe best options for my needs to send my online Google Picasa Web Albums tofamilies and friends since upgrading to Picasa Version 3.9 with Google+.

I wastoo quick to subscribe to Google+ on my laptop that offers the new PicasaVersion 3.9 without realizing the consequences of my rush. I did not realize thatI would not be able to send Picasa Web Albums to family and friends via email,not be able to post Picasa Web Albums to Facebook, or not be able to export myPicasa Web Albums to my desktop. If you find that my assessment is incorrect, please let me know.

Theonly option given to Google Picasa Google+ users is to send a Picasa Web Albumto circles of friends at Google+.

Atfirst, I was frustrated and decided I would delete my Google+ membership.However, when I read the consequences of removing my Google+ membership, Idecided against that move.

On January 8 on my Facebook page, Iwrote, “Anyone else dissatisfied with Google+ and the fact that if you usePicasa for maintaining your photographs, if you upgrade to Picasa 3.9, you losethe ability to easily locate your Picasa Web Albums?

Instead, pictures will show bydefault in Google+. For this reason, I thought I would downgrade my Google+account, not delete it.

Read the following explanation fromGoogle+ Help to understand why I do not want to choose Option 3. Instead, Iwill choose Option 1 or 2 and hope that will keep my Picasa web folders where Iwant them. Go to: http://support.google.com/plus/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1044503&rd=1
Downgrade from Google+ - Google+ Help

“If you want to disable Google+, you have several options,ranging from temporary to permanent.

Option 1: Change your profile visibility settings to hideeverything except your name and photo from public view. With this option, youcan hide the content that appears on your profile without deleting or losingaccess to anything you've already created. The stuff you've shared will stillbe accessible by those you shared with.

Option 2: Downgradeyour Google+ account, which will delete your profile and remove your Google+posts, circles, and other content. You'll still be able to access Gmail andmost other Google services.

Option 3: Deleteyour Google account. You'll lose access to all Google services and existingdata requiring a Google Account. If you use Gmail, your Gmail address can't bereused.

To downgrade your Google+ profile:

Sign in toGoogle+.

Click your full name or email address in the Google bar.

Click Accountsettings.

Click the Accountoverview tab.

Click Delete profileand remove associated social features.”

In the end, I did not choose to useGoogle+ Option 1, 2, or 3 to disable, downgrade, or delete my Google+ account.

WithPicasa Version 3.9 I cannot send my Picasa Web Albums to anyone unless theyhave signed up with Google+. There is no option to send web album invitationsto people who have email addresses, without other social media. There is alsono option to send web albums to another social media presence such as Facebookor Twitter.

Anotherflaw I discovered with Picasa Version 3.9 and Google+ is that I cannot downloada Google+ Web Album to the online Picasa program. I processed my imported pictures to a Google+Web Album before creating a folder for those pictures on the online Picasaprogram.

My solutionnow is to retrieve the original pictures from the My Pictures Folder on the CDrive and import them into the online Picasa program again. I am thankful I can“start again” and choose some pictures to send to Facebook, export some to thedesktop on my laptop or desktop computer, or order some from online vendors.

Whatgave me the idea of returning to Picasa Version 3.8 is that Picasa Version 3.8 remainedon my desktop. I discovered that I can use the email, Facebook, export, andGoogle+ options with Picasa Version 3.8. I can send my Picasa Version 3.8 WebAlbums that are viewable on any computer I sign into, with Picasa as emailinvitations.

Here ismy solution: So far I have"fixed" my Picasa problem with Google+. I installed the previous versionof Picasa that will allow me to send my Picasa Web Albums to family members viaemail address. The newest Picasa download version does not give the option tosend invitations to view Picasa pictures using family or friends' emailaddresses, only to Google+ Circles.

Here is the website Iused to go back one version to find Version 3.8 on January 18, 2011: http://www.oldapps.com/picasa.php?old_picasa=22%3Fdownload

Download Picasa 3.8 Build 117.41 - OldApps.com

The description from www.oldapps.comis as follows:

“Picasa is marketed as being easy to use and it offers manyone click effects such as color enhancement, red eye reduction and cropping.Other features include slide shows, printing and image timelines. Pictures canbe organized into albums. Albums can be organized into collections. Picturescan be rearranged in albumsby drag and drop. Images can be resized and exported for external use, bee-mailed or printed. There is also an integrated facility to order photoprints.

One fundamental principle of Picasa is that it never overwrites originalimages. This means that any changes applied to images using Picasa are storedonly as differences relative to the original file, and only appear withinPicasa. To see any changes in other software, the user must Export the images.”

At some point, I will probably look for Download Picasa 3.8 Build 117.43 as it was the latest Picasa 3.8 Version that included:

Fixed importing from scanners.
Fixed Backup and Restore creating duplicate .ini files

according to the Picasa and Picasa Web Albums Release Notes:

http://support.google.com/picasa/bin/picasa.google.com/support/bin/static.py?hl=en&page=release_notes.cs

I amnot an Internet whiz kid by training or guru by experience. I share this information in case it will helpsomeone else who is having the same difficulty. Please make a comment if thishelped you, or if you have a different solution to my problem. I appreciateyour input.

I Found Antrim Cemetery Across the Road!

2011-12-18T00:00:00.000-06:00

Antrim Cemetery Today:

Antrim Cemetery is an active cemetery nestled in the northwest corner of Houston County, Texas close to the Anderson County line and contains recentburials of families who presently live in the area or who lived in this area inthe past.

Visitors may come to the open cemetery to pay their respects, clean the area around headstones, takepictures, and write comments in the Visitors' Notebook. My interest is about the two ancestral lines in my mother's family: the Willis and Gray surnames. Many other surnames in the Antrim Cemetery are also in my ancestry listed alphabetically: Brinson, Cook, Durnell, Edens, Helm, Hudnell, Little, McElroy, Simpson, Streetman, Weisinger, Weissinger, and Williams.

Some say that Antrim Cemetery was named for an earlysettler in the Antrim Community in the Houston and Anderson Counties area: W. F.Gray, my Great-great-great Grandfather, born 1802 and said to have migrated from Antrim County in Ireland.

Another story says that an earlier name for the cemetery was McElroy Cemetery. Still another name is Anthom Cemetery.

Nearby Towns:

Elkhart, Texas (5.8 miles NNE), Salmon, Texas (6.8 miles ENE), and Grapeland, Texas (8.5 miles ESE).

Find A Grave:

www.findagrave.com:Antrim Cemetery, Houston County, Texas: 235 Records,

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gsr&GScid=2129

Transfer requests at www.findagrave.com should be requested fordirect relatives within four generations. This includes siblings, parents,grandparents, great-grandparents, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

The following individual contributors, organization, andmore have added records to www.findagrave.com web site for Antrim Cemetery:

Joel Farringer, www.findagrave.commember #46600437, member for 7 years, 11 months, 21 days,

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=mr&MRid=46600437.

Martha Yates Vandver, www.findagrave.com member #46783522, member for 6 years, 8 months, 28 days,
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=mr&CRid=2129&MRid=46783522

Bernard-Trigg, www.findagrave.commember #46860860, member for 5 years, 3 months, 21 days, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=mr&MRid=46860860.

Linda Robbins, www.findagrave.commember #47094726, member for 3 years, 9 months, 25 days,

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=mr&MRid=47094726

Tom Streetman, www.findagrave.commember #47063251, member for 3 years, 26 days,

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=mr&MRid=47063251.

HoustonCounty Historical Commission, Crockett, TX, www.findagrave.commember #:47230384, member for 1 year, 10 months, 26 days, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=mr&MRid=47230384.

If there are more www.findagrave.com contributors who are descendants of any of the ancestors at Antrim Cemetery, Houston County, Texas, please let me know and I will add your name here.

Records List and Map of Row and Plot Numbers by Ivey Maurice Brinson after 2004:

Antrim Cemetery, Houston County, Texas: 184 Records

The map is displayed below. If someone would like the eight-page list of names, birth, death, and sometimes marriage dates, additional social organization affiliated symbols, and more inscriptions, please leave a comment, a Facebook private message, or email me.

Antrim Cemetery, Houston County, Texas: 172 Records

Letty Harrington compiled this Internet web site list to place online recordscomplete with name, birth date, death date, inscription, and her comments infive columns. Each record is linked to a digital photograph of each headstone. Lastupdate: July 7, 2002.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gonetotexas/East-TX-cemeteries/antrim/antrim.htm.

Houston County (Texas) Cemeteries, Second Edition: 158 Antrim Cemetery Records.

Compiledby Houston County Historical Commission, Third Floor, Court House, Crockett,Texas. Copyright 1978. Hunter Publishing Company, Printers. 2475 SouthStratford Road, Winston-Salem, NC. 27103. The second edition contains 192burial grounds, family plots, and community cemeteries. The preface lists manyHouston and Anderson County residents who volunteered for the field work forthis edition including many descendants of John Pinckney and Lucy Jane LambWillis. The Table of Contents is an Alphabetical Indexed List of Houston CountyCemeteries from pages 3-431. At the end of the book is a Surname List for HoustonCounty Cemeteries from pages 1-22.

Antrim Cemetery is listed from pages 25-27and was compiledor checked by Mrs. I.J. Nichols in October, 1976. Antrim Cemetery contains 158records.

The following is a transcription about Antrim Cemeteryfrom this book:

“Located about 7 miles west of Grapeland on Farm toMarket Road 1272. Take right hand dirt road and go about 4 miles. It is justacross Mackleroy Spring Brand on a hill to the right. Well-kept and enclosed bya cyclone fence.”

“It derived its name from W. F. Gray [my 3^rdgreat-grandfather] who came from Antrim, England [Ireland or Virginia] in the1800s and who is the great grandfather of Jim [James Malachi Gray, 1882-1964,my great uncle] and Ed Gray [John Ed Gray, 1886-1959, my great uncle] andgrandfather of Richard Gray [1853-1917, my great-grandfather]. Some say thefirst grave was that of a male slave and unmarked. However, according tomarkers, the earliest is T. L. Kent, February 12, 1847-February 2, 1873.”

“Land for the cemetery was deeded by Mr. and Mrs. J. F.Durnell [uncle of wife of 1st cousin 1xremoved] in 1910. Almost every grave has interesting epitaphs of poetryor scripture which have to be omitted for the sake of brevity. Other remarks are written at the end of page 27: “Wynn lots are enclosed by cyclone fince and “kept veryspecial”.

Additional history, according to Ethel Gray Wilson [1912-2004,daughter of Richard Malachi and Olivia Elizabeth Gray mentioned in an earlierparagraph, and my first cousin, once removed], Elkhart, Texas follows:

"In the 1860s, John McElroy bought the 488 acres in theCollison League, where the Antrim Cemetery is located. John McElroy gave fiveacres for a church, school, and cemetery. The first person to get a restingplace in the new cemetery was John McElroy’s negro slave. The next ones buriedwere Billiy Williams and wife. I have no history on who passed away first. JohnMcElroy and wife, Jane, are resting here and his sister and a brother, nephewsand nieces.”

The first edition published in 1977 listed 142 burial grounds, family plots, and community cemeteries.

The Houston County Historical Commission, 401 E. Goliad Ave., Suite 203, Crockett, TX 75835, 936-544-3255 ext. 238, hchc@co.houston.tx.us has publications for sale.

New Houston County Cemeteries: A computer database printout of cemeteries in Houston County, Texas. This printout is alphabetical by surname with about 1,200 pages and is up-to-date as of the week it is printed for $70.00, a USB, or a CD for $35.00 with available updates.

I hope all the readers enjoy looking at the links for the many records at Antrim Cemetery, Houston County, Texas. I am indebted to second cousin Ivey Maurice Brinson and second cousin once removed Tom Streetman for their friendship and genealogy expertise.

A Serendipity Celebration for Joseph Jerkens

2011-12-12T21:53:00.000-06:00

I am excited to share this wonderful serendipity celebration for Joseph Jerkens and for his family, his descendents and nieces and nephews. It was not easy to find Josef Jurkiewicz's Application for the USA Declaration of Intention, but through several helpful people and organizations, I located it. The copy and information were all on the Internet. That is not always the case. Genealogists cannot expect everything to be on the Internet, but this time what I needed was.

I have written two other blog posts about Joseph Jerkens and the unknowns about his early life on July 8, 2011, Joseph Marion Jerkens (1883-1952) Followup, and July 9, 2011, Joseph Marion Jerkens (Josef Marion Jurkiewicz).

I finally "struck gold" with the New York Italian Genealogy Group at http://www.italiangen.org/EDN.stm which indexed the New York Eastern District Court of NY Naturalization Project. This database contains an index to the naturalization records that were issued between 1865 and 1956 by the Eastern District Courts, which includes Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, Richmond (Staten Island), Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

I used the printable form to request Naturalization Records from the National Archives (NARA) in NY. This is a copy of the email I received from Sharon A. Pullen, C.A., Archivist, Office of the County Clerk, Historic Documents Library, 310 Center Drive, Riverhead, NY 11901-3392. She was most helpful to lead me in the right direction.

From:	Pullen, Sharon (SharonPullen@suffolkcountyny.gov)
Sent:	Wed 3/02/11 7:07 PM

Dear Ms. Robbins,

The document that you requested is from the Eastern District court, not the Suffolk County Supreme Court. In order to obtain a copy of that document you must use the form that requests records from NARA. It can be found at: http://www.italiangen.org/NaturalizationRequestFormItalianGenSite.pdf

Sincerely,

Sharon A. Pullen, C.A., Archivist
Office of the County Clerk, Historic Documents Library
310 Center Drive, Riverhead, NY 11901-3392
Email: SharonPullen@suffolkcountyny.gov
Phone: (631) 852-2000 extn. 700
Fax: (631) 852-2004

On November 13, 1926 JozephJurkiewicz, age 43, applied for the USA Declaration of Intention, in theVillage of Patchogue, Suffolk County, NY; occupation private groom, residedIslip, Suffolk County, NY, white, dark complexion, 5'10", 168 lbs., brownhair, grey eyes, scar on chin, birthplace Zadarow, Austria; came from Bremen,Germany on Crown Princess Cecile. Joseph Jurkiewicz's last residence was givenas Tarnobrzeg. His birthplace was Buczacz which is the same district as thevillage of Zadarow but about 400 miles NE of modern Vienna, Austria. JosephJurkiewicz arrived at the port of NY in the state of NY about 21 Sep 1908. Hewas not an anarchist or a polygamist. He intended to become a citizen of theUSA & permanently reside therein. Superior Court, Suffolk County, NY, FredS. Pulver, Clerk The form states that it is invalid for all purposes seven yearsafter the date hereof. Record #651879. Joseph became a naturalized citizenon November 9, 1929.

If you check the date of the email I received from Sharon A. Pullen, that was back in March, nine months ago, when I was struggling with technology, at least with the free Adobe Reader. I uninstalled it and use the free Nitro Reader which gives me many more choices, as changing a .pdf document to a Picasa photograph which gives me the opportunity to insert genealogy documents into .jpg so I can use them in my blog. The sizing of the pages in the document are not perfect here. There are more readable for anyone who wishes to order their own downloaded .pdf copy.

Notice on page 2 that Josef's last name is spelled Yorkiewicz. That is only one of several misspellings of his Jurkiewicz and Jerkens surname in all of the documents I have found. Here follows Josef Jurkiewicz's application for the USA Declaration of Intention:

Pearl Harbor Reflections One Week Later

2011-12-02T09:28:00.001-06:00

Where were you on December 7, 1941, during the bombing of Pearl Harbor? Were you born yet? Had you been "thought of" by your parents? How many years would it be before you were born? Do you know anyone who served in the United States Military during the bombing of Pearl Harbor?
All six of my uncles served in the US Military during World War II: my dad's two brothers, Daniel A. Hollingsworth, enlisted on November 2, 1942 at age 35 and Frank S. Hollingsworth, enlisted in the U.S. Marines on December 11, 1937 at the age of 21 and served through the end of World War II. My dad's brother-in-law, Ralph Slagle, enlisted in the U.S. Army September 23, 1942 and served through the end of World War II in 1946. Ralph reinlisted in the U.S. Army from 1946-1949, and then enlisted in the Army Air Force from 1949-1966. On my mother's side, her brother Cecil N. Gray enlisted in the United States Navy on November 18, 1941 and was released from the US Navy on November 18, 1945. Mother's older sister's husband Ruel E. Snow enlisted on February 10, 1942 in the U.S. Army at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. After World War II, Ruel continued his military service in the Reserves until his retirement in the 1960s. My mother's younger sister's first husband, Melvin E. Gandy enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps on December 12, 1945, but I do not know how long he served. He was single at the time.

My parents "had thought of me" since I was born three months and 16 days later in 1942. According to Wickipedia in their Generation article, I was born in the Silent Generation that occurred between 1925 and 1945. We were "generally recognized as the children of the Great Depression. This event during their [our] formative years had a profound impact on them [us]."

The Silent Generation also included my husband who was born ten years earlier. As he told me, he, at age 9 1/2, was living on Rose Street in Islip, NY. He was in the back yard and his dad was working in the garden when his mom came out on the porch and announced that she heard on the radio, "The Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor." I had not thought much about it before, but it is true that wherever anyone was on that fateful day, or even if they had not been born, our world changed drastically on that one day. It really was an "infamous" day in history.

I read last year about my high school choir teacher from Duncan, Oklahoma, Mr. Allen H. Clinkscales, Jr., as a veteran was at Pearl Harbor. Isn't it funny, or strange, that I and maybe none of our classmates knew about Mr. Clinkscales service in World War II? I recall him as my favorite teacher.

He must have been many of our classmates' favorite teacher also since he was voted the most popular teacher at our 50th Duncan High School Reunion 50 years later at Duncan High School where almost 200 of us gathered together to have fun, visit our old school, and talk about old and new times.

This link will show you what he looked like throughout his life including two photographs of him in the United States Navy: http://pearlharborsurvivors.homestead.com/ClinkscalesAllen.html

I believe that important days in our country's history can be thought about on more than the one day the big event occurred. I am certain that our United States citizens thought about December 7, 1941 for many years if they were old enough to grasp the importance of what happened then.

Looking For Antrim Community in East Texas

2011-11-17T00:43:00.001-06:00

Have you tried to find a place that no longer exists? Where was Antrim Community in Texas? What evidence can we find today that it was once a place where families lived their lives, were born, attended school, married neighbors, farmed their land, shopped for essentials, sang and prayed in church, went to the local saloon, and were buried in the nearby cemetery.

Sometimes our favorite memories are now parking lots, high rise buildings, or possibly an empty mound of earth on a dirt road or a run down home that was once the pride of the family.

Antrim Community in Houston County is like the last thought expressed above--just a few memories can be found from some who lived there and recorded their memories. Even those thoughts are not much in evidence. Antrim was a place that had a school and a cemetery. The cemetery is still there. That's where my maternal great grandparents John Pinckney Willis and Lucy Jane Lamb are buried.

Antrim Community began in the 1864 according to all accounts. My direct line ancestors settled in this area in 1909 after leaving Calhoun County, Florida with 11 of their children. Antrim was nestled between Elkhart near the southwest corner of Anderson County, Texas and Grapeland, near the northwest corner of Houston County, Texas. Between the middle and late 1800s and the early 1900s, the settlers who built their homes and farmed the land didn't bother with the boundaries of the two counties. They walked, rode horses, mules, or in wagons to see their relatives and neighbors, go to town or church in both counties They raised their children who married others in the communities where they came from in Florida, Georgia, or Alabama, or new neighbors who were already settled in Texas.

A hand drawn map outlining the roads, railroad, churches, and cemeteries
near Antrim Community. North is to the left towards Elkhart in Anderson
County and south is to the right towards Grapeland in Houston County.

Here is a description of the Antrim Community about its school from Armistead Albert Aldrich's book in 1943: Antrim School

"One of the early schools of Houston County was located about 8 or 10 miles northwest of Grapeland, and was first known as the Antrim School. The first teacher of the school of whom we have any information was a man by the name of Rowe. He was followed by Mr. Russell Wilson, the father-in-law of Colonel W. N. Sheridan. He lived for a while in the home of Col. Sheridan and taught the school about the year 1865 or 1866. He was the father of Zach Wilson, who married Mary, the daughter of Thomas P. Collins and died about the year 1869."

Two women teachers at the Antrim School

"The next teacher of the Antrim School was a Dr. Turner. The school at Antrim was taught in a large, one room, log schoolhouse, about 24 feet square. It had no glass windows, but one log was sawed out to make an opening for a window."

This photograph was shared with me by first cousin Ivey Maurice Brinson. It was taken about 1920

in front of the Antrim School with many of our ancestors who were young students at that time.

Many of them or their families are buried in the Antrim Cemetery across the road from the

former location of the Antrim School--a knoll of land backed by a line of trees.

The 1920Antrim School picture included the following students as near as could be readfrom the picture:

Row 1:Estel Martin, age 5; Not identified; Kenneth Little (first cousin, once removed;Johnny Park Durnell; Wayne Little (first cousin, once removed); Bertha MaeDurnell; Ethel Avalon Willis (first cousin once removed); and West FloridaTaylor (second cousin, once removed).

Row 2: EarlAnthony Gray; Bernice Gray; Alma Kiser; Lois Durnell; Edith Brinson, age 7 (sister-in-lawof first cousin once removed); and Not identified;

Row 3: AvaLee Brinson, age 9 (sister-in-lawof first cousin once removed); EvaSimpson, age 6 (first cousin once removed); and Hubert Gray, age 9 (first cousin once removed);

Row 4: Mrs.Landrum, teacher; John Pike; Mildred Martin; Lillie Ruth Durnell; Mildred Gray,age 7 (first cousin once removed); Bennie Gray, age 10 (first cousin onceremoved); and PorterLittle, age 9 (first cousin once removed)

Notes from Linda Robbins: I have identified eleven of the children in the above photograph as my ancestors. I may be able to identify more ancestors in this photograph as I "dig" deeper into the collateral lines of my maternal family through more marriages in the community.

"The Antrim School was later moved to a new community known as Pleasant Hill. Among the old time citizens who supported the Antrim School were John A. Davis, a son of Bradford Davis, Reuben Matthews and John A. Williams."

Antrim School Students with teacher. Antrim School had one "big room".
(This caption was attached to the original digital photograph.)

"A little town grew up around Pleasant Hill, consisting of two stores, one blacksmith shop, one saloon and a schoolhouse, which was also used as a church house. Among those who preached there were the Rev. Matt J. Edmiston, the Rev. Barbour and the Rev. Richards, all Presbyterian preachers. Other prominent citizens of the community were: John McElroy, Jim Gray, J. H. B. Kyle and John Little.

B.F. Edens also was a merchant at Pleasant Hill and afterwards moved to Grapeland and became one of the most successful merchants and business men of Grapeland, accumulating quite a little fortune. The old Antrim and Pleasant Hill schools deserve a place in Houston County history."

Notes from Linda Robbins: John A. Williams was John Andrew Williams (1826-1877), my great-great uncle who married Catharine Amanda McElroy (1829-1916). John McElroy (1831-?) was John D. McElroy, the husband of my great-great aunt Sarah Jane Williams McElroy (1837-?). Jim Gray (1830-1922) could have been James Malachi Gray , my great-grandfather, who came to Texas before 1850 and married Henrietta Elizabeth Gray. He also served in the Confederate Army in the Civil War. There are four James "Jim" Grays who lived in the area of the Antrim Community during last half of the 1800s and early 1900s.

Antrim and Pleasant Hill Schools and Communities in NW Houston County, Texas
The History of Houston County, Texas: Together with biographical sketches of many pioneers and later citizens of said county, who have made notable contributions to its development and progress
by Armistead Albert Aldrich, The Naylor Company, 1943
Pages 80-81
http://books.google.com/books?id=beoTAAAAYAAJ&q=antrim

If anyone can identify any of the people or make corrections in the photographs or from the Antrim community, please make a comment or contact me. I will be glad to add correct information in my writing.
Thanks to Ivey Maurice Brinson for copies of newspaper articles and photographs and thanks to Tom Streetman for copies of newspaper articles and photographs.

Great-Great Grandfather Elisha Pearl Wheeler Led Fascinating Life in Middletown, New York

2011-11-11T01:47:00.001-06:00

Obituary for ElishaPearl Wheeler (February 5, 1807-March 31, 1876)

Transcription of Obituary for Elisha Pearl Wheeler by Linda Sue HollingsworthLittlejohn Robbins, wife of Kenneth Charles Robbins, great-great-grandson of Elisha Pearl Wheeler, throughKenneth’s father William Augustus Robbins, his mother Pauline Wheeler Robbins,her father James Wheeler, and his father Elisha Pearl Wheeler.

Note: An explanation of a word or term inserted by Linda S.Robbins will be enclosed in brackets.

Received from Peter Laskaris, Middletown, New York TownHistorian on three 8 ½” x 11” sheets of paper copied from the MiddletownDaily Press, Saturday, April 1, 1876 [page numbers not given]

Middletown Daily Press, Saturday, April 1, 1876
____________________

OBITUARY

ELISHA P. [PEARL] WHEELER

Our village [Village of Middletown, Orange County, New Yorkfrom 1848-1888] was startled last evening [Friday, March 31, 1876] by theannouncement of the death of Mr.Elisha P. Wheeler, well and widely known as one of the most prominentcitizens and business men of Middletown. He died at a quarter before nineo’clock [8:45 P.M.] at his residence on South Street, in this village, from astroke of apoplexy ¹^..He had entered upon his seventieth year [February 5, 1807]. Although his healthhad not been the best for a year or more, his death was very sudden andentirely unexpected. The intelligence of his disease spread rapidly over thevillage and was received everywhere, as it will be wherever he is known, withexpressions of surprise and regret. The words “MR. WHEELER IS DEAD,” passed from mouth to mouth andwere pronounced with the inflections which men us when they speak of death intheir own families. No death has ever occurred in Middletown which wascalculated to make a more profound impression:

It will still be a satisfaction to know that

HIS LAST HOURS

were peaceful. He died without a struggle or a moan. Hisbeloved and faithful wife [Phebe Sears Wheeler] and eldest daughter, Mrs.Mosher [Emeline Wheeler Mosher], were with him in the room at the last moment.His demise was so unlooked for that there was no time from the first warning tocall any one [anyone] else to the scene. Mr. Wheeler had only been confined to the house thirty hours previous tohis death. He had been suffering for some weeks with a severe cold, but wasabout every day, and attended to his duties in connection with the OrangeCounty Foundry as usual, until Thursday [March 30, 1876] afternoon. Hecomplained that morning of feeling unwell, but spent the forenoon at thefoundry office. Although persuaded byhis family to remain at home, he went to the office again after dinner toattend to some business, and returned to the house after an hour, leaving wordon his way home for a physician to call. He was quite lame and walked withconsiderable difficulty. He remarked on coming in that he did not feel as wellas he had been, and went to bed. He complained of soreness and pains for whichhis family applied the usual external remedies until the physician, Dr. DarwinEverett arrived, late in the afternoon. He prescribed for him but the medicineswere of little avail as the patient could not retain them, which conditioncontinued until he died. The first part of Thursday night he spent verycomfortably, but at about two o’clock [A.M.] he became restless and complainedof pains in his left side. Hyperdermic [Hypodermic] injections of morphine weremade to lessen the pain. Friday he wasconfined to his bed, and was not able to leave or return to it except withincreased pain and without help. Late in the afternoon he appeared to bebetter, and apprehensions of immediate danger were entertained. In the eveninghe gave his daughter instructions in regard to the marketing, and talked in hisusual cheerful manner. He evidently had no premonition of his approachingdissolution; at least if he did he said nothing of it. At about eight o’clock[P.M.] he was assisted out of bed by his wife, but returned without help,saying he felt better. Those were his last words. Turning over upon his side inthe bed, he apparently went to sleep, and from that sleep he never awakened.His wife was called from the next room a few moments after by a noise of hardbreathing, and going to his side she found him with his head thrown back andevidently dying. She called her daughter, Mrs. Mosher, who reached the roomjust in time to see him breath [breathe] his last breath, which was a slightgasp, and he was dead.

ELISHA PEARL WHEELER

was the only son of Lemuel and Hannah Pearl Wheeler, and wasborn February 5, 1807, at Hampton, Windham Co., Conn., where he lived until hewas twelve years of age. His family then removed to Red Hook, Dutchess Co.,N.Y. where they remained until Elishawas about twenty years of age, when they again removed to Saugerties, UlsterCo. [, N.Y.] He went to the district school at Hampton, Conn., and finished

HIS EDUCATION

At Red Hook Academy, which was thorough as far as it went.He had a good command of language, wrote well and to the point, and was a veryaccurate accountant.

At Saugerties he was engaged for a few years in a rollingmill and furnace located there.

ENGAGES IN BUSINESS

At the age of twenty-three he went into the employ ofCharles Sanford, who married his sister, and was in the stove and tin businessat Rhinebeck. He remained in the employ of his brother-in-law in the samebusiness at Rhinebeck and Catskill until 1830, when they came to Orange Countyas partners in the same business at Montgomery. The firm was Sanford & Wheeler. For awhile, Mr. W. [Wheeler] managed abranch store at Walden, which was afterwards removed to Newburgh. They remainedin business together—Mr.Wheeler at Montgomery and Mr. Sanford at Newburgh—until the latter [Mr.Sanford] died in 1832 ^2..

He then went into partnership with Jonah F. France, andbuilt a furnace. The firm of Wheeler& France was engaged in the business of making castings, stoves, &c.^3., and in the tin trade,until 1842, when they sold out. Mr. Wheeler

FIRST CAME TOMIDDLETOWN

In the spring of 1843. He commenced in business here withJonah F. France, Edward M. Madden, and Joseph Lemon. Mr. Madden had been anapprentice with Wheeler& France in Montgomery, and had been in the tin business in Middletown from1840. Mr. Lemon had been their foremanat Montgomery, and came to Middletown in the fall of 1843, and erected for thebuildings for the Osage County Furnace. The new firm started in the spring of 1843,under the firm name of Wheeler,France & Co., in the tin business, with a store on North Street. Thefoundry business gave Mr.Wheeler his first favored start in Middletown. He was connected with itas a part owner until 1854, when he sold out and it was in other hands until1863, when he became and has since been its sole owner.

Since 1853 he has been connected with many of the principalmanufacturing enterprises which have given Middletown its chief growth andprominence. In the year mentioned [1853] the “Monhagen Saw Works” were started,of which he was one of the original owners. The firm was first Wheeler, Madden &Bakewell, and afterwards, in 1860, Wheeler, Madden & Clemson. The factory was one of the first inthe country, and it is now one of the largest [1876]. Its business increased sothat in 1862 the firm started the Monhagen Steel Works and Rolling Mills, underthe firm name of E. M. Madden & Co., for the manufacture of their ownsteel. In 1863 the firm became largely interested in the Eagle File Works. Thefirm name was Wheeler,Clemson & Co. In 1866-7 Wheeler,Madden, & Clemson, with others, started the Middletown Forged Horse NailWorks. A few years ago, the firm became a stock company, under the incorporatedtitle of The Wheeler,Madden & Clemson Manufacturing Company, and Mr. Wheeler was its President.

In 1866, Mr.Wheeler began to make connections with new

RAILROAD ENTERPRISES

which promised to be beneficial to Middletown, and notunprofitable to those who should engage.

He has been a director of the Middletown & UnionvilleRailroad since its organization, and its President till 1875, He broke groundfor that enterprise, throwing the first shovelful of dirt in 1866. He was amongthe earliest of those who were enlisted in the Midland Railroad enterprise, anddrove the last spike at its completion. Unfortunately he was among the mostseverely punished of its victims. He was an original director and the FirstVice-President of the New York & Oswego Midland from 1868 until 1872. Hewas a director of the N. [New] J. [Jersey] Midland [Railroad] from its organization in1870 till 1874. He was also an original Director of the Middletown &Crawford Railroad in 1870.

He has been from the first a Director of the M. U. & W.G. Telegraph Co, also of the Middletown and Wurtsboro Turnpike Co. He was alsoDirector of its of predecessor, the Middletown & Bloomingburgh Plank RoadCo., and of the Middletown & Unionville Plank Road Co.

He was a Trustee of the Middletown Gas Light Co., and of theOrange Co. Milk Association. He was one of the originators and first lifemembers of the Middletown Lyceum. He was a Director the Middletown Bank from1850 to 1857. He was one of the originators of the Wallkill Bank, and its firstPresident for a few years, and a director until it closed. He was a member ofthe Board of Trustees in the year 1868, and has been a member of the Board ofEducation every year except one since 1867. He was its first President.

He was largely influential in getting the N. Y. StateHomeopathic Insane Asylum located here. He gave $2,000 towards it, and was oneof the Trustees from the first until by act of the legislature last winter[December-February 1875-1876] reducing the membership of the Board, he waslegislated out of office.

He was one of the originators of Grace Episcopal church[Church], and has been one of its chief supporters. He built the south transept^4. entirely at his ownexpense. He was a Warden ^5.from the first to his death. Mr.Wheeler, E. M. Madden and William M. Graham erected in 1852, GothicHall, which the PRESS [Middletown Whig Press newspaper] now occupies [1876]. It was then the first hall for publicassemblages except the churches in all Middletown. Mr. Wheeler was one of ten citizens whoassisted Mr. John W. Hasbrouck to establish the WHIG PRESS [newspaper], whichwas the predecessor of the ORANGE COUNTRY PRESS [newspaper] and MIDDLETOWNDAILY PRESS [newspaper].

He became an Odd Fellow at Newburgh while living atMontgomery, and a Mason shortly after the re-organization of Hoffman Lodge, No.412 F. A. M. [Free & Accepted Masons] of this village. He was a member ofMidland Chapter, No. 240 R. A. M. [Royal Arch Masons] of this place. He willprobably be buried with Masonic honors.

As trustee, guardian and executor of the estates of deceasedpersons, probably more trusts were confided to him than to any other man inMiddleton, and every trust was discharged with the utmost fidelity.

The last few years of his life were clouded by anxieties andtroubles, brought upon him by the acts of those in whom he trusted.

He was also subjected to several trials in the loss of hisproperty, which was the result of his connection with the Midland railroad andthe Nes Silicon Steel Co. These he bore manfully, and the transfer of hisproperty was made with an honesty that in these times is as uncommon as it isremarkable.

Mr. Wheelerwas a man of simple, correct habits, frugal ways of living, unostentatiousmanners, and lived a pure life. In him the poor of Middletown had a friend,generous and liberal to a fault.

There are all sorts of rumors as regards the amount ofinsurance on his life, but as this is a matter which concerns his own familyalone, we deem it best to ignore these rumors, simply adding that Mrs. W. [Wheeler] will havesufficient to make her comfortable.

In this hurried sketch we canhardily [hardly] hope to do his memory justice, but it certainly speaks wellfor him that they who knew him best loved and trusted most. He had hispeculiarities, (and who of us have not?) but dishonesty wasnot one of them, as the last two years of his life abundantly testify. We haveit from the lips of one who has been with him from boyhood and who has enjoyedhis confidence fully, that when he saw the accumulations of a life time meltingaway—mainly through the machinations ^6. of others—he had no words of reproach for anysave himself, and freely surrendered all his property, even including hisfurniture, for the benefit of his creditors, and in these days when almostevery hour is bringing to light some new corruption, it is gratifying to beable to write of one whom we have so long known he was anhonest man.

____________________

MASONIC NOTICE.

Members of Hoffman Lodge are requested to meet at theirrooms on Monday at 1 P.M. to attend the funeral of their late brother E. [Elisha] P. [Pearl] Wheeler.

By Order of the W. M. [Worthy Master]

____________________

BOARD OF TRUSTEES.

Adjourned Meeting.

FRIDAY EVENING, March 31. [1876]—Board met at 7:30 pursuant ^7. to adjournment. All present. President Pronk in the chair. Theminutes of last meeting were read and approved….

…The Board were engaged on the list of appropriations to beasked for this year, when word was received of the demise of Mr. Elisha P. Wheeler,formerly a member and ex-President of the Board, and President Pronkcommunicated the sad intelligence in a few appropriate and feeling remarks. Itwas then moved by Mr. Clark that a committee of three be appointed to reportsuch action as they shall deem fitting for this Board to adopt. The Presidentand Messers [Misters] Clark and Royce were named as the Committee.

Out of respect to the memory of the deceased, the Board thenadjourned to this evening at 7:30 o’clock.

Mr. Wheeler’s Death—Reopening ofSchools Deferred.

As a mark of respect the memory ofHon. E. P. Wheeler, amember of the Board of Education, its first President, and always an earnestfriend of our schools, the re-opening of the public schools of Middletown willbe deferred until Tuesday next, April 4^th [1876].

The teachers are requested toattend the funeral in a body.

H. R. SANFORD, Supt., Middletown,
April 1, 1876

____________________

Notes:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apoplexy:Historical meaning of apoplexy. From the late 14th to the late 19th century,the word "apoplexy" was also used to describe any sudden death thatbegan with a sudden loss of consciousness, especially one in which the victimdied within a matter of seconds after losing consciousness. The word"apoplexy" may have been used to describe the symptom of sudden lossof consciousness immediately preceding death and not a verified diseaseprocess.

2. 1832 is notthe correct date of Charles Sanford according to http://www.oldtowncemetery.org/list.html “The Old Town Burying Ground in Newburgh, Orange County,New York” 1898 website: “Old Town Cemetery List” http://www.archive.org/details/recordofinscript00emer“Old Town Cemetery Home”. Note: It is easiest to read the OnlineVersion.

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Et_cetera&c. is a dated meaning of etc. and et cetera or etcetera means“and other things” according to Wickipedia

4. www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transept A transept (with 2 semitransepts)is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body ofthe building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to thenave in a cruciform("cross-shaped")building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture.

5. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/churchwarden Warden:A lay officer in the Anglican Church chosen annually by the vicar or thecongregation to handle the secular and legal affairs of the parish.

6. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/machination

mach·i·na·tion noun\ˌma-kə-ˈnā-shən, ˌma-shə-\
Definition of machination2: a scheming or crafty action or artfuldesign intended to accomplish some usually evil end.

7. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/pursuant.html

Meaning ofpursuant: after or following.

____________________

Addendum:

Elisha PearlWheeler was buried at Hillside Cemetery, Middletown, New York.

Survivors ofElisha Pearl Wheeler included:

Phebe SearsWheeler (1813-1878), his wife of the home

Emeline WheelerMosher (1835-1900), daughter, born in Walden, Orange County, NY who marriedHenry Smith Mosher (1825-1902) They had sixchildren, five sons and one daughter. Five of the children survived theirgrandfather. The first son named Elisha Pearl Wheeler Mosher (1855-1860) diedat the age of 4 ½.

James Wheeler(1836-1893), son, born in Montgomery, Orange County, NY who married SarahLaRose (1839-1885), born in Riverhead, Suffolk County, NY. James graduated fromTrinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and became an attorney in New YorkCity. His family lived in Newtown, Astoria, Queens, New York by 1870 and movedto San Francisco, California by the 1880s. Wife Sarah died in 1885 in SanFrancisco and husband James died in 1893 in San Francisco. Both bodies weretransported by rail to Middletown, New York where they were buried at HillsideCemetery.

James and Sarah Wheeler had twochildren, one son and one daughter who survived their grandfather.
Son Bradford(1863-1930) was born in New York, New York and died in Tucson, Pima County,Arizona. Bradford married Ruth E. Byrkett (1894-1980), born in Boone, Indianaand died in Tucson, Pima County, Arizona. Bradford was a civil engineer andworked for railroad companies. Ruth was a teacher in Arizona.
DaughterPauline (1864-1940) was born in New York, New York and died in Napa, NapaCounty, California where she was buried. She married William Walter Robbins(1859-1918), born in Huntington, Suffolk County, New York, and died in Babylon,Suffolk County, New York. He is buried at the Babylon Rural Cemetery. In 1887 theymarried in San Francisco, California and had one son, William Augustus Robbins(1888-1948), my husband’s father. Pauline also had a daughter Ida PaulineLockwood (1898-1981), born in San Francisco, California and died in San Mateo,California.

Hannah Wheeler(1839-), daughter, born in Orange County and married Charles H. Horton (1832-).They had one son Gabriel W. Horton (1859-), born in Wallkill, Orange County,New York.

Lemuel Wheeler(1841-1873), son passed away before his father passed away in 1876. He marriedLouise O. Rush (1840-) and they had two sons, Elisha Pearl Wheeler (1862-1865),born in Middletown, New York and William B. Wheeler (1866-), born inMiddletown, New York.

Do Source Citations and Recorded Sources Carry Equal Weight in Your Research?

2011-11-05T14:08:00.000-05:00

Recently, at *LinkedIn,www.linkedin.com,where many genealogists pose questions for others to question, assist others,or weigh in with their opinions, the following topic was posed for discussion:"Looking for opinions about source citation and recording sources? Wouldlike to hear your opinion."

The source where mycomment was originally written was created by Brandy Sacco. Brandy's associatedblog is Family-Genealogy, http://ourfamilyology.blogspot.com/, and hercompany is http://www.family-genealogy.com/.I am not advertising or endorsing her blog or her company, although anyone isfree to look at Brandy’s blog and company.

I weighed in on thetopic as I had a personal experience to share about a videotaping of my aunt inher assisted living residence after she began to develop mild symptoms ofdementia.

This is what I shared:

"One example aboutrecording my aunt's memories of her immediate family while growing up is thatmy daughter and I videotaped her after she moved out of her home and into aretirement facility. We could tell that dementia had begun, due to receptivenessin her speaking and being able to compare her thoughts and speaking to heryounger sister's dementia, my mother, who had begun dementia and Alzheimer's atan earlier age.

We engaged her in conversationand asked certain questions that we wanted to hear her answers about gaps wherewe did not have documentation about our ancestors. I appreciated my aunt'sconversation, friendliness, and that we were able to put her at ease during thevideotaping.

After the videotaping Iwas able to piece details together better about what she told us and where wewere lacking documentation.

Documents are a betterrecord of a person's life. Family conversations are valuable to use wheredocumentation has not been possible to give a familial flavor to the recordee'sperspective of events from their early life. In my family's tendency to begindementia at some point in their later years, I have found that while the morerecent memory is reduced or nonexistent, earlier memories in life are easierfor my older relatives to retain and share.

I have not been able toprove the that my mother believed that some of her ancestors fought at theTexas Battle of San Jacinto with Sam Houston,. Yes, there were some soldiersthere with the same last surname as my mother's maiden name, but I have foundno relative connection.

It makes an interestingstory, but since the Texas Battle of San Jacinto with Sam Houston is welldocumented with each soldier's name, rank, unit, where he enlisted, andposition on the battlefield, I feel confident that someone started that storyin the family and it continued down to my mother's generation. This is a storyI must ignore when writing the best, true history of my family.”

Another good story,surely fiction, is the one that was related to me by a second cousin that mynorthern Floridian grandmother's father taught my grandmother and her oldersister how to ride on the backs of alligators. The story was told at familyreunions by my grandfather. It obviously sounded great, and knowing mygrandfather, he received great joy and glee from telling it, as he looked atthe surprised looks of other relatives with whom he shared this story. Talkabout exaggeration! In any event, this story also did not become a fact in myfamily history.

I follow as closely aspossible the good standards set by leading genealogists, genealogy subscriptionprograms and software, especially those of Elizabeth Shown Mills in her bookeditions of "Evidence Explained:..." and "Evidence:...".

"As an aside, Isubscribe to a commercial online genealogy program, but keep it private, andnot public, as many do, so I can diminish the possibility of someone plagiarizingmy information. I also use a paid genealogy software program."

I hope that otherfamily members and geneabloggers will read this post and add your commentsabout your opinions about Source Citations and Recorded Sources. It will helpto read your opinions and carry this conversation forward.

*Link to LinkedIn topicof this post: http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&type=member&gid=106885&item=77169499&commentID=57125224&trk=eml-anet_dig-b_pd-pmr-cn&ut=0OIQoV7q-LQAY1

Do You Know Where Your Credit Cards Are?

2011-10-24T22:38:00.002-05:00

Well! A new topic I did not expect to talk about! Are there any dreaded events that can ruin your genealogy cruise or research trip?

Have you thought about:

Losing your passport?

Not getting back to the ship on time?

Suitcases that do not arrive with you at your destination?

Suitcases that land in the "drink" next to the ship?
(We saw that happen one time.)

Getting mugged on a dark street?

Taking a bus or train the wrong way and not finding your way back?

Need to leave the ship due to health problems?

Losing your wallet? With everything in it?

Of all of those scenarios, I didn't think that we would leave and then lose my double-wide "can't miss" it, large, black fabric zipper wallet under the passenger seat of a rental car after a one-day rental in New Jersey. We had visited a cousin west of Bayonne Cape Liberty Cruise Terminal and the Newark Airport, and left my wallet under the passenger seat. We thought it would be safe there. As it turned out, it was "too safe" there. Not a wise choice on our parts!

I usually keep the wallet in my larger purse--but no--not this time. Ever know a lady to carry "her whole life" in her purse or wallet? Well, that's what was in my wallet--"my whole life"--that is, what was outside my physical body and what was outside my brain. I had the rest of my "now-lighter weight" purse, my clothes, my laptop, my planned itineraries, and my husband.

When we realized that my wallet was not with us in the hotel room, panic began to set in. It took a while to remember where we left the wallet. I tried to call the rental car company at Newark Airport several times but the call always rolled over to more automated system options. I tried hitting the # key and then the 0 key but nothing would interrupt the robot voice. Have you ever tried to call a local number for an airport rental car company and they do not answer? I mean they NEVER answered their local number.

Here it was the afternoon before the hotel shuttle would take us to the cruise ship the next day. My driver's license, all my credit cards, and my cash were missing--you know--not in my possession. Let me tell you that right about that time, I thought it was appropriate that immediate dementia would set in, take over my body, and someone would take me to the ER on a stretcher.

However, my husband's common sense prevailed, at least somewhat, and with my "never give up" attitude, I rode the hotel shuttle back to Newark Airport, up the escalator, rode the train, and around a couple of terminals to the car rental company.

I thought I was lucky that I met a wonderful rental car employee in their Lost and Found Department. If I could have only been lucky enough to find that "our" rental car was still there and no one had rented it again before I arrived. NO SUCH LUCK!

The car was already rented and off the lot with an Arizona driver who paid for a week's rental. There was no way someone could call the renter directly since only the Arizona home phone was left for reference. [At the time I didn't think to ask the car rental company Lost and Found employee to try the home phone to see if someone else was there who could contact the new renter.]

Let's see--this was Wednesday, September 28th and we got on the cruise ship the next day, Thursday, September 29th. During the evening before the shuttle took us to the cruise ship, I dutifully called all of our credit card companies and cancelled what I thought were all of our credit cards. We had no way to know if our credit cards were just lost, or could be stolen. I thought I was "smart" and asked that the new cards be mailed to our home--not such a smart idea since we had planned several weeks of visiting relatives in New York and researching on site in several NY counties after the cruise.

Thank goodness I didn't remember to cancel our bank debit card. I forgot to call the bank to cancel it. Fortunately, we were able to use the debit card "in a pinch" although the ship, the hotel, and the rental car company we used after the cruise were not crazy about this idea. My husband had all of his credit cards, although they were not usable. We also had our passports, which got us back on the ship after stopping at the Canadian ports.

So--please beware! When traveling, debit cards are great for shopping for groceries and goods, but not for ships, hotels, or rental car companies. In fact, some of them will add "hefty" charges to your bill until they receive notification from the bank that you have sufficient funds. For some reason ships, hotels, and rental car companies (unless at an airport location) don't want to instantly find out if you have sufficient funds in your bank account to cover their larger charges.

We were thankful that the ship, the rental car company and the hotel after the cruise believed "my sad tale of woe", even though it was true. Hubby also had enough cash and we were prepared to go to branches of our home bank on Long Island and Orange County, NY, and New Jersey to ask for more funds if needed.

The ship was incredibly helpful at the guest relations desk. Two of the guest relations officers gave me their business cards with special notes and permission to make ship to shore calls at no expense to me the last two full days of the cruise as well as add extra minutes at no charge on my ship's Internet account so I could try to contact the car rental company Lost and Found employee's email and extension at the car rental company. Their courtesy was truly appreciated. With the guest relations' desk officers' help and continually interrupting the automated system at the Newark Airport rental car company, I finally broke through and contacted the Lost and Found employee at that extension.

Complicated matters continued. I found out that the Arizona lady turned in the rental car a day early, and no one had found my wallet while cleaning the car. The car rental company Lost and Found employee assured me that the cleaning attendants were on the lookout for the missing wallet and would turn it in if found.

All along, we thought that no one would find or steal the wallet because my husband didn't just "tuck the wallet" under the front of the passenger seat. He pushed it as far back under the seat as he could. The carpet was as black as the wallet, and he thought no one could see it. He was right. The car rental company attendants were on the lookout for it and did not find it either.

Unlucky for us, the car went out one additional time for another car rental after our rental before we debarked the ship in Bayonne, NJ on Saturday, October 8th. This time the car was rented one-way and was not going to return to Newark Airport. Our feelings were very mixed by this time, partially despondent and partially hopeful. Was the wallet still in the car, going for a ride somewhere in New England with the occupants enjoying the fall color, or was someone trying without success to use our credit cards? We had no way of knowing.

Finally! Thank God for a persistent car rental Lost and Found employee at Newark Airport and an honest car rental attendant at another rental location. The Lost and Found employee tracked the car and contacted a car rental attendant at the off site location. He found the wallet! Glory Be! He made arrangements for FedEx to overnight the wallet to the Newark Airport rental car company Lost and Found employee.

We were able to pick up my wallet with everything in tact--my driver's license, credit cards, bills, and other important sheets of paper right down to the pennies, notes, and stamps at the Newark Airport car rental company the day we finished our genealogy cruise. We were very thankful for the diligence and persistence of two of their employees at different locations to retrieve what could have been an even more disastrous situation with greater loss.

We were very joyous and relieved to find that people all over the country, at least where we have visited, have been friendly, courteous, and respectful of others' property, especially when traveling. We have always tried to be careful with our belongings, and not lose anything. However, this time, we were not careful enough. It is not enough when on a trip to count the bags--we also must make sure that our smaller bags, like laptops, purses, etc. have everything in them that is supposed to be there.

Oh! How did we finish our trip? For one thing, we had one of our new credit cards FedExed overnight to the hotel where we stayed after the cruise. We also enjoyed visiting four of my husband's cousins, one spouse, a daughter, and a grandson on Long Island. It had been eleven years since we had seen most of them.

We had time to visit three cemeteries, two that I had not visited at Bay Shore where my husband's cousins' parents were buried in 1944, Oakwood, and 1952, St. Patrick's, and the Babylon Rural Cemetery where my husband's parents, paternal grandfather, paternal great-grandparents and many other Robbins' ancestors are buried.

More will follow in future blogs including visits to Surrogate's Courts in Suffolk and Orange County, NY plus libraries and historical societies at Goshen and Middletown, NY--some serendipitous experiences to report about!

Have You Created A Life Road Map for Your Descendants?

2011-10-22T12:12:00.000-05:00

A new project I completed this morning was to create a life road map and list the places I have lived or worked in my life using Google Maps. This could be created using any number of Internet map programs including MapQuest, Bing, or others you are familiar with or wish to try.

After creating the Google Map, I clicked F11 to change to a Full Screen. Toggle back using F11 to exit Full Screen when finished. Next I clicked the Prnt Scrn button on the top row keys to make a screen shot of my map and directions. After that, I used Ctrl C (Copy), opened my Microsoft Word Document Program in Landscape View, and used Ctrl V (Paste) to enter the map and directions list. I saved the document to my desktop as a .pdf file with title of my choice. I use the free .pdf Nitro Program which allows me freedom to change a .pdf into a .jpg photograph that I can use in several genealogy programs including this blog. I am not a professional, but have learned some technology steps that help me. Follow steps that work best for you. In the Comments below, I hope you will share steps that you use to convert a web page shot to a .pdf or .jpg image that you can use in your Internet genealogy programs.

The purpose is to show your descendants including your children and their children as well as extended family where your personal migration has taken place. If you have always lived in the same area or county, specific addresses will point out the changes you have made, even in a small area. This will help others who are interested in your life to have more than just a vague idea of who you are, where you have lived or worked, and perhaps raise some questions that you can answer while you are living as to why you stayed in one area or moved to more locations.

Start with your birth town or place. Keep adding destinations until you have added your current location. In this kind of project, some locations will be approximate as in my case. I may not remember the exact street address, or a particular building or address no longer exists.

I made a combination map of destinations that includes the names of towns I lived in, the churches my dad and family were associated with, and the schools I taught in. If you wish to be more specific, it will be helpful for you to research your former addresses, names of buildings or companies you worked for, churches you attended, schools you went to, and any other places important to you.

As time goes on, our brothers and sisters may have memories that fail or they may have led such busy lives that they only kept up with what their family was doing and where they lived. Children and grandchildren never really knew the part of their parents' lives that came before they were born or have not seen the migration in a visual map. Also, might it be possible to recreate a life road map for a loved one who has passed away? Definitely, yes! In great part, this is how genealogists spend the greatest amount of time and effort, going back in time to recreate some substance of their ancestors' lives using documents, photographs, and other sources that make their forbears in some sense "come alive". Why not life road maps, also?

Notes: LindaSue Hollingsworth Littlejohn Robbins: Places she has lived, taught, and whereshe went to church. This list is fairly comprehensive. However, there are approximationsas some original locations do not exist now. Google Maps did not add S, T, andU on the map. S, T, and U are approximately 30miles north of Fort Worth, Texas. Not every home or apartment that Linda livedin is listed in this life road map.

My life road map is not perfect in many ways, but it is a start that can be changed and modified over time to give a better picture of my migration. I hope you will give it a try also. Please share other ideas in Comments as to how you may use a Life Road Map. I have already thought of Places in the County, State, Country, World you have visited, Cemeteries you have visited or helped others with, Vacations or trips you have made with your family, and Locations where you were transferred with your job.

New England Cruise Prompts Research at NEHGS, New England Historic Genealogical Society at Boston, Massachusetts

2011-10-20T17:39:00.000-05:00

Linda Robbins and Thomas MacEntee, High Definition Genealogy, Guest Speaker on the Explorer of the Seas Legacy Family Cruise that departed Liberty Cruise Terminal September 29, 2011. Thomas is also well known for creating and maintaining Geneabloggers.com, presenting genealogy webinars, and speaking all over the country at Genealogical and Historical Society Meetings and Conferences. Thanks to Ken Robbins for taking this picture.

Barbara Poole, Genealogist from Boston, Massachusetts volunteered her time at NEHGS when Legacy Family Tree software program cruisers from the Explorer of the Seas spent one day in Boston researching their New England ancestors.Thanks to Barbara Poole for sharing the pictures below.

Geoff Rasmussen, Legacy Family Tree and Thomas MacEntee, High-Definition Genealogy, were speakers on the Legacy Family Tree Cruise with ports at Portland and Bar Harbor, Maine, St. John, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and Boston, Massachusetts.

Linda Robbins reads a Robbins book housed at NEHGS on the Sixth Floor in the Reading Room at NEHGS. I received excellent help from the Reference Librarians and David Allen Lambert, who I had met in 2009 at the Little Rock FGS Conference.

Ken Robbins was all ready for the large group picture of the Legacy Family Tree Group in the Theater. There were 178 Legacy Family Tree cruisers and approximately 22 presenters and other guests for the 9-day cruise and three days of At Sea Seminars. They were very informative and fun.

Recently Ken and I completed a cruise on Explorer of the Seas with the intention of my attending classes for my genealogy software program Legacy Family Tree. Our cruise was very successful with five ports including Boston where I and others taxied to NEHGS, New England Historic Genealogical Society--Founded in 1845 at 99-101 Newbury Street (www.americanancestors.org), courtesy of cruise presenter Thomas MacErsntee's planning and area genealogy friends who volunteered to meet us there and assist us with our research.

The results of my research helped me locate further documentation about my husband's Robbins, Love, Wheeler, and Tower ancestors in New York, Massachusetts, and other New England states. I also had the privilege of meeting Barbara Poole, another genealogist and volunteer for the day at NEHGS. It is rare that genealogists get to meet each other in person. Not everyone gets to go on a genealogy cruise or walk in the doors of NEHGS in Boston. I am thankful and grateful for the chances to experience these opportunities.

Part 5: The Final Chapter in Lucy Jane Lamb Willis’ Life

2011-09-12T14:15:00.004-05:00

As happens in most families, a person's life becomes more complex in their later years. This was also true about Lucy Jane Lamb Willis. Lucy had been married for 24years at the time of her husband John Pinckney Willis’ death. She spent the finalsegment of her life raising her six youngest childrenwho were born to John and her. This occurred during the next 16 years 1911-1927when the youngest child Lois left home to marry. In the 1920 U.S. Census Lucy was listed as the head of household, a widow,owned her home, and could read and write. The children living at home wereLudie, age 18, Marvin, age 17, Purley, age 15,Guy, age 13, Alton, age 11, all born in Florida and Lois, age 9, the only child born in Texas. As the childrengrew into adulthood, they married and most had children of their own. Someremained nearby in east Texas counties, but others moved to different areas ofTexas and two of the children, Ola and Alton, returned to Florida.

These are Willis descendants who are married with Streetman and Gray surnames. At the far left on the first row is Richard Lusky Gray, my grandfather, holding their oldest living daughter, Lois Azalee, my aunt. Second from left on the first row is Alice Lucinda Willis Gray, my grandmother, holding their third living child, Cecil Newell Gray,my uncle, and standing to the right of Alice Lucinda is their second living child, my mother, Opal Murriel Gray. I believe the other people in the photograph are Streetman descendants and would appreciate help to identify them.

My grandparents, Alice Lucinda Willis and RichardLusky Gray, who married in 1913, lived inAnderson, Montgomery, San Jacinto, and Liberty Counties in Texas. They had six children,four of whom lived to adulthood and had families of their own. Their firstchild was an infant daughter, born and died in 1914;the second child was Lois Azalee Gray, born in 1915,who lived until age 95 in 2010. She and husband Ruel Edward David Snow had twosons. Opal Murriel Gray, my mother, was born in 1916,and lived until the age of 88 in 2005. She and husband, Kermit King Hollingsworth, hadfour children, three daughters and a son. Cecil Newell Gray, born in 1918, lived until the age of 81in 1999. He and wife, Mary Margaret Moulder hadfour children, two sons and two daughters. Sherman Lusky Gray, was born in 1922 died in 1927 atthe age of 5 in Montgomery County, Texasfrom tonsillitis. Ava Maxine Gray, currently age 87,was born in 1924 and lives in Virginia with husbandAlbert William Bill Jones. She and her husband have four children, twodaughters and two sons.

This photo was taken about 1955, possibly the last time all the Gray children and grandchildren gathered at our grandparents' home in Cleveland, Texas before one family moved to Oklahoma, one to Arkansas, and one to New York. The fourth family remained in Texas. As you can see, our families continued the pioneer spirit when our families migrated to new locations as the lure of new land or job opportunities arose.

Mary Almira Willis and Ancil Hewitt Streetman whoalso married in 1913, had four children: R. C.,born in 1912 and died in 1969, Cecil Gilbert, born in 1916and died in 1985; Coy Wilson, born in 1919 and died in 1996,and Floy Elizabeth, born in 1923 and died in 1985. I will leave it to my Streetman cousins to blog andpost about their families.

In 1952, Ola and Alton were living in Florida, Lois Inez lived in far west Texas, and the other brothers had passed away. This could have been in Houston, Harris, Texas where Ludie held quite a few family gatherings.

Sometime in 1919,daughter Ludie Valonia Willis, age 19, married Rufus Edgar Denson, age 18 possibly in Grapeland, Houston, TX. In 1925, they had son Starling “Starlie” Edgar Denson. Inthe 1930 U.S. Census the family lived in Dallas,Dallas County, Texas. In 1932 husband Rufus waskilled in a truck car accident near Lewisville, Texas.

Rufus Edgar Denson and wife
Ludie Valonia Willis

Son Starlie entered theU.S. Navy in WWII and was killed in action. The information on the AmericanBattles Monument Commission states: Starlie Edgar Denson, Seaman, Second Class, U.S.Navy Service #6254193, United States Naval Reserve entered the service fromTexas; died December 1, 1943; missing in action orburied at sea; tablets of the missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila,Philippines.

Starling Starlie
Edgar Denson

In 1944 Ludie married William Henry “Harry”Journeay until he passed away in 1953 leavinghis spouse and three of his children. They lived in Houston. Ludie would often visitmy grandparents in Cleveland, Texas while we were visiting and my parents wouldvisit great Aunt Ludie in Houston in the 1940sand 1950s.
William Henry "Harry" Journeay and
Ludie Valonia Willis Denson Journeay in 1944

In 1923, sixth childand fourth son Jesse Loyd Willis married Ruth Comer in Gregg County, TX orGorman, Eastland County, Texas. In 1936, JesseLoyd Willis passed away in Rule, Haskell County, Texas at the age of 40. He had served as a Methodist Minister for 16 years mostly in the NW Texas Conference of theMethodist Church. His wife Ruth and children Elizabeth F., Loyd Comer, MildredLouise, and Bruce Lamb Willis survived him.

In 1927, Lucy andJohn Willis’ oldest child and son, John Joseph Willis passed away in Tyler,Smith County, Texas. He was survived by his wife Ethelinda and children EthelAvalon, Melba, Odessa, Vera Doris, and Johnnie Rudolph “Rudy” Willis.

John Joseph Willis and Ethelinda Gray Willis

Also in 1927,twelfth child and eighth son Guy Clifford Willis married Thelma Ruth Smith.They had two daughters, Nelda Beth F. born in 1928,who married a Mr. Morton and Lester J. Ross, no available dates, and BillieRuth Willis with an unknown birth date who married Gale Ray.

Sometime in 1927,fourteenth child and fifth daughter Lois Inez Willis, age 17, married Edwin Spurgeon Payne, age 24. They lived in Montgomery County and later in Shafter,Presidio County, TX. They had one daughter, Melba Juanita, born in 1930. Our family visited them in Shafter.

Sisters Ludie Valonia Denson Journeay
and Lois Inez Willis

In 1928, tenth childand sixth son Marvin Rivey Willis, age 26,married Alice Josepheen Teems, age 22. Theyhad five daughters, Francis Lorene Willis, born in 1929,and Brenda, Jean, Marvaleigh, and Wanda, all with unknown birth dates.

In the 1930 U.S.Census, Lucy Jane lived with her twelfth child and eighth son Guy CliffordWillis and his wife Ruth Willis and their almost 2-yearold daughter Nelda. R. C. Streetman, 19-yearold son of Mary Almira and Ancil Hewitt Streetman lived there also as a lodger.They lived in Baytown, Harris County, Texas.

In the early 1930s, eleventhchild and seventh son Purley Gratan Willis married Alice Willis. They had aninfant daughter Willis who was born and died in 1933.A second living child is listed in a different relative’s family tree. On May 17, 1943 PurleyGratan Willis passed away. He died in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas. Hisoccupation was as general superintendent at McMurray Plumbing Company. He wasburied at the Ector County Odessa Cemetery in Odessa, Texas as was his infantdaughter.

By 1935, thirteenthchild and ninth son Alton Jackson Willis, age 35was married to Ellen Willis, age 21 in PolkCounty, Florida. Other information has not been documented as of this time.

The Alice Lucinda Willis Gray and Richard Lusky Gray home in Cleveland, Liberty County, Texas was also home to Alice's mother, Lucy Jane Lamb Willis from 1942-1945 when she died. Oldest daughter Lois Azalee Gray Snow helped her parents finance their home in the late 1930s. Other children helped install plumbing in the home in the early 1950s.

In 1942 mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother LucyJane Lamb Willis moved for the last time to live with her fifth child and seconddaughter, Alice Lucinda Willis and husband, Richard Lusky Gray in Cleveland,Liberty County, Texas. She would remain in their home until she passed away. Shewas buried at Antrim Cemetery next to her husband John Pinckney Willis who haddied 34 years earlier.

After becoming a widow, Lucy witnessed the loss ofsix sons. Thankfully, three sons and all five daughters survived their motherfor 18 years or more. Lucy also witnessedthe weddings of twelve of her children and the births of many of hergrandchildren during her remaining 34 years.

I was told a story about Great-Grandmother LucyWillis that happened when I was two and three years of age. I was told that Iused to rub my Great-Grandmother’s legs while she was in the bed so they wouldnot ache.

Lucy Jane Lamb Willis lived 76 years, 5 months, and 28 days. Her death was on March 14, 1945 at the home of her daughter Alice andLusky Gray in Cleveland, Liberty County, Texas. She died of nephritis(inflammation of one or both kidneys) and carcinoma of the uterus. Pace StancilFuneral Home was in charge of the funeral. She was buried at Antrim Cemetery inNW Houston County, Texas next to her husband John Pinckney Willis who died in 1911 and near their son Charles Dewey Willis who diedin 1919.

Comments are appreciated who find that LucyJane Lamb Willis was an extraordinary woman as I find her to be. I always knewbits and pieces about my heritage and ancestry, but working through this processhelps me appreciate that I have learned more. I am a descendant of hard workingancestors who had a great pioneering spirit. They were not satisfied that wherethey lived was the best place they could be. Lucy and John kept moving on untilthey found a community and farmland where they could successfully raise theirfamily.

If incorrect dates or incorrect informationin the life of Lucy Jane Lamb Willis and her family are noticed, please contact me with acomment and I will be happy to correct them.

Part 4: Lucy Willis, Widow, Raises 13 Children and Older Children Form Their Own Families

2011-09-06T00:56:00.000-05:00

Three older Willis children married in the year 1913: third child, oldest daughter, Mary Almira Willis,age 21, married Ancil Hewitt Streetman, age 24 on January19, 1913 in Houston County; fourth child, second daughter Alice LucindaWillis, age 19, married Richard Lusky Gray, age 20, on August 9, 1913 inAnderson County; and, oldest child, oldest son, John J. Willis, age 24, marriedEthelinda Gray, age 22, on November 3, 1913 in Houston County.

Jesse Loyd Willis
(1895-1936)

Oldest daughter Mary Almira Willis, age 21, married AncilHewitt Streetman, age 24, on January 19, 1913from familysearch.org, Texas Marriages, 1837-1973, Book 11: Page 199. They hadthree children: R.C., age 6, Gilbert, age 3, and Coy, less than 1 year old, in the January 22, 1920 U.S. Census. They lived in District88, Justice Precinct 5 (part of) West of I&GNRR track and North ofGrapeland and Navarro Road.

Cecilia Viola Ola Jacqueline Willis
(1897-1965)

Oldest son John J. Willis married Ethelinda Gray, mymaternal grandfather, Richard Lusky Gray’s next older sister on November 3, 1913 in Houston County, Texas. In the February 4, 1920 U.S. Census John J.’s and Ethelinda’sfamily lived east of Elkhart, Anderson County and Navarro Road and had threeWillis children: On June 27, 1927 husband JohnJoseph, age 38, passed away in Tyler, SmithCounty, Texas.

Charles Dewey Willis
(1898-1919)

In the April 8, 1930 U.S. Census Ethelinda Willis, age 39 was the head of household working as a mechanic operator for a clothing manufacturer in Tyler, Smith County, Texas. Ethelinda and her five Willis children: Avalon, age 15, Melba, age 12, Odessa, age 12, Doris, age 9, and Rudolph, age 6, were living in a shared home with Everitt A. and Mildred Smith at 819 S. College Street.

Fourth child and third son, William Willie Jefferson Willis, probably betweenage 18 and 21married Myrtle B. Weisenger, possibly between age 16and 19 and probably between 1913 and 1917 when theirfirst child, Weda, was born. I could not find a marriage document atancestry.com or familysearch.com. Perhaps another family member has WWJW andMBWW’s marriage record. On June 15, 1917, WillieJefferson registered for the WWI Draft and stated that he was married and hadone child.

Ludie Valonia Willis
(1900-1968)

Their oldest child, Weda, was born in 1917 and listed as older than Wilbert in the January 16, 1920 U.S. Census, but without a firm date in my research. Wilbert, the second child, was born on December 18, 1917.

Marvin Rivey Willis
(1902-1977)

The April 4 & 5, 1930 U.S. Census shows the Willie, age 37 and Myrtle Willis, age 36, family as living in District 1, Tyler City, Ward 1 (Part), Bounded by North City Limits; East railroad tracks; South Olive, Dixie Highway, Camp, Spring Gold, West Ward Line, Broadway, Smith County, Texas and rented at 521 Vance with their five children: Weda, age 13, Wilbert, age 12, Windell, age 11, Weldon, age 10, and W. Z., age 7. Willie was a building carpenter.

On November 28, 1919, CharlesDewey Willis, age 21, the eighth child andfifth son, passed away. Charles Dewey who went by Dewey died of a cerebral brain tumor that was diagnosed twodays before his death at John Sealy Hospital in Galveston, Galveston County,Texas. He was single and a farmer. On September 12,1918 Dewey registered for the WWI Draft at Crockett, Houston County,Texas. He was of medium height, slender build, with blue eyes and black hair.

Purley Gratan Willis
(1904-1943)

Dewey was buried at Antrim Cemetery November 30, 1919 by F. P. Malloy and Sons alongside his father. Lucy was 51 years of age.

The January 16, 1920 U.S.Census show the Lucy Jane Lamb Willis family as living in District 89 JusticePrecinct 5 (part of) W. of I&GNRR track and south of Grapeland and NavarroRoad, Grapeland, Houston County, Texas. Lucy is listed as born in Florida, awidow, owns home, can read and write, and is 52years old. Six Willis children are living in the home: Ludie, age 18, Marvin, age 17,Purley, age 15, Guy, age 13, Alton, age 11, and Lois, age 9.

Guy Clifford Willis
(1906-1971)

Fourth child and third son William “Willie” Jefferson Willis,age 27, lived with his wife Myrtle B. Weisenger Willis, age 29, on the farmthey owned, #395 in the U.S. 1920 Census with nomortgage and three children: Weda, age 3, Wilbert, age 2, and Windell, age 1.

Alton Jackson Willis
(1908-1963)

The next farm, #396 in the U.S. 1920Census was owned by H.M. Henry Marvin (sometimes listed as Marvin Henry) andLuna Lenora Gray Streetman who also had three children in the 1920 U.S. Census:James, Luther, and Mary. The significance of Luna Gray is that she was my grandfather Richard Lusky Gray's sister.

Lois Inez Willis
(1910-1981)

Be sure to go to the three older Blog posts that take you to Part 1, 2, and 3.

Part 3: Willis Family Migrates to East Texas (Abt. 1909), 14th Child is Born (1910) and Lucy Willis’ Husband, John Pinckney Willis, dies (1911)

2011-09-06T00:26:00.006-05:00

John Pinckney Willis

(1866-1911)

Sometime between January 29, 1908and May 7, 1910 the Willis family and otherfamilies migrated to Houston County, Texas from Calhoun County, Florida. Thecovered wagon train digital photograph that I received in a collection ofWillis photographs and shown in Part 1 was not identified with a caption.Perhaps there is writing on the back or some indication that this is anauthentic photograph of the migration of the Willis Family and other familieswho moved together to Texas.

The newspaper article did not have the connected newspaperheading at the top of the page that the article came from, although the January, 1909 date for this article in the Grapeland,Texas newspaper is a true one, passed to me through the wonderful transmissionof Picasa and the Internet.

Lucy Jane Lamb Willis

(1868-1945)

In earlier days of family history special newspaper clippings were saved by family members not knowing the importance of connecting an original printed date to the event. I surmise that the families had to move after winter when temperatures became better in the spring and before the high temperatures of the summer, or after summer’s heat and before winter came after the fall of the year.

John Joseph Willis
(1888-1927)

I do not know how long this kind of migration was. It probably lasted several months. Surely the families stopped in the states in between to visit relatives or friends. Migration routes had been pioneered by others, and were well traveled by families that wanted to move for many reasons, including the lure of better farm land that had not been “used up”.Moving across the southern states from east to westhopefully included more temperate weather. However, the families still had todeal with adverse weather conditions, water and food supplies, crossing rivers,transportation breakage and maintenance, and disease.

The fact that the Willisfamily was able to make the journey from one end to the other without anyfamily deaths seems miraculous.

George Washington Willis Burial

Place in Chipola, Calhoun, Florida
(1890-1893)

The May 7, 1910 U.S. Census liststhe John P. and Lucy J.L. Willis as living in District 0074, Justice Precinct 5(part of) All west of IGNBB and north of Grapeland and Daly Road to Daly, northof Daly and Lynwood Road to Trinity River, by way of Justice Precinct 5, HoustonCounty, Texas. The family all had the Willis surname and were listed with thefollowing ages: John P. 43, Lucy J. 41, JohnJ. 21, Mary A. 18, William J. 17, Alice L. 16, Jesse L. 15, Ola J.13, C. Dewey11, Ludie V. 9, Marvin R. 7, Purley G. 6, Guy C. 4, and Alton J. 2.

Mary Almira Willis

(1891-1970)

In The Official Railway Guide: North American freightservice edition by American Association of Passenger Traffic Officers, NationalRailway Publication Company, Philidelphia , page lxviii states that theInternational and Great Northern R.R. has 1,001 miles of track.

August 16, 1910, the last andfourteenth child of Lucy, age 41, and JohnWillis, a daughter, Lois Inez Willis, was born in Houston County, Texas, theonly child to be born in Texas.

William Willie Jefferson Willis
(1892-1970)

On June 19, 1911, Lucy JaneLamb Willis’s husband, John Pinckney Willis passed away in Houston County,Texas. Lucy was age 42. He was buried atAntrim Cemetery, NW of Grapeland where other family ancestors are buried. Atthat time, Lucy possibly had 3 children at home age 18 or older and 10 childrenat home under the age of 18, six boys and four girls.

Alice Lucinda Willis
(1893-1980)

Be sure to look for Part 4 in the Newer Blog Post and Parts 1 and 2 in Older Blog Posts.

Part 2: Lucy Jane Lamb’s Birth (1868), Marriage (1887), and First 21 Years of Married Life (1887-1908) with 13 Births

2011-08-27T10:00:00.001-05:00

Lucy Jane Lamb, my great-grandmother, was born on September 16, 1868 in Chipola, Calhoun County, Floridato John Lamb and Almira Peacock Lamb.

In June, 1885, the FloridaState Census listed the Lamb family as #223 with Lucy Jane as age 16 and single. Her father’s birthplace was NorthCarolina and her mother’s birthplace was Georgia. The record is on page 434.

Two and a half years later at age 19,on December 22, 1887, Lucy Jane Lamb marriedJohn Pinckney Willis as stated in the license issued by James Stanfill, CalhounCounty District Judge for the 2^nd County Circuit of the State ofFlorida on December 19, 1887. The ceremony wasperformed by Rev. Charles S. Fuss and witnessed by James Stanfill.

Marriage License for John Pinckney Willis and Lucy Jane Lamb

John Pinckney Willis (1866-1911)
Lucy Jane Lamb Willis (1868-1945)

December 1, 1888, at age 20, Lucy and John’s first child, their oldest son, John Joseph Willis, was born in Blountstown or Chipola, Calhoun County, Florida.

April 24, 1890, their second child, their second son, George Washington Willis, was born in Chipola, Calhoun County, Florida when Lucy was 21.

April 23, 1891, at age 22, Lucy and John’s third child and their firstdaughter, Mary Almira Willis, was born in Chipola, Calhoun County, Florida.

July 15, 1892, John and Lucy’sfourth child, the third son, William “Willi” Jefferson Willis, was born in Chipola,Calhoun County, Florida when Lucy was 23.

On July 15, 1893, Lucy, age 24, and John’s second child, son George WashingtonWillis died in Chipola, Calhoun County, Florida when George was 3 years old. Hewas buried at Bailey(s) Cemetery, Calhoun County, Florida. Directions toBaileys Cemetery are to begin at Highway 20 at Clarksville, go north on Hwy 73,right on Bailey Cemetery Road, go 1 mile. The Bailey(s) Cemetery will be on theright on a curve.

There is one only more Willis listed by now at thewww.rootsweb.ancestry.com/floridacalhoun/Cemeteries/Bailey webpage, a child, Lucy Lamb Willis with no dates. With this name, I wonder if this could beanother child of John Pinckney and Lucy Jane Lamb Willis. If the child was bornto Lucy and John Willis, the birth probably occurred between 1887 and 1909 whentheir family lived in Calhoun County. There are other Lamb and Cook surnamesand maiden names that are probably ancestors and buried at Bailey(s) Cemetery.In addition, there are 21 graves without identification and 55 graves withnames but no dates.

er t

September 19, 1893, the fifthchild, a second daughter of John and Lucy, was Alice Lucinda Willis was born atChipola, Calhoun County, Florida when Lucy was 25.Alice is important to me as she is my maternal grandmother who had six children,four of whom lived to adulthood, with her husband, Richard Lusky Gray in eastTexas in Anderson County and Montgomery County. The four children married andgave Lusky and Alice 14 grandchildren. Presently there are12 living grandchildren who have many children and grandchildren of their ownin Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, New York, and Virginia.

Mother Lucy Jane Lamb Willis (1868-1945) holds fifth child, my grandmother, Alice Lucinda Willis (1893-1980), John Pinckney Willis (1866-1911) holds fourth child, William Willie Jefferson Willis (1892-1939), and standing at right are third child, Mary Almira Willis (1891-1970), and first child, John Joseph Willis ( 1888-1927). Photo may have been taken in 1894 in Florida after the death of their second child George Washington Willis (1890-1893)

April 29, 1895 their sixthchild and fourth son Jesse Loyd Willis was born in Chipola, Calhoun, Floridawhen Lucy was age 26.

April 13, 1897 the seventhchild and third daughter Cecilia Viola Ola Jacqueline Willis was born at Willisor Chipola, Calhoun County, Florida when Lucy was 28.

September 13, 1898 John andLucy’s eighth child and fifth son Charles Dewey Willis was born at Willis,Calhoun County, Florida when Lucy was 29.

On January 6, 1900, the U.S.Census stated that the John Pinckney and Lucy Jane Lamb family lived atDistrict 2, Pippins Mill, Calhoun County, Florida. It lists John’s birthplaceas North Carolina, Lucy’s birthplace as Georgia, total number of children as 8,and number of living children as 7. The parent’s marriage year was given as1888 [listed as 1887 on the marriage license] with number of married years as12. John P. Willis owned his own farm with no mortgage. Lucy’s occupation wasnot given. The ages for the family given in the 1900 U.S. Census were: John P.Willis 34, Lucy J. Willis 31, John J. Willis11, Mary A. Willis 9, William J. Willis 7, Alice L. Willis 6, Jesse L Willis 5,[Callie]

Cecilia V. Willis 3 and Charles D. Willis 1.

September 4, 1900 was thebirth of the ninth child, John and Lucy’s fourth daughter Ludie Valonia Willisat Willis, Calhoun County, Florida when Lucy was almost 32.

June 27, 1902 Lucy, at age 33, and John had their tenth child, son MarvinRivey Willis, born in Calhoun County, Florida.

March 28, 1904, the eleventhchild was born to Lucy, age 35, and John, ason Purley Gratan Willis, born at Chipola, Calhoun County, Florida.

April 25, 1906, John and Lucy,age 37, had their twelfth child, son GuyClifford Willis, born at Willis, Calhoun County, Florida.

January 29, 1908, they hadtheir thirteenth child, son Alton Jackson Willis, the last child born inFlorida at Willis in Calhoun County. Lucy was 39.

John Pinckney & Lucy Jane Lamb Willis Family: 10 of 14 Children

Be sure to see the first part in the previous blog post and move to Part 3 and Part 4 in Newer blog posts.

Part 1: Who Was My Maternal Great-Grandmother Lucy Jane Lamb Willis?

2011-08-27T01:15:00.002-05:00

Part 1: Introduction and Preface

I am glad that I did not live in an earlier time when myancestors lived in the 1800s or before, or in the early 1900s. I believe theyled difficult and challenging lives. However, I would have enjoyed learningabout my four sets of great-grandparents from their children, my two sets ofgrandparents, or my parents and aunts or uncles as I was growing up. I missedthat opportunity from migrating a lot with my three families: as a child, in afirst marriage with three children, and in a second marriage with six children,their spouses, 16 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren.

There are wonderful things to be said about moving away fromthe place where our great-grandparents lived, and that was the case for almostall of my great-grandparents’ children, my grandparents and my great uncles andgreat aunts, except for a few of the great uncles and aunts, especially thosein my maternal grandparents’ families who did not migrate much out of Anderson,Houston, Smith, Montgomery, Jasper, and Harris Counties, all in the part ofTexas known as “East Texas.” In a different sense, those descendants who stilllive in “East Texas” or close to “East Texas” may know their relatives (cousinsor aunts and uncles if still living) or may know where their ancestors lived andare buried.

The migration “bug” has been a part of all of our country’sfamily heritage and mine, also. My maternal grandfather’s ancestors, the Graysand the Williams, came to Anderson County in the 1840s and 1850s. My maternalgrandmother’s ancestors, the Willises and Streetmans as in-laws, came with other families from CalhounCounty, Florida in the early 1900s and settled in Houston County.

The Cook, Willis, and Streetman families came by covered wagon from Calhoun County, Florida, close to the Florida Panhandle to Houston County in East Texas. about 1909. The photograph of the covered wagon train was found in earlier digital pictures as though it was documented with this journey. However, the photograph is not documented and new writings of one of the Willis children in the possession of John R. Streetman indicates the families also traveled by train, and possibly by ship to come to Texas.

My maternal grandmother’s parents came to Houston County, Texas about 1909 according to a Grapeland, Texas newspaper article that was reprinted 50 years later with 12 of their living children.

One son, GeorgeWashington Willis, was born in Florida in 1890 and died there three years laterin 1893. The youngest daughter, Lois Inez Willis, was the only child who was bornin Texas in 1910 in Houston County.

Hand drawn map of NW Houston County showing Antrim Cemetery where Lucy Jane Lamb Willis, husband John Pinckney Willis, and son Charles Dewey Willis are buried as well as many other pioneers who settled in the Antrim Community, also known as Pleasant Hill, 10 miles NW of Grapeland, Houston County, Texas. Elkhart in Anderson County is also shown on the map as that was an area where some of the Willis children lived in their later lives.

As a genealogist who tries to only record information that canbe documented with resources, like birth, marriage, and death certificates,death records, family Bibles, U.S. and state Census records, dated andidentified photographs, cemetery headstones and records, church records, mystory may seem “dry” to some, but I hope with this report that more of ourfamily members will learn about our ancestors to love and appreciate even morethe lives they lived.

I am very thankful for our Willis, Streetman, Gray, andWilliams family relatives who have been very sharing with their information,photographs, pedigrees, documents, and friendship through Facebook, Ancestry,Findagrave, Rootsweb, emails, andpersonal visits.

Some photographs come from my late Aunt Azalee Gray Snow andher son David Lusky Snow’s collections. Most photographs come from my SecondCousin Once Removed Tom Streetman and his Uncle, Second Cousin John R.Streetman who also provided me with wonderful pedigree charts from My Brother’sKeeper software. Second Cousin Ivey Maurice Brinson has been my friend thelongest since I became a serious fulltime genealogist in 2007. He and I met inCleveland to visit my maternal grandparents’ home, their cemetery, and to visitwith a neighbor across the road from their residence. Thank you, all, and morethat I did not name here who have enriched my life as a family historian andgenealogist.

Be sure and go to read Part 2, 3, and 4 in newer posts.

2011-07-23T23:16:00.000-05:00

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Write a Poem on "Where I'm From"

http://networkedblogs.com/kMbQZ...
Hey there, Genea-Nauts -- It's Saturday Night, and time for more Genealogy Fun!!
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:
1) Write a poem about "Where I'm From" using the template found at the websitehttp://www.swva.net/fred1st/wif.htm
2) Tell us about it in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Google Plus or Facebook note.
Thank you to Kevin Huigens of the Family History Nuggets blog for the SNGF suggestion!

WHERE I'M FROM

I am frompoor North and East Texas dirt farmers and laborers of green beans, peanuts andwatermelon.

I am fromthe small early 40s brick home of a Methodist minister in NE Texas with hiswife and a milking cow in the back that was shared with the Baptist minister’s family.

I am fromthe rolling hills and pine tree forests of East Texas where trees cast shadows on the highways and spread their branches to meet eachother and where the crepe myrtles bloomed along the sides.

I am froma religious family and a family that taught honesty and respect from my dadKermit and my mom Murriel and from our grandparents.

I am fromthe habit of industriousness along with the contrasting habit of procrastination.

I am fromalways being taught to say, “Yes, Sir”, Yes, Ma’am” and “Please” and “Thank you”.

I am fromthe United Methodist Church, beginning by being a “preacher’s kid”, being active in youth groups and choirs, graduating from a United Methodist Universitywith a Bachelor’s Degree in Church Music and directing quite a few UnitedMethodist Church choirs. My influence, if there is any, is that my twodaughters’ families are United Methodist and are active in their localcongregations with children’s’ and youth activities, singing in the choirs,playing bells, and playing in the orchestra.

I am from Linden,Cass County, Texas. My dad’s parents were from Denison, Grayson County, Texasand my mom’s parents were from Cleveland, Liberty County, Texas. Through theyears my mom and her mom prepared many meals for our family and extendedfamilies that included mostly home cooked meals, much of it coming from each of theirgardens.

I am from the experiences from the timeI learned to drive of the worst accident that took place in our home driveway as I hitmy dad’s car that I did not see when I was backing, the wonderful times I recall when our family wentdriving on Sunday afternoons wherever we lived to see the traffic at theairports or to watch the seashore, and the gatherings of all of our aunts, uncles, andcousins at our grandparents’ home where I remember running around in the yard,gathering eggs, shelling beans, being carted around in the wheelbarrow by my granddad, smelling homemade biscuits, sleeping on a pallet by the open front doorwhen so many relatives showed up, and listening to the “grownups” sitting outside in the rope bottom straight chairs in the cooler air discussing Texas politics or telling jokes.

I am fromevidence found in private family albums, newspaper archives located on theInternet, documents and certificates. My parents’ evidence is found in privatefamily and relatives' photo albums, U.S. Census records, Athens, Texas Historical Society andGalveston, Texas vertical file records, and college yearbook records.

Linda Sue Hollingsworth Littlejohn Robbins

Joseph Marion Jerkens (1883-1952) Followup

2011-07-09T15:41:00.000-05:00

As of July 9, 2011, I am ableto document the following facts about Joseph Marion Jerkens, one of myhusband's maternal uncles who was born in 1883 in Austria and died in 1952 inFlorida. Another family blog posting will contain the copies of the documents I used to write this posting.

Joseph Marion Jerkens was born inZadarow, Buzcacz, Galicia, Austria Hungarian Empire. His Austrian name was JosefJurkiewicz as listed on his Ellis Island Record #677808 on September 22, 1908as an alien. Joseph Marion Jerkens has also been found in genealogy records asJurkiewicz.

On the Certificate of Arrival forNaturalization Purposes, Josef Jurkiewicz arrived at Ellis Island, NY forpermanent admission to the United States on the ship Kronprinzessin Cecilie,Record #677808 by direction of the Secretary of Labor, signed by Raymond F.Crist, Commisioner of Naturalization.

Joseph Marion Jerkens (Jierkens) wasborn on Mar 25, 1883 according to his own handwriting in the WWI DraftRegistration. His birthplace was listed as Austria. Joseph’s surname Jerkens hasalso been found in genealogy records as Jerkins, Jerkina, and Jierkens.

Joseph Jerkens in the 1910 U.S.Census was a servant & worked on a dairy farm near Roxbury, Delaware,County, NY; the 1910 census states he arrived in the US in 1908, was 27, not 26by the May 6, 1910 enumeration date; Joseph stated he was from Russia/Poland bythe time he was in the U.S. His parents were listed as also being fromRussia/Poland in the 1910 U.S. Census. At the time of the 1910 U.S. Census,Joseph's village of Zadarow was taken over by Russia and then Poland. EasternEurope's countries' boundaries always seemed to be in an upheaval. Joseph'soldest daughter verified that she was told that her father worked on a dairyfarm in upper state New York when we first arrived in the United States in1908.

On September 12, 1918, Joseph MarionJerkens registered for the WWI draft. His occupation was as horseman for HarryT. Peters on St. Mark's Avenue, Islip, Suffolk County, New York and his wifewas Jennie Elizabeth Jerkens (Jierkens). In the 1930 U.S. Census it states thatJoseph Marion Jerkens married at age 31. This indicates that Joseph Marion andJennie Elizabeth Jerkens from Sweden possibly married in 1914. They lived onUnion Avenue in Islip, New York. Joseph was of medium height and medium build,with blue eyes and brown hair.

The U.S. 1920 Census lists JosephMarion Jerkens (misspelled as Jerkina) with first wife Jennie E. He immigratedto the USA in 1908 & Jennie E. immigrated to the USA in 1902. Joseph was 37and Jennie E. was 38 on January 3, 1920. They rented on Raymond Street in IslipTownship, New York. Joseph was listed as a groom for a private family. Josephand his parents were born in Austria and spoke German. Joseph indicates “Pa”meaning that his status with naturalization is that his first papers wereapplied for in the U.S. 1920 Census and he was naturalized by the 1930 U.S.Census.

The U.S. 1930 Census states JosephMarion Jerkens (Jerkina) was first married at age 31, which would make the yearabout 1914 with his marriage to Jennie E. (possibly) Elizabeth Jerkina. She was30; they possibly married in the Catholic Church in East Islip but as of yetnot records can be found there.

In 1925-1927 Joseph Marion Jerkens’future wife, single teacher Minerva Lucile Love, and Joseph Marion Jerkens’future brother-in law William Augustus Robbins, civil engineer, lived at the WilsonRooming or Boarding House on Monell Ave. in Islip, New York according to JosephMarion and Minerva Lucile Love Jerkens’ oldest daughter who was born in 1928.

Joseph Marion Jerkens marriedMinerva Lucile Love on Saturday, May 14, 1927 in Syracuse, New York accordingto a wedding announcement by the bride’s parents Charles Nelson and Fila“Filey” Rhobe Tower Love of Syracuse, New York.

Joseph Marion Jerkens and his secondwife Minerva Lucile Love Jerkens lived on Breezy Point, Islip, Suffolk County,New York with their two oldest children born in 1928 and 1929.

Joseph became a naturalized citizenon November 9, 1929.

In 1936 at age 53, Joseph Jerkensrented a stable at the Vanderbilt Estate and lived in Oakdale, Suffolk County,New York when a Ford dealer delivered a V8 station wagon from Holbrook, NY tothe family. By this time all five children were born to Joseph and MinervaJerkens.

Minerva Love Jerkens, wife ofJoseph, was a Kindergarten teacher at Islip, NY when she passed away at schoolat the age of 61 in 1944.

Joseph Jerkens passed away January1, 1952 in Dade County, Florida. Joseph Jerkens’funeral service was at theLindenhurst, NY Catholic Church. He was buried at St. Patrick’s Cemetery, onBrentwood Boulevard south of Sunrise Highway.

Joseph Marion Jerkens was survivedby five children and two grandchildren at the time of his death. Moregrandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren have beenborn since his death are living and are not named here to protect theirprivacy.

I will appreciate any additions,corrections, or deletions about this narrative I have created based on mygenealogical research from Jerkens descendents. Please reply in the commentsarea below. I have not written any information except that based on records Ihave found online at Ancestry.com, EllisIsland.org, or the Suffolk CountyCourthouse records located at Riverhead, New York.

The information about Zadarow wasemailed to me by two experts in the field from that part of Eastern Europe:

Brian J. Lenius

Author of Genealogical Gazateer ofGalicia: http://www.lenius.ca/Gazetteer/Gazetteer.htm

President Emeritus and InternetChairman for East European Genealogical Society: http://www.eegsociety.org/Home.aspx

Matthew Bielawa:

Originatorof: Halgal: Genealogy of Halychyna andEastern Galicia: http://www.halgal.com/index.htm

Joseph Marion Jerkens (Jozef Marion Jurkiewicz)

2011-07-08T09:13:00.069-05:00

My husband's maternal uncle by marriage was Joseph Marion Jerkens, a man who was an expert groomsman, horseman, polo pony owner and player, and father of five of my husband's first cousins.

Joseph was born March 25 1883, in Zadarus (one spelling given by Joseph). He was his parents' youngest child of seven siblings who lived Zadarow (Zadaruw as spelled by a US descendent in 2000). I read that the family leased a large farm of between 1200-1400 acres. The full location of Joseph's birth as can be determined by records of his time and using current genealogy online databases is Zadarow, Buzcacz, Galicia, Austria Hungarian Empire, Ukraine (present location of Zadarow).

There are several questions I would like to answer some day as I research Joseph's life before he immigrated to the United States in 1908. I have recently joined the Eastern European Genealogical Society, http://www.eegsociety.org/Home.aspx, in Winnepeg, Manitoba, Canada that has several experts in the field of Galizien (Galcian) genealogy and I have emailed several Canadians whose ancestors came from Eastern Europe. Some of them have traveled to Ukraine, the present country where Joseph and his family lived in the late 1800s-early 1900s when it was in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. They go to study, document, translate, and sometimes digitize records from Ukraine and other Eastern European countries.

Did Jozef Jurkiewicz join the military (cavalry) before he left his birth home in 1908 from present-day Ukraine? Did any of Josef’s siblings or nieces and nephews immigrate to other countries including the USA? I have found that the surnames Shlezinger (alternate spelling: Schlezinger) and Skultan who the Jurkiewicz daughters married are mentioned in Google searches and on Facebook. This does not mean that any reliable genealogical research has been accomplished in this area. I do not know of any yet.

Is it possible to learn if any of Joseph Marion's father's Jan Jurkiewicz (Carl Von Jurkens or Carl Von Jurkiewicz's) descendents live in the L'viv Province and if it is possible to contact them? Apparently Joseph did not tell his children that his father's name was Jan instead of Carl or that his own last name was Jurkiewicz instead of Jerkens as he changed it from the time he was registered with an alien status to a naturalized citizen.

The name of Joseph Marion Jerkens' father's middle name Von was not common for citizens of the time who may not have owned land, but managed land for other owners. It was a title given by a government entity and reserved for royalty or nobility of some kind. Only time and the finding of records will tell or not tell the true name of Joseph's father listed as Jan Jurkiewicz on the ship's manifest on the Ellis Island Records.

Did any of Jan Jurkiewicz's (Carl Von Jurkens or Carl Von Jurkiewicz's) family die in WWI, WWII, massacres, or as Holocaust victims?

Joseph Marion Jerkens (Jozef Jurkiewicz) was of the Roman Catholic faith after coming to the USA, but I am not sure of his or his family's religion in Zadarow, Galicia.

Is it possible that Zadarow is perhaps Khodoriv or another town in that area with a similar name, L'viv Province, Ukraine? At one time I thought it might be possible, but have been led by one of the Galician experts that is probably not the case.

Joseph (Jozef Jurkeiwicz) from Austria (Austrian/Hungarian Empire), not the present Austria we know today, wrote on his Declaration of Intention for USA Naturalization application on 13 November 1926 that his birth name was Jozef Jurkeiwicz. He came to the United States 21-22 September 1908 via Jarnobrzeg, Austria to Bremen, Germany, and boarded the Kronprinzessin Cecilie ship to Ellis Island, NY, USA.

What were Joseph Marion Jerkens' family members' names in Latin, German, Galizien, Polish, or Hebrew records? His family's home may have stayed the same but history changed the names, boundaries, laws, and records of the place where Joseph was born many times.

Father's (Male) Name: Jan Jurkiewicz as written on the Ship's Manifest, Carl (Karl) Jurkens, or Carl (Karl) Von Jurkens, or Carl (Karl, Carol, or Carolinus) Jurkiewicz, or Carl (Karl, Carol, or Carolinus) Von Jerkiewicz (another alternate spelling of Jurkiewicz)?

Mother's (Female) Name: Frances Budan?

Sibling's Names, Plus Some Spouses, and Their Children's Names:

1. Stanley who married Sophie and had seven children, including Sophie, Adam, Stephenia, Frances, Helen, Juliana, and Mary in Jozef’s home country?

2. Mary married Carl Shlezinger (Schlezinger) and they had four children: Carl, Frances, Mary, and Cashmier in Jozef’s home country?

3. Cashmier married ?(unknown) and had no children in Jozef’s home country?

4. Cornelia married ?(unknown) and had no children in Jozef’s home country?

5. Harriet married? (Unknown) and had two children: John and Marion in Jozef’s home country?

6. Sophie married John Skulten and had two children: John and Stanley in Jozef’s home country?

7. Jozef (Joseph--USA) (Marion--USA) Jurkiewicz (Jerkens--USA) first married Jennie (from Sweden approximately in 1914 in USA who died) and Minerva Lucile Love (from Sinclairville, Chautauqua County, NY, USA in 1929) and had children who are living in the USA.

The information about Joseph's siblings and parents was written down by a relative, Ken's mother, in the early 1950s as it was orally given by Joseph Marion Jerkens for recording. The oldest daughter who lives not in North Carolina recalls that her dad told her that he first worked at a dairy farm in upper state New York when he arrived in the United States.

There are so many mysteries to solve and I hope to solve most of them.

Memories of my Dad, Kermit King Hollingsworth: Part One: From Birth to College

2011-06-09T23:59:00.003-05:00

Kermit King Hollingsworth, Sr., suffix added after he and my mom had their only son, Kermit King Hollingsworth, Jr. in 1947, was born June 9, 1911 to James “Jim” William Hollingsworth and Lula Elizabeth Mason Hollingsworth. He was their third child, born in Whitewright, Grayson County, Texas.

Jim and Lula were married in Celeste, Hunt County, Texas on May 6, 1904 by Reverend E. L. Spurlock. Jim was 23 and Lula was 17.

The year before Kermit was born, his parents, Jim and Lula, his older sister Flora “Gae”, who was five, and his older brother, Daniel “Dan” Andrew, who was three, lived at 357 Gardner Street in Whitewright, Texas in 1910. His father, Jim, was age 30, and his mother, Lula, was 24.

Jim and Lula had been married for six years when they had their first child. Jim was born near Albany, Clinton County, Kentucky in 1880 and Lula was born near Fayetteville, Lincoln County, Tennessee in 1886. By 1900, both sets of parents arrived in Texas with their families, Jim with his parents in Savoy Town, Fannin County, Texas and Lula with her parents, four brothers, and two sisters by 1892 when Lula’s youngest sister was born in Hunt County, Texas.

Sometime between 1891 when Jim’s younger brother, John, was born near Albany, Clinton County, Kentucky and 1898 when Jim’s youngest sister, Estelle, was born, Jim’s parents arrived in Fannin County, Texas with Jim, the oldest child, his younger brother John, and three sisters born in 1885, 1886, and 1890 near Albany, Clinton County, Kentucky. The youngest sister, Estelle was born in Fannin County, Texas in 1898.

Kermit’s dad was a rural mail carrier and the family rented their home. Lula was a homemaker. I do not know anything about their life at home in the growing up days of the children and wonder about their school days, what they did for playing, and if they attended church.

I know my dad graduated from Whitewright High School, probably near the end of May, 1929 when he was almost 18 from a newspaper article about him 12 years later in 1941 in Athens, Henderson County, Texas where he was pastor of the Athens First Methodist Church. In the same newspaper article, it mentioned that he was a student at Paris Junior College, probably when he was 18 and 19 years old in 1930 and 1931.
This is where I will stop for Part One of Kermit King Hollingsworth’s early life from birth to college. There are two more significant dates in my dad’s life that I have not mentioned. The date of my dad’s death was June 9, 1966, the same month and day of his birth, sixty-six years later. Today is also June 9, 2011, the same date as my dad’s birthdate. We will be able to celebrate his 100th birthday on June 9, 2012.

Richard Lusky Gray (1853-1917) 1880 U.S. Census Non-Populated Agricultural Schedule

2010-05-04T01:04:00.002-05:00

Richard Lusky Gray (1853-1917) was my great-great grandfather. He passed away 25 years before I was born, so I did not know him. He and his wife Mary Ellisor Gray (1859-1943) had nine children born in Anderson County, Texas. One of their children was my Granddaddy Richard Lusky Gray (1893-1978). I learned a lot about my great-grandfather today by reading in great detail the U.S. Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, 1850-1880 Agricultural Record for his farming production recorded on June 1, 1880 about the previous year, 1879, up to the then current date of June 1, 1880.

Richard Lusky Gray, farmer, age 26, lived with his wife Mary Ellisor Gray, homemaker, age 21, in District 3 of Precinct 2 in Anderson County with daughers Linnie, age 1, and Mary Etta, age 6 months according to the 1880 U.S. Census. Richard Lusky's, sometimes called "Dick" and Mary's parents were from Alabama and Richard Lusky was born in Alabama. Mary and the two daughters were born in Texas.

The 1880 U.S. Census Non-Populated Agricultral Schedule states that R. L. Gray was the owner of 40 tilled acres and 40 acres of woodland. The farm value of the land, fences, and buildings was $800.00 and $5.00 worth of implements and machinery. The livestock was worth $250.00. R.L. paid $105.00 in labor and hired 26 whiite laborers. The farm produced $187.00 of goods.

Animals included two horses, two beef cattle, four milk cows, four dropped calves and one slaughtered cow. One hundred pounds of butter was made in 1879. He had five sheep on June 1, 1800, three dropped lambs and three shorn fleeces for 12 pounds. He also owned 25 hogs and 18 poultry that laid 60 dozen eggs.

R. L. Gray, #7 on the 1880 Non-Population Schedule, also grew 175 bushels of Indian corn on 12 acres and 2 bales of cotton on 25 acres in 1879.

The 1880 U.S. Federal Census Non-Population Agricultural Schedule helped me learn more about operation of a farm in east Texas by a young man, his wife, and his hired helpers. I feel sure that his relatives and his neighbors were a part of his hired laborers, if not all. I got the real sense that not every crop was a success as evidenced by only two bales of cotton for 25 acres of plants. Also there was mostly hand labor as evidenced by $5.00 worth of equipment and machinery.

From this report, I was able to understand how my Granddaddy Richard Lusky Gray (1893-1978) knew so much throughout his life about planting crops and raising animals. He grew up learning from his dad and continued living his life in the same way, providing food for his family with fruits and vegetables from the large gardens around their home and with chickens and eggs from the chicken yard.

I hope this will encourage others who use www.ancestry.com to link to the U.S. Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, 1850-1880 and locate information about their ancestors who were in agriculture or industry in many of our states. As far as I have been able to determine, the U.S. Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, 1850-1880 are found on microfilm elsewhere. Below is more information about how I discovered what farming was like for my great-grandfather Richard Lusky Gray (1853-1917) in 1880 in Anderson County, TX.

At http://search.ancestry.com/search/DB.aspx?dbid=1276, I discovered the following: U.S. Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, 1850-1880. The easiest way to find ancestors who are listed in any of these agricultural or industrial schedules is to go to the states (not all) where these existed and search only by surname "last name", and add ", county name, state" (Example: , Anderson County, TX). So far I have located Gray in Anderson and Houston Counties, TX, Willis in Houston County, TX, Love and Tower in Chautauqua County, NY, Wheeler in Orange County, NY, and Robbins in Suffolk County, NY.

Note 1: I was curious about how much cotton would someone expect to get out of 25 acres. I found a partial answer in an online Yahoo question and answer at:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090617203026AAJoEhN

Question/Statement: I have a letter written by my great-great grandfather in 1852 which he says he hopes to get 29 bales out of 40 acres.

Answer: US average=740 pounds of cotton per acre; 40 acres=29,600 pounds of cotton; and, 29,600 pounds of cotton=59.2 bales.

Bale of cotton=500 pounds (22 in wide, 33 in deep, 55 in long)
Volume=17 ft(3)
Density=28 pounds/ft(3)

I do not know if this is correct or not, but it does seem plausible. Hence, my great-grandfather's two bales of cotton from 25 acres is not very good production for the year 1880.

Linda Sue Hollingsworth's Favorite Teacher at Duncan High School, Oklahoma

2010-04-18T22:12:00.000-05:00

My favorite teacher was Mr. Clinkscales at Duncan High School from 1958-1960. I was into vocal and choral music and still am, at least as a spectator and listener, but not as a performer. Mr. Clinkscales was very caring. Sometimes he would "blow his top" but not often. He often was frustrated if we were not "trying" our best.

As a result of his training, I went to All-State Chorus my junior and senior years as a soprano at OU. We stayed out at the "old north barracks". Our choir also participated in solo and ensemble competition at the district and state level, and most of the students sang in trios or quartets. One year several choir students went to the neighboring elementary schools and taught music to the younger students.

Our choir also went to the OSU Fall High School Festival at the Gallagher Hall. One year was the fateful event where the buses backed up to the building, filling it with noxious fumes. Many students had to go to the hospital from the thousands who were there. Perhaps someone from our school can recall the details of that incident. I believe we finally returned to Duncan about sunrise the next morning.

The highlight of our trips was singing at OU's old Holmberg Hall. I believe we may have performed Mozart's Requiem (or I don't really know--I bet Mr. Clinkscales knows!). Probably our dearly departed Emma Lee Tucker accompanied us on whatever it was we sang there.

I got to see Mr. Clinkscales at Saied Music Company in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the 80s at their summer music reading session for music teachers when I taught public school music in Oklahoma for 19 years. It was an honor to sit next to him and sing through the new choral music for the year.

As I learned since joining the 50th DHS reunion groups, Mr. Clinkscales was famous in World War II, as a survivor of Pearl Harbor Day. See this article that lists his name on the left:

Oklahomans recall Pearl Harbor horrors WWII Dec. 7, 1941, sneak attack by Japan lives on in survivors’ memories as their numbers shrink.
http://newsok.com/article/3423182

Here is Mr. Clinkscales' web page with his memories of WWII (great pictures):
http://pearlharborsurvivors.homestead.com/ClinkscalesAllen.html

I would love to see Mr. Clinkscales again when we have our 50th DHS Reunion. Can anyone arrange for that to happen?

In Loving Memory of Opal Murriel Gray Hollingsworth (1916-2005)

2010-02-27T23:56:00.004-06:00

Linda Sue Hollingsworth Littlejohn Robbins, Murriel’s oldest child
Those who knew her, loved her.

Opal Murriel Gray Hollingsworth was a beautiful and loving wife with her husband and a caring mother with her children. It is the case in most families that there are trials and tribulations and problems to solve throughout the years of growing a family. Our family was no different, but in using hindsight, I know that my mom performed a more than admirable job of raising her four children.

Murriel (pronounced Mer-re’ul), as Mom was called the first 70 years of her life, gave up material things for herself, so that we could have what we needed and enjoy more of what the world had to offer. It must have been difficult and challenging, just as it is today, to live within ones’ means and also be able to give of one’s self to the family and community, but she did it.

Mom was born in November 20, 1916 and lived in east Texas in the Antrim community in Anderson County for her first three years. Mom’s parents were very humble, but proud, country folks who mostly were farmers. During their first 26 years of marriage, they rented homes, and at age 46, they bought a home in Liberty County’s Cleveland, Texas with the financial assistance of their oldest daughter. It was this home where their four remaining adult children, their spouses, and 14 grandchildren visited from 1939-1978 and 1980 when Mom’s parents passed away, first her dad and then her mom.

Murriel’s family moved east of Elkhart, Texas on Grapeland Road, also in Anderson County with her family by 1920. Her father was a farmer. She, her older sister, and younger brother went to country schools and helped their mom and dad in the fields and in the home. In 1925, her youngest sister was born. By the third grade, Mom and her family had moved to Montgomery County, west of Conroe, Texas. Next the family moved to Cold Springs, Texas in San Jacinto County where they were active in the Cold Springs Methodist Church. Mom and her older sister graduated from Cold Springs High School age 17. All schools at that time went through the 11^th grade. In the 1930s Cold Springs community had a church and the High School was a four-teacher school. Mom’s older sister was the valedictorian of her class.

In 1935, at the age of 18, Mom attended the Houston, Texas Beauty College and graduated with a beautician’s license. She moved to Conroe and Anahuac, Texas to become a beautician and at one time owned her own shop. In 1940, Mom, age 23, was a beautician in Cleveland, Texas according to the Liberty County Poll Tax (Voting) receipt and lived at her parents’ home.

Murriel met my dad, a young 30 year-old Methodist preacher when he was assigned to a five-point circuit at Lovelady, east Texas after 1939. They married June 23, 1941 when Mom was 24. They married at Cleveland, Texas where her parents had moved. She and Dad spent their honeymoon at the Rice Hotel in Houston, Texas. This began a lifetime of service in the Methodist Church for both of them and also a lifetime of moving. Mom and Dad moved more than 20 times to live in church parsonages in 15 towns, six in Texas and nine in Oklahoma as they served 14 churches and one administrative position during the next 40 years.

Mom and Dad moved to Tomball, Texas where his next pastorate was located. Serving a single church was called a station. Their home was behind the church and directly connected to it with a hallway. The women of the church used the parsonage kitchen to prepare food for the church.

In March, 1942, Dad was assigned to the Linden Methodist Church, Linden, Texas, in Cass County, which is in northeast Texas near Texarkana. Murriel and he had their first child when Mom was 25, a daughter, who was born in the home and was delivered by a local doctor. Both of the baby’s grandmothers came to assist for several weeks. The family shared a milk cow with the Baptist preacher’s family who lived behind them. In April, 1943, at Linden, their second child, a daughter, was born at home who was delivered by the same doctor. Again, both grandmothers came to assist Mom and the new baby for several weeks. A lady who now lived in Tyler, Texas visited with me earlier this year by phone and explained that as a teenager, she babysat me and my next sister when we were one and two year olds. She believed that it was her mom who assisted the doctor in our deliveries as she knew her mom was called on often to assist the doctor.

Dad was assigned to First Methodist Church in Athens, Texas, in Henderson County from 1945-1948 where their third child, a son, was born in 1947 at the hospital. Our mom often dressed her two daughters in the same outfits or similarly, even though we were one year apart and one had brown hair and one had blond hair.

Methodist preachers and their families were assigned churches and locations within a geographical area called a Conference. Dad’s first 20 years as a minister were in the Texas Conference, one of five in Texas, located in east Texas, now approximately east of I-45 and not including Dallas, Texas. His last twenty years of ministry were located in the Oklahoma Conference which coincided with the geography of the state of Oklahoma.

Murriel knew that she would need to follow her husband to each new pastorate with her family. By now, at age 30, she was living in her fourth town after marrying my dad. This would continue with 12 more moves to different towns and churches for almost another 30 years until she was 60.

From 1948-1950, Mom, age 32, and family of five lived in two parsonages, plus a rental duplex in between, in Palestine, Texas. The first home was Victorian style and next door to First Methodist Church on Magnolia Street. The second home was built south of town on Highland Drive. Her family lived in a rented home while the second parsonage was built. Her oldest daughter attended first and second grades at Lamar Elementary School and her second daughter attended first grade there.

The next move occurred in June, 1950 to Galveston, Texas where Murriel, age 34, and her family grew to four children with the addition of a third daughter in 1952. Her husband was transferred to Galveston’s First Methodist Church where they lived for five years. It was an exciting time for Mom and the family with the beach so handy. My mom loved to go crabbing, and we would go to the east jetty and carefully walk out on the slippery rock rubble jetty and try not to fall between the cracks between the huge boulders. We took leftover beef meat and bones to tie a string around and lowered it into the water. Crabs would cling to the bait and we would bring them up.

Mom and Dad loved seafood of all kinds. In those days, a favorite way to prepare fish fillets was to deep fat fry them in deep electric fryers that had recently come on the market. Mom and Dad also took us to Gaido’s on Sundays after church where our favorite fish was fried shrimp. In contrast with today, we eat mostly grilled or broiled fish. Other Sunday outings included riding the Port Bolivar free ferry operated by the Department of Transportation, Dad driving the car up on the upper seawall at the east end of Seawall Boulevard, going to Carnation’s for ice cream, driving to the airport at the west end of the island to watch the airplanes come and go, and driving on the hard sand beach at the west end of the island.

During our time in Galveston, Murriel saw that the older daughters took piano, art, gymnastics, dance, and voice lessons from members of the church or in the community. It was the fashion of the time for women and girls to wear hats and gloves when we were dressed up, and our Mom and we followed that custom. Mom also saw that we ate meals on a regular schedule, with breakfast, dinner, and supper the names of the three meals as was common in those days in the South. She also taught the children to say, “Yes, m’am, no, m’am, yes, sir, and no, sir.” as did her mom. Cursing was not allowed in our home, and we could not play cards or go to a movie on Sunday.

The oldest daughter went to three schools in Galveston. The first was San Jacinto Elementary in the third and fourth grades in 1950-1952 when our family lived in a two-story Victorian home next to First Methodist Church at 1920 Sealy that was built before the 1900 storm and survived. The second school was Alamo Elementary near the home we lived in at 4420 N ½ Street in the fifth and sixth grades. The third school was Lovenburg Junior High in the seventh grade. My mom enrolled the three oldest children in swimming lessons at the then new Ball High School Swimming Pool and the oldest daughter began band in the seventh grade. The youngest sister was born in 1952 during one of the fierce storms that frequent Galveston.

1955-1957 saw the another transfer for Murriel, age 39, and her family to Grace Methodist Church in Houston, Texas in the now historic Heights area. The first parsonage was a frame home on Yale Avenue south of the church with an extra bedroom addition. The second home was a newly built parsonage one block east on Heights Boulevard south of the Heights Public Library. The oldest daughter and her next sister walked to Hamilton Junior High School at the north end of Heights Boulevard. The oldest daughter took Driver’s Ed in the ninth grade to receive a Texas Learner’s Permit. The two daughters would walk home and sometimes stop at a hamburger stand that might have been an early Whataburger because the hamburgers tasted the same. The sisters participated in the church choir and the oldest sister was in the school choir and was a member of Rainbow Girls. Mom had distinctive opinions about Elvis Presley and her oldest daughter was not allowed to see him when he came to Houston.

1957 was a historic year for Mom’s family. Bishop Angie Smith of the Methodist Church (an elected position) asked my dad to transfer from the Texas Conference to the Oklahoma Conference where the bishop’s brother A. Frank Smith was also a bishop. My dad agreed to the transfer, so all of our family’s roots from the eastern half of Texas were uprooted to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to the Crown Heights Methodist Church. Mom was 41. In those days people, particularly men, did not give up the opportunity to move within an occupation, profession, or company for possible fear of not advancing, so our family made the change.

Oldest daughter and next sister attended Harding High School in the 10^th and 9^th grades where both sisters were in Pep Club and the oldest daughter took Driver’s Ed. Some students who took Driver’s Ed the same semester already were driving their cars to school that they parked in the parking lot. Her younger brother and youngest sister attended Emerson Elementary School. Mom was the dutiful pastor’s wife and led women’s functions in the church and entertained church members in the home. The children were active in the youth groups and choirs in the church. It was nice to visit often with Dad’s oldest brother and his wife because they had moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma early in their lives in the 1930s.

Murriel’s eighth location at age 42 was 1958-1960 when her family moved to Duncan, Oklahoma’s First Methodist Church. The family lived in two locations: one a smaller frame home with a detached garage and the second, a two-story home with a non-livable basement. At the first home, Mom and the children helped to hang out the clothes after they were washed. On one occasion, they had to quickly gather the clothes in because the sky had turned a weird, sickly shade of green with increasing winds that signaled the approach of a strong storm and possible tornado. That was in the days before one could see the weather forecast on the computer or warnings on the radio or TV. At the second home, Mom presided again over entertaining functions in the home for church members. She also gave a formal tea for her oldest daughter’s high school graduation. It was in Duncan that the two older daughters were active at school and in church. The oldest daughter performed in school choir and the second daughter was editor of the school yearbook. Both daughters were in the active youth group at church, sang in the youth choir, and had fun at the after Sunday evening church service youth group dances in member’s homes. Also at this time, the two older daughters began dating.

From 1960-1966, at their ninth location, Mom, age 44, Dad, age 49, and the three younger children moved to Woodward, Oklahoma for Dad to become the Woodward District Superintendent of the Methodist Church, an administrative and guidance position. From their home, he and mom traveled to 35 churches that stretched from the western edge of Oklahoma’s Panhandle to east of the Panhandle in the Woodward area. It was during these years that the second daughter and son graduated from Woodward High School in 1961 and 1965 and the oldest daughter and second daughter attended and graduated from Oklahoma City University, a Methodist university, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Their oldest daughter married in 1965 in Dallas, Texas when Dad married his daughter and her fiancé at University Park Methodist Church. The family participated as members of the wedding party.

In June, 1966, Murriel, age 52, and Dad, age 57, moved to their Lawton’s Centenary Methodist Church, 704 S.W. D. Avenue, Lawton, Oklahoma for one year with their youngest child, Deborah as their tenth assignment. I recall visiting there with my first husband, and the garage doors would go up and down unannounced as their automatic signals would be set off as nearby Fort Sill was performing maneuvers with the same frequencies as armaments were shot.

From 1967-1970, El Reno, Oklahoma was my dad’s next pastorate and eleventh location at Wesley Methodist Church at 101 S. Barker Avenue where the parsonage was next door. The home was a one-story with a livable basement. I recall that my brother came home from the Vietnam War and stared often out the front door when we visited there. My dad also would barbeque on the grill outside in his suit and hat. As usual, Mom, age 51, belonged to the Women’s Christian Service group, lead in it. and Vacation Bible School, Sunday School, and entertained women’s groups at the parsonage. Their youngest daughter graduated from El Reno High School in 1970. A significant change came about in the Methodist Church in 1968 when it became the United Methodist Church.

In June, 1970, when Murriel was 54, she and Dad moved to Okmulgee, Oklahoma, their twelvth assignment, where he was the pastor of First United Methodist Church at 302 S. Seminole, Okmulgee, Oklahoma for two years. Okmulgee is in eastern Oklahoma where my children’s great aunt and uncle lived most of their adult lives, taught in the schools there, and were members of the First United Methodist Church. It is also the town where Mom and Dad’s youngest daughter settled with her husband in later years and raised their two children. The Okmulgee Cemetery has several family members located there: the oldest daughter’s children’s paternal great-grandparents where the husband was a Methodist minister for 30 years, the oldest daughter’s children’s great aunt and uncle, and the youngest daughter’s husband, and his parents.

1972-1975 saw Mom’s thirteenth move to Claremore, Oklahoma with Dad to the First United Methodist Church at Claremore and Foyil. It was a significant move in that Mom and Dad chose Claremore, Oklahoma as a place to retire to later in life. It was a momentous decision because Dad did not get to make the move five years later due to his death. Mom really enjoyed the church at Claremore, making many friends who would remain her friends when she retired in Claremore later. After her children grew up and left home, she had begun to work outside the home, especially in elderly care in private homes or small nursing homes where she could sit or work with patients during the night.

In 1975, Murriel, age 59, and Dad, age 65, moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Sheridan Avenue United Methodist Church where the parsonage was next door. This was their fourteenth assignment. Christmas that year was a joyous occasion because their son and his wife from California came to visit, as well as Dad’s oldest brother and youngest sister, along with of their other children, including the oldest daughter and her husband’s children, the second daughter from Washington state, and the youngest daughter’s boyfriend who would later become her husband. There was a beautiful snow on Christmas morning which was very unusual to occur that early in the season.

1976 was the last and final move for Mom, age 60, and Dad, age 65, to Perry, Oklahoma First United Methodist Church, as a Methodist minister and his wife. They had completed fifteen moves to different towns in two states. Dad was in good health until March, 1977 when he had a heart attack while he and Mom were visiting their oldest daughter’s family in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Dad was able to go home to Perry for a short while, but had another heart attack two months later at their home in Perry. He was transferred to St. Mary’s Hospital, Enid, Oklahoma where he lived for a few weeks until his death on his 66^th birthday, June 11, 1977. Mom, her oldest daughter, and family got to be with him in the hospital before he passed away. During the two months when he was gravely ill, Mom took care of the business of having him officially retired as a United Methodist Minister in the Oklahoma Conference at the Annual Conference in June, 1977. His funeral was held at the Perry First United Methodist Church where his oldest and youngest daughters sang several of his favorite hymns as duets during the service. His body was transferred to the Claremore, Oklahoma Woodlawn Cemetery where he is interred with Mom who passed away in 2005.

In 1977, Mom, age 60, as a widow, moved to her home at 300 N. Wortman Place in Claremore, Oklahoma that she and dad had planned to move to together for their retirement. Instead she moved by herself. Her second oldest daughter came from Washington state to help her move in and get organized. For several years, Mom was active at First United Methodist Church, Claremore, Oklahoma, and worked at Picketts’ Plant Nursery and at Aunt Carrie’s Home for the elderly. In her spare time, she walked every day for exercise and had an extensive garden in her backyard. When her oldest daughter divorced in 1978, Mom took her oldest daughter and three children in to her home until they were able to purchace their own home in the same town.

Before the age of 72 in 1988, Mom had a major stroke, but was able to continue living in her home after rehabilitation.

By 1995, at age 78, Mom had developed the beginning stages of dementia with mini strokes, she became lost in her neighborhood, and it was determined that she needed to move into residential care. She moved to the Baptist Retirement Center, Okmulgee, Oklahoma, where she had a two-room apartment and was under the care of her youngest daughter, her husband, and two young children. It was at this time that Mom's middle name Murriel was changed to use her legal first given name, Opal. I have often wondered how strange it must seem to a person with dementia to be called by a new name that was never used before in one's life. I wonder at what point in dementia does one lose the ability to recognize one's own name.

Later in 1995 or 1996 Opal Murriel was moved to the Baptist Retirement Center in Owasso at Mimosa Manor where she had a smaller apartment. At the end of her living in Owasso her older daughter assumed the responsibilities of her financial and medical care.

In 1997 Opal Murriel moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma to be near her oldest granddaughter and her family where she was cared for by them for nine years until her death June 2, 2005 at age 88. She resided at Sterling House Assisted Living facility, Westhaven Nursing Home, and Grace Living Center. It was during those nine years that my oldest daughter, her husband, and their two young sons went to visit their grandmother daily and saw to her needs at that critical time in her life.

Opal Murriel Gray Hollingsworth was laid to rest next to Dad at the Claremore, Oklahoma Woodlawn Cemetery on June 10, 2005. Strode Funeral Home, Stillwater, Oklahoma was in charge of the graveside services. She was preceded in death by her parents, two brothers, and her husband. She was survived by one son, three daughters, five grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. She was also survived by two sisters.

With this narrative, I honor Opal Murriel Gray Hollingsworth's memory for her family and friends who loved her for 88 years. Throughout her life, she showed strength, humor, compassion, and love for those around her.

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2010-01-24T09:29:00.001-06:00

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HollingsworthRobbinsFamilyTree: Bellingham, Whatcom County Local News Bellingham Herald

2009-12-01T20:36:00.001-06:00

HollingsworthRobbinsFamilyTree: Bellingham, Whatcom County Local News Bellingham Herald

Bellingham, Whatcom County Local News Bellingham Herald

2009-12-01T20:18:00.005-06:00

Monday, Nov. 30, 2009

Neither Llew Hollingsworth nor Janet Boyhan is especially devoted to baking, but they can't help but be captivated by the Port of Bellingham's annual gingerbread contest.

The same might be said of the many people who view their delectable creations.

"It's so much fun and it makes people smile," said Boyhan, who lives near Everson and delights in creating unusual and historic gingerbread structures.

Hollingsworth, a Bellingham resident who is retired from teaching English at Burlington-Edison High School, has won three consecutive senior division titles, beginning with her first entry.

"I win the first prizes but my housemate, Vonnie Chantrill, attracts the most auction money with her creations," she said. "I guess mine are cuter, but hers have all the expertly made elegance."

After judging on Thursday, Dec. 3, dozens of gingerbread creations no larger than 2 feet by 2 feet will be on display Friday through Sunday at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal as part of the Port of Bellingham Holiday Port Festival. A silent auction of the creations will raise money for the Red Cross.

Question: Llew, what was it like to enter the first time?
Answer: It looked like it would be fun, especially because I'm into crafts. What I remember is how we had that big snowstorm just before my first contest.

Q: What happened?
A: I called a taxi to pick me up with my display in the snow. I won't forget how the taxi driver had had such a tough day battling the conditions, but once he saw the gingerbread house, it really 'un-grumpied' him. In fact, he loved them so much, he even helped me bring mine in for the judging.

Q: What have your themes been?
A: Last year I created an elf house, and the year before a village theme with two Santas on the roof. My first prize winner was a wonderland house with dancing Christmas trees patterned after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. That's the one that inspired Vonnie to enter. Now, they have changed the age divisions this year, so she's back in the adult division and I'm in the seniors.

Q: Janet, what convinced you to create such unusual gingerbread structures?
A: Ginger, molasses and pumpkin are three of my favorite flavors, and I love the smell of gingerbread. But what I like is the sculptural aspect of replicating real historic structures, and the problem solving.

Q: What have you done in recent years?
A: I did the Hovander house in Ferndale to scale, and the Lynden Public Library. That one was fun because I gave it to the library to show during the holidays. I've also done the Eiffel Tower, historic Everson, my grandmother's farmhouse, a train, and farm equipment.

Q: Janet, what's on tap for this year?
A: I'm planning a display of unusual animal shapes, if everything works out. Like everyone else, I do it all after Thanksgiving and get real involved for a few days.

Llew: Vonnie and I spend three or four days on it, maybe 15 to 20 hours.

HOLIDAY PORT FESTIVAL
What: View gingerbread creations, visit Santa and Mrs. Claus, ride a fire truck, have fun with art activities, watch lighted boat parades, and enjoy musical and dance performances by local school and arts groups.
When: noon to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Where: Bellingham Cruise Terminal, 355 Harris Ave.
Details: 676-2500 or portofbellingham.com/holidayport.htm.

MICHELLE NOLAN is a freelance writer.

Honor Roll of Family Veterans, Birth and Death Dates, Branches of Service, and Known Military Dates of Service

2009-11-11T10:18:00.023-06:00

Phillip Andrew Robbins, 1990-; Active US Army Reserves; College Student, Oklahoma, 2008-2009; son of Charles Anthony Robbins, Regina Pearl Wilder Robbins Russell, and Teri Lynn Hefley Ashbrook Robbins; grandson of Kenneth Charles, Una Patricia Munsey Robbins, and Linda Sue Hollingsworth Littlejohn Robbins.

Michael Jason McNabb, 1987-; Active US Army, COS Speicher, Iraq, 2008-2009; son of Carey Michael McNabb and Nancy Lynn Robbins Schmitz McNabb Sullivan; grandson of Albert L. Bud McNabb, Betty Soehnholz McNabb, Kenneth Charles Robbins, Una Patricia Munsey Robbins, and Linda Sue Hollingsworth Littlejohn Robbins.

Elizabeth Dawn Littlejohn Key, 1967-, US Army Veteran, 2002-2003, Fort Jackson, Columbia, SC and Defense Language Institute, Monterrey, CA, daughter of Linda Sue Hollingsworth Littlejohn James Donald Littlejohn, and Kenneth Charles Robbins; granddaughter of James Marvin Littlejohn, Connie Fae Foster Littlejohn, Catherine Lea Littlejohn, Kermit King Hollingsworth, Sr., and Opal Murriel Gray Hollingsworth.

Gary Kent Vierling, 1953-1993; US Army Veteran; son of Johnnie Addison Vierling and Maudie Cleo Powell Vierling; spouse of Deborah Hollingsworth Vierling; father of Jennifer Ann Vierling Chelf and Jeremy Alan Vierling.

Kermit King Hollingsworth, Jr. 1947-; US Army Veteran, Vietnam years; son of Kermit King Hollingsworth, Sr. and Opal Murriel Gray Hollingsworth; spouse of Anne Louise Stapleford Hollingsworth.

James Donald Littlejohn, 1943-1985, US Navy Veteran, 1964-1966, Treasure Island, San Francisco, CA, USS Waddell, Long Beach, CA, San Diego Naval Hospital, San Diego, CA; son of James Marvin Littlejohn, father of Elizabeth Dawn Littlejohn Key, Kristen Elaine Littlejohn Dunn, James David Littlejohn, and Susan Deann Littlejohn, spouse of Nelda Wolfe Littlejohn, and former spouse of Marialice Sitton Littlejohn and Linda Sue Hollingsworth Littlejohn Robbins.

Kenneth Charles Robbins, 1932-, Korean US Air Force Veteran, 1953-1955; served at Kelly AFB, San Antonio, TX; Ellington AFB, Webster, TX; loadmaster on C-125 in the Canadian Arctic and in Panama; son of William Augustus Robbins and Fannie Harriet Love Robbins; former spouse of Una Patricia Munsey; spouse of Linda Sue Hollingsworth Littlejohn Robbins; father of Charles Anthony Robbins, Warren Bradley Robbins, and Nancy Lynn Robbins Schmitz McNabb Sullivan, Elizabeth Dawn Littlejohn Key, Kristen Eliaine Littlejohn Dunn, and James David Littlejohn.

Lewis "Louie" Key, 1925-1980; WWII 1941-1945; received the Bronze and Silver Stars and a Purple Heart for injuries received in Germany during WWII in the US Army; son of Harry H. Key and Mrs. Harry H. Key; spouse of Betty Lou Long Key; father of John Lewis Key and daughter.

Richard Rich Henry Boehning, 1920-; WWII 1942-; enlisted in the Warrant Officers Branch as a Private in New York City with one year of college, single with dependents, semiskilled occupation in building of aircraft, 68”, 143 lbs.; son of Henry Ernest Boehning and Ruth Marion Lachmann Boehning; spouse of Ruth Love Jerkens; father of Margaret Love Boehning, Barbara Boehning Chambers, and Andrew R. Boehning; spouse Ruth Love Jerkens Boehning is first cousin of Kenneth Charles Robbins. As far as I know, Rich is our oldest living veteran at age 89, and we were privileged to visit him and his lovely wife in Tryon, North Carolina in March, 2009.

Cecil Newell Gray, 1918-1999; WWII US Navy Veteran, 1940 Note: date is approximate; served as a WT1, Water Tender First Class, son of Richard Lusky Gray and Alice Lucindy Willis Gray; spouse of Mary Margaret Moulder Gray; father of Cecil Newell Gray, Jr., Richard Clay Gray, Margaret Ann Gray Anderson, and Mary Alice Gray Morgan; uncle to sisters Lois Azalee Gray Snow and Opal Murriel Gray Hollingsworth’s children.

Frank Shugart Hollingsworth, 1916-1981; Corporal, WWII US Marines Veteran, 1937-1940 Note: Frank may have served longer, but record is not complete yet; served at Naval Air Station, San Diego, CA; son of James Jim William and Lula Lular Elizabeth Mason Hollingsworth; Uncle Frank was married several times; one of his spouses was named Jean; uncle to brother Kermit King Hollingsworth’s children.

William Ralph Slagle, 1915-1980; WWII US Army Air Force; served at Ellington AFB, Webster, TX; Tripoli, North Africa, and Okinawa, Asia; Uncle Ralph was career military and retired from the service as a Master Technical Sergeant; his second wife Litha Sue Hollingsworth Slagle accompanied him during his career to Ellington, Tripoli, and Okinawa; uncle to second spouse Litha Sue Hollingsworth’s brother Kermit King Hollingsworth’s children.

Ruel Edward David Snow, 1914-1993; WWII and Korea 1942-; enlisted at Fort Sam Houston as a Warrant Officer Private Rank; retired as a US Army Lieutenant Colonel Reserve Officer; spouse of Lois Azalee Gray Snow; father of David Lusky Snow and Donald Gray Snow; uncle to spouse Lois Azalee Gray Snow’s sister Opal Murriel Gray Hollingsworth’s children.

Jeryl Arthur Watson, 1912-1994; WWII US Army Veteran, 1942-1945; son of Joseph Robert Watson and Beryl R. Scott Waton; spouse of Velmina Cathelene Littlejohn Watson; enlisted at Ft. Sill, OK with four years of college, civil occupation as teacher, and married; completed the Airplane Mechanics Course at the Army Air Corps Technical School at Shephard AFB, TX; completed the course for Instructors, Airplane Mchanics at Amarillo, TX Army Air Field; Sergeant Jeryl A. Watson completed a nine month Advanced Electrical Engineering course at the Carnegie Institute of Technology on October 28, 1944; enrolled in the 60 hour Radio Repair Course at Fort Monmouth NJ Troop School; Uncle Jeryl Watson's spouse Velmina Cathelene Littlejohn Watson was a former aunt of Linda Sue Hollingsworth Littlejohn Robbins.

Daniel Andrew Hollingsworth, 1907-1987; WWII US Navy Veteran, 1942-; son of James Jim William Hollingsworth and Lula Lular Elizabeth Mason Hollingsworth; spouse of June DeGrush Hollingsworth; Note: http://www.ancestry.com/ WWII US Navy Records should be posted today, November 11, 2009 on their website but they are not up yet for hopefully more information; uncle to brother Kermit King Hollingsworth’s children.

William Augustus Robbins, 1888-1948; WWI US Army Veteran, 1917-1918, served in the California Coast Artillery for 3 years prior to 1917; registered for WWI draft at Puunene, Maui, Territory of Hawaii; served at Schofield Barracks, Territory of Hawaii with the rank of First Lieutenant; son of William Walter Robbins and Pauline Wheeler Robbins; spouse of Fannie Harriet Love Robbins; father of Kenneth Charles Robbins.

James Malachi Gray, 1829-1922; Civil War Veteran, 1862-1865; enlisted in the Confederate States of America (CSA) in June, 1862 at Tyler, Smith County, TX and was a private until the end of the Civil War with Company K, Walker Division 22nd Texas Regiment in the Battalion as a sharpshooter in the Infantry; son of William Foster Gray and Rachel Brady Lansdale Gray; spouse of Henrietta Elizabeth Williams Gray; father of John William Gray, Richard Lusky Gray (1853-1917), Benjamin Benny S. Gray, and James Frank Gray.

There may be others in the HollingsworthRobbinsFamilyTree who served in the US Armed Forces. Please let me know if I can add anyone’s service here to honor them as active military service or as veterans. Also please let me know if you have further details of the above persons’ military records, dates, locations, or photographs that will enhance their memory. You can read more about all of these family members' lives at www.ancestry.com/HollingsworthRobbinsFamilyTree.

67 Year Old Memory Comes Alive for Babysitter

2009-10-03T10:10:00.012-05:00

Sisters Linda Sue and Llewellyn Hollingsworth Hear from Thirteen-Year Old Babysitter 67 Years Later

I received a phone call today that I thought was from a stranger, but as it turns out, was someone who knew me when I, Linda Sue Hollingsworth, and my sister, Llewellyn Hollingsworth, were born in Linden, Cass County, Texas in 1942 and 1943. It was our then 13-year old babysitter, Martha Ann Whittenberg, whose parents were David and Jane Whittenberg. They also lived in Linden at the same time until 1957. Today Martha Ann Whittenberg Wynn, 80 years old, lives in Tyler, Texas. It was such a surprise and blessing to hear from her.

Martha knew Dr. O. R. Taylor who delivered my sister and me. His name is recorded on both my sister’s and my birth certificates. Dr. Taylor asked someone to go with him to assist in home births. He often asked Martha’s mother, Jane Whittenberg, to go with him. Martha believes that her mother helped Dr. Taylor deliver my sister in 1943 and me in 1942.

Martha was a member of the Linden United Methodist Church where my father, Kermit King Hollingsworth, was assigned as minister in June, 1941. Martha’s father was a Methodist minister also, and served outlying circuit churches in the Linden area including Godner’s Chapel Methodist Church (no longer exists) and Lodi Methodist Church. During the week he was employed at the Linden Post Office.

My dad, Kermit King Hollingsworth, was 30 years old at the time. Linden was his second station church. He had been the minister of the Tomball, Texas Methodist Church north of Houston, Texas in 1939-1940 and previously was minister at a five-point circuit in east Texas that included the Lovelady, Texas Methodist Church. My mom, Opal Murriel Gray Hollingsworth, age 25 and a beautician as Martha recalled, and my dad were married in 1941 at the Methodist Church at Cleveland, Texas, the home of my mom’s parents, Richard Lusky and Alice Lucindy Lucinda Willis Gray.

The 1942 Methodist Church building is still located in Linden although the parsonage was sold and moved to another location in town. Martha recalled that my dad, Rev. Hollingsworth, was an evangelistic singer and would sing, on occasion, at the Sunday morning service. She also recalled that my dad began youth meetings after school during the week and would award the young people with points for correct answers to Bible questions. She said that my mom, Murriel Hollingsworth, would always be ready to serve refreshments after the youth meetings.

This is the present sign for First United Methodist Church in Linden, Texas where I contacted the present minister Rev. Mark McClanahan that led Martha Ann Whittenberg Wynn to call me.

Martha Whittenberg Wynn remembered that there was a very generous retailer in Linden, Texas. Monroe Allen, a Methodist, whose name I recall hearing about from my mom and dad. He owned Allen Brothers, a local clothing store, and would give each Methodist minister a complete suit of clothes, including shoes, each year.

There is a family story that my sister and I heard from our mom about sharing a cow between the Methodist minister and the Baptist minister whose homes backed up to each other on opposite blocks. Martha Ann confirmed the fact that the Methodist and Baptist parsonages were located behind each other, and my sister recalls that my mom said that milking the cow might have been a quite a challenge. Finally, the cow was butchered, and canned—something I do not think we would not see happen today.

Wonderful Finds in Austin

2009-09-22T08:22:00.008-05:00

What a wonderful four days in Austin, Texas in September, 2009. Not only reveled in a visit with a first cousin and his 94-year old mom (my aunt) but got to touch and copy many genealogical finds that places my maternal grandparents in four different Texas counties from 1893-1980.

Have you ever seen a Texas County Poll Tax receipt from 1915? A Texas County Road Tax receipt from 1914? A Texas City Water Bill Receipt for 1926? A Texas School District ISD Tax receipt for 1935? A Texas County Personal Property Tax receipt from 1935? A WPA Notice To Report For Work duplicate for 1937? A WWII Rations Book from 1942? A Federal Income Tax W-2 Withholding Receipt for 1944? What a genealogical find. There's more, but I wouldn't want to bore you with all the details. Ha! Ha!

Needless to say, I spent several hours over several days at the copy place but it was all worth it. The moral of the story is: Bless those ancestors who saved every scrap of paper, and bless those ancestors and living folks who did not throw anything away.

William Walter Robbins, The Grandfather We Did Not Know About

2009-09-13T18:03:00.040-05:00

This is the case of William Walter Robbins (1859-1918), father of William Augustus Robbins (1888-1948), and grandfather of Kenneth Charles Robbins (1932-).

We will begin with the Obituary for William Walter Robbins, copied from the Middletown Daily Times-Press, Monday, September 23, 1918, Page 2, Column 7.
"William Walter Robbins, oldest son of the late Walter Robbins and Cornelia Strong, died Sunday, the 15th, in the South Side Hospital, Babylon, in his 60th year. He had been in failing health for some time. Mr. Robbins was born in Babylon, and the greater part of his life was spent there."
William Walter Robbins, father of William Augustus Robbins and grandfather of Kenneth Charles Robbins. This photograph and others were taken by Linda Robbins in 2000 during Ken's 50th Islip H.S. Reunion, Suffolk County, New York. At at time, we did not know the significance of the people whose names appeared on the headstones in the Babylon
Rural Cemetery in what is now a residential section of Babylon, New York.

"In his early days he lived in this city with the late Mr. and Mrs. James W. Stewart, on Mulberry Street, Mrs. Stewart being his aunt. He represented a business house on the road and traveled quite extensively."

"He is survived by a brother, Jeremiah Robbins. The funeral took place at the latter’s home last Tuesday afternoon in Babylon."
From reading the obituary, one would think that William Walter Robbins had no immediate family, only his brother Jeremiah Robbins in Babylon, NY, and his late aunt and uncle Julia [Ann Strong] and James [W.] Stewart of Middletown, NY.

Wedding Announcement of William Walter Robbins and Pauline Wheeler Robbins, San Francisco Morning Call Newspaper, copy sent by Jim W. Falkenbury, Sacramento, CA genealogist.

However, that was not the case. At the time of his death, William Walter Robbins had a wife and child he deserted about 1890 in San Francisco. He had married Pauline Wheeler, daughter of James, an attorney, and Sarah LaRose Wheeler of San Francisco, CA in 1887. James Wheeler's father was Elisha Pearl Wheeler, a famous saw manufacturer of Middletown, Orange County, New York.

The obituary for William Walter Robbins appeared eight days after he died. The paper was published daily except for Sundays and holidays. Perhaps obituaries only appeared on Mondays or someone did not turn the information in soon enough for the obituary to appear closer to the time of William Walter Robbins' death. The funeral was held one day after he died, indicating there were not many family members to come from greater distances, so the funeral was arranged rather quickly.

As a matter of fact, William Walter Robbins had a wife, Pauline Wheeler Robbins, who was incarcerated in the Napa State Hospital from the late 1890s until she died in 1940 in California. She retained her surname Robbins to her death from her marriage in 1887.
He had a son, my husband’s father, William Augustus Robbins, who was born in 1888 in Babylon, Suffolk County, New York, was raised by his mother and Grandfather James Wheeler in San Franciso, California. until 1893 when his Grandfather Wheeler died. After that year, his mother and he became destitute and he was raised at San Mateo's Armitage Orphanage until he was 18. He went to the University of California at Berkeley and earned a Civil Engineering Degree in 1914. How he could afford to do this still remains a mystery to this writier. He had moved to Maui, Territory of Hawaii, at the time of his father’s death and was working at a sugar cane plantation that later became the C&H Sugar Cane Company. He was 30 years of age. I believe that no one contacted him about his father's death.

A photograph of the Bishop Armitage Orphanage in San Mateo, California where William Augustus Robbins was raised from about age 5 to age 18 from 1893-1906.

As far as can be determined at this time, there is no record of divorce, only seemingly a record of desertion by the father of his wife and son.

When William Walter "Willie" was almost four, his father, Walter Wilson Robbins (1818-1863), passed away. William Walter "Willie’s" older half brother whom he never knew was named Elbert Strong (1857-1858) and lived for ten months from 1857-1858. William Walter "Willie’s" younger brother, [Abraham] Abie T. Robbins (1860-1866) lived for five years, eleven months. William Walter Willie knew his brother Abie T. for the years he lived. William Walter "Willie’s" youngest brother Jeremiah Robbins (1863-1929) was born one half year before their father died in 1863.

Walter Wilson Robbins, husband of Cornelia Strong Robbins, Father of William Walter Robbins, Abraham Abie T. Robbins, and Jeremiah Robbins. Walter Wilson Robbins also claimed Elbert Strong as his son.

Cornelia Strong Robbins, Wife of Walter Wilson Robbins and Mother of Elbert Strong, Abraham Abie T. Robbins, William Walter Robbins, and Jeremiah Robbins

Elbert Strong, older half-brother of William Walter Robbins

Abraham Abie T. Robbins, younger brother of William Walter Robbins

Jeremiah Robbins, youngest brother of William Walter Robbins

Between 1863 when William Walter Robbins’ father died and the 1870 U.S. Census, William Walter lived with his aunt Julia Ann Strong Stewart and her husband. It was here that William Walter was called "Willie" in the 1870 U.S. Census. His wife, Pauline Wheeler Robbins, who retained the Robbins surname all her life, also called her son, William Augustus Robbins, "Willie."
In the 1920s, after William Walter Robbins's son William Augustus Robbins returned from San Francisco and the Territory of Hawaii to Babylon and Islip, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York to live, there is evidence from family correspondence between William Augustus and his uncle Jeremiah Robbins and Wheeler descendents in Middletown, Orange County, New York that William Augusus Robbins learned more about his mother Pauline Wheeler Robbins, his father William Walter Robbins and made a genealogy pedigree chart of his family history on a sheet of paper.

William Augustus Robbins in his U.S. Army Uniform, stationed in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii in 1918, the year that his father died
Kenneth Charles Robbins, William Walter Robbins' son, never knew who his father's mother was for sure, although he had heard of a Pauline, but did not know what her significance was, or who his father's father was at all until 2008 when Kenneth's family began researching records, letters, diaries, and hired two genealogists who helped from the San Francisco area to put the mortor and missing bricks together from the brick walls of his past.

Kenneth Charles Robbins at the Robbins and Strong Family Plot at the Babylon Rural Cemetery, Babylon, Suffolk County, New York.

Robbins Littlejohn Gray Willis Streetman Family Reunions

2009-08-18T16:03:00.015-05:00

The history of our family reunions began when many families migrated from the southeastern states to east Texas. This began in the middle 1800s and continued through the early 1900s. The Calhoun County, Florida migration to Houston County, Texas took place in about a ten year time span in the early 1900s from about 1905 to 1915. Streetmans, Cooks, Nichols, Willises, Hudnells and Brinsons arrived.

Over the years my mother's family held several fairly large family reunions. They began many years before my mom was born in 1916 or I was born in 1942. They were usually held in east Texas where the Grays, Willises, and Streetmans had settled in Anderson and Houston Counties as early as 1848 and continued to migrate to the Elkhart, Slocum, and Grapeland areas through the early 1900s from Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.

The Charles Mack Streetman family was made up of eleven sons and four daughters. The oldest three children were by his first wife Mary Margaret Cook and the remaining living children were by his second wife Clara Parasota Cook. Surely these seventeen family members would be a family reunion.

Growing up, my mother's siblings and their families often met at my grandparents' home in Cleveland, Texas. The first reunion I went to was in the late 40s. On this occasion, all the grown children and their offspring, the first cousins, including me, showed up at once. I do not believe that it was planned in advance. I recall twenty-one of us with my grandparents, their four children and spouses, and eleven of us grandchildren who were born by that time. I recall sleeping on a pallet inside in front of the open front door.

My grandmother canned most of their food and my grandfather took care of the gardens and chicken yard. We all learned to dodge the chicken poop in the chicken yard to go to the outhouse. We grandchildren took baths in the kitchen on the kitchen table in the galvanized tub. We all learned to play checkers with Grandpa and he knew how to beat us every time. We learned our manners from our grandmother, known as "Granny Gray", as well as from our parents. The grownups enjoyed taking the straightbacked cane or rope chairs into the front yard after supper (in Texas, that is) and visiting with each other in a circle in the cooler evening. They usually talked Texas politics or traded jokes. "Granddaddy Gray" or "Grandpa" as he was called by both names, used to put the grandchildren in the wheelbarrow and push us all around the front and side yards.

In today's world, we are carrying on the time-honored tradition of family reunions. Our family reunions may not have as many people at them, but the intent and the joy of being together is still the same. These are family reunions because they include family members from our family from three states with mine and my husband's second marriages of 31 years. We have always celebrated holidays with each other as much as possible, as well as birthdays and anniversaries.

These special events mark the most memorable occasions for family reunions in my mind in recent years:

In 2005, my husband and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. Our six children and most of the fifteen grandchildren surprised us by showing up one by one during the special weekend which culminated in special picture taking and surprising us with a special cake at our monthly antique airplane association potluck meeting.

Three years ago sixteen of our family cruised together from Seattle to Alaska. That was fun with all six children, four spouses, and four grandchildren.

Four years ago I retired from working, and fifteen of our family members surprised me with a retirement weekend, including five children, three spouses, and five grandchildren.

A special family reunion was for was my husband's 76th birthday. At that family reunion, there were twenty-two family members: all six children, four inlaws, eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Some stayed in our home, in our apartment, or in a motel.

A recent family reunion was to celebrate our oldest son's 50th birthday in Wichita, Kansas. Nineteen family members from three Kansas towns, two Oklahoma towns, and two Texas towns came together to spend the weekend in two Kansas homes and one motel. Our ages ranged from 7 to 77 and included two grandparents, five children, two inlaws, nine grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

If you read this far, you may think: Where are the missing children when these family reunions are going on? Some need to work, some are in college, some have other conflicts, some grandchildren live far away in Minneapolis, or Fort Riley, Kansas, and will be deployed to Afghanistan soon. Our newest grandchild was born on July 28th, 2009.

I am indebted to my first cousin David Snow, formerly of Austin, Texas, and now of San Jose, California and my second cousin Ivey Maurice Brinson of Highlands, Texas for adding photographs and information from the early days of our families in east Texas.

This blog post was updated January 22, 2012 by Linda Sue Hollingsworth Littlejohn Robbins

Memories of Lamar Grade School

2009-08-17T11:02:00.021-05:00

My sister and I grew up for two years in a small town in east Texas called Palestine in 1948-1950. We attended Lamar School when I was in the first and second grades. My sister was one year behind me. I am in the above picture: the first brown headed girl to the far left in the third row. Lamar School was originally constructed by the Palestine School District in 1922 as an elementary school to educate the children of south side neighborhoods. With the advent of the new Southside Elementary, the school was closed. It now houses the Anderson County Champions for Children and the WIC offices.

My sister recalls that she enjoyed the fire drills because the principal would put red bricks in the hallways to block the children from going down that path for the pretend fire.

I recall the playground at the back of the school. It had a piece of equipment that was attached to a tall pole and had four places to hold on to, and then swing yourself around, with your feet kicking out in space behind you.

I took some pictures of Lamar School in July, 2009 and am happy to report that although it is not a present school building in the district, it is used in the community for the WIC program.

Genealogy connects past with present

2009-08-07T21:57:00.002-05:00

Today one of my grandsons experienced a family history moment. His aunt and cousin took a side trip to Coldspring, Texas in San Jacinto County where his great-grandmother Opal Murriel Gray Hollingsworth graduated from high school in 1933.

It was a unique experience because the grandson lives in Oklahoma. He was traveling on his way home when his aunt saw a highway sign on I-45 north of Houston that led them to Coldspring. None of us had been to Coldspring until this summer of 2009 when I went to Coldspring for some family history research.

Coldspring is a very small town of about 2,000 people and the county seat of San Jacinto County. Both Opal Murriel Gray Hollingsworth and her older sister Lois Azalee Gray Snow graduated from Jones High School in 1932 and 1933. The building burned down several years ago, but there are pictures of the building in old newspaper articles at the library.

Now I know that our family genealogy will live on, not only with my children, but with my grandchildren.

A Glimpse into Kyle Cemetery: My GGGGrandfather James Malachi Gray and Wife Are Buried Here

2009-06-11T13:59:00.014-05:00

Kyle Cemetery is located about 8 miles southwest of Elkhart, Anderson County, Texas off Farm Road 319 that leads to Red Town. "The country road leading off 319 to the cemetery is not passable at this time, and I reached it by going through the private property of Mrs. Margaret Moore," stated Velma Kyle Dodd in June, 1985.

Karla Lang, Special Collections Librarian, a distant cousin, and a friend went to Kyle Cemetery iin the early 1990s and photographed 89 burial sites that included some headstones, but mostly depressions in the ground where headstones had been located, but are now mostly gone. The cemetery is on oil and gas lease property and is not available to the general public. Karla explained that they walked for over a mile through rough land to get to the cemetery. The cemetery location is very overgrown with brush and fallen trees. I do not believe that it was ever fenced and cows have possibly trod over it.

This is the present gate to the oil and gas lease property where Kyle Cemetery is located.

Lanny Medlin, a professional Texas photographer and historian, shared pictures with me last summer through Karla Lang that appear at the www.findagrave.com Kyle Cemetery, Anderson County, Texas website.
See: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=984275&CScn=Kyle&CScntry=4&CSst=46&CScnty=2520& for www.findagrave.com Kyle Cemetery.

Kyle Cemetery was established in the 1870s on land that belonged to W. R. W. Kyle. He was an M.D. and was ordained to preach by the Methodist Episcopal Church South in 1855. Others who have owned the land are O. G. Rogers, Dr. Walkup, and Ms. Moore who owns it now (1985).

Evidence of the condition of Kyle Cemetery, Anderson County, Texas in the early 1990s.

The cemetery is located on a little knoll in the woods. Many of the monuments are in bad shape, and several are broken and scattered about. This old cemetery received its last burial in 1923.

Further evidence of the condition of Kyle Cemetery, Anderson County, Texas in the early 1990s.

Ivey Maurice Brinson, a second cousin recalls, "I walked through the Kyle Cemetery with my father, Ivey McRae Brinson. He is buried at Antrim Cemetery across the county line in Houston County. In the 1970s we went to Kyle [Cemetery]. It was in real bad shape with large trees growing at the graves. We were looking for my GGGGrandfather James Malachi Gray's (b. 1830, Alabama-d. 1922, Texas) grave marker, but never found it. I heard that Uncle Jimmy Gray, a grandson of James Malachi Gray and with the same name, and buried at Antrim Cemetery, had two daughters, Lura and Ethel Audry. They put a marker there after our visit."

Double headstone for GGGGrandfather James Malachi Gray and wife Henrietta Elizabeth Williams Gray at Kyle Cemetery, Anderson County, Texas, probably placed by Great-Granddaughters Lura and Ethel Audry.

James Malachi Gray (1830-1922) was born in Fayette County, Alabama. At the age of 19, he married Henrietta Elizabeth Williams in 1848 at Pleasant Hill (also known as Antrim Community), Texas. His granddaughter Genoa Gray is also buried at Kyle Cemetery.

Headstone of Genoa Gray, 1877-1882, granddaughter of James Malachi and Henrietta Elizabeth Williams Gray.

Genoa Gray had other siblings who were Wilbert Henry Gray (1887-), Athur C. Strickland (1888-), and Paxton Hemby Gray (1892-).

Kreativ Blogger Award

2009-04-24T17:00:00.002-05:00

Thank you, Cheek Family Tree Blog, The Cheek That Doth Not Fade, and Richard Cheek, for the Kreativ Blogger Award. This award is greatly appreciated and I will strive to add more stories and photographs that other genealogy and family history blog readers will enjoy.

Clothesline Memories

2009-03-04T19:17:00.003-06:00

Thank you to the following friends and relatives who responded about their memories of clotheslines, washing, and ironing when growing up:

Irene Ashe, Melanie Eppard, Anne Hollingsworth, Linda Kohler, Fran Moore, Ken Robbins, Madlyn Simkulet, and Linda Robbins

Irene Ashe, Baytown, Texas

About clotheslines, the things I remember are "pants stretchers". Do you remember those? They surely made ironing khakis easer. And the little bag that hung on the clotheslines for keeping clothespins in. Some of them were shaped like a child's dress. Sometimes, we were allowed to pin the top of a sheet to one clothesline and the bottom of the sheet to the next line and play underneath like a tent.

Melanie Eppard, Rhome, Texas

LOL, well this sure brings back memories!

I grew up in eastern Pennsylvania in a duplex. There were ten duplexes, all the same, lined up next to each other with little alleys in between on our side of the street. Across the street were row homes. There was no such thing as "privacy fences" so, on wash day, everyone's clothes, etc. were all hung on the lines in the backyards all the way up the street. We also had an alley behind the yards.

We lived on the corner, and there was a lady who lived all the way up on the other end. She would be outside hanging her clothes in her bra and slip in the summertime.

I also remember our wash line being used as a "dog run" and, on occasion, "kid run" when my brother or I were unruly.

To this day, my mother does not own a dryer and hangs her clothes out to dry. Nor does she have a dishwasher. She refuses, even though my brother and I offered to buy her one She thinks they're "unsanitary".

Anne Hollingsworth, Glendora, California

You and we are dating ourselves! I can remember hanging the clothes out because we didn't have a dryer (That name went to both me and my brother.). We were also known as the dishwasher! This was when I was growing up in Riverside, California around 1953-1957. Then we moved to Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, and eventually to San Diego, California.

We made a game out of both. We would toss a baseball to each other to see who would hang the clothes or who would take them down. The same for the dishwasher--who washed and who dried.

I can still remember the smell of the sheets on a really windy day and they'd make that "flapping" noise. As a baby boomer, I can even remember the old wooden clothespins (both kinds). When I was younger, we had a regular clothesline that was straight between two metal poles with arms Then my mother went modern and we got one of those clotheslines that was on one pole in the middle which would collapse like an opening flower and there were more lines to use. She also kept the clothespins in a cloth bag which hung on one of the lines and she could move it along while she hung the clothes.

My sister had to do the ironing of the sheets and I got to play the sprinkler! We didn't have a steam iron and it was fun listening to the iron sizzle the wet part of the sheet.

Since I'm the youngest of four kids, laundry day was fun for me because I could play with both my brothers and sister. My mother made sure all of us were busy on that day!

Linda Kohler, Surprise, Arizona

I also grew up in the 50's, 60's and it was a great time in my life. Since I grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, we would have to make sure it was windy and not freezing outside. I also remember the cloth bag and both kinds of clothes pins. I did not like the "new and improved" plastic pins because they always broke.

We were also lucky enough to have a mangler, at least that is what my mother called it. You would put the sheets folded in and it was sort of like a wringer washer that would move the cloths along the hot iron rollers. I never got to do the good things, only the pillow cases, hankies, and some of the cotton dish cloths for drying the dishes.

I did not like the metal line because it would be hard to hang things on, but the rope line was not much better because it would sag after a large load of clothes were hanging on it. So you had to position the cloths just right so it would all "hang good".

Anyone remember the pant stretchers?? I always thought they were so funny especially when the pants dried and you took them off. They looked like they could just walk away.

This brought back some nice memories that I have not thought about in a long time. Guess I am getting old!

Fran Moore, Powderly, Texas

I still use my clothesline! Especially now that we are on Social Security!

Ken Robbins, Rhome, Texas

When I was growing up on Grant Avenue in Islip, New York, we had a clothesline that ran from the back porch by the kitchen to a post across the back yard. It was first class. There was a clothesline pulley at each end. The clothesline went around both pulleys.

I could stand on the back porch, hang up the clothes on the bottom line, and extend it out until the clothes hit the post that stopped it. I believe my dad invented the clothesline for us based on the ones that ran across streets and alleys in New York City. When the clothes were dry, I pulled them back in and took them off the line. Sheets could freeze if it was cold enough in the winter.

There was a special place on the line to adjust the tension of the cotton rope. Sometimes there was a heavy sheet on the line and the tension would have to be increased so the sheet would not drag on the ground. At other times there would be too much tension on the line due to dry sunny weather. The cotton line would be too tight and would have to be loosened.

Most of the clothespins we had were the one piece wooden ones with round tops and two legs. They did not have a clip on them that you could squeeze.

Linda Robbins, Rhome, Texas

We hung (That is correct English for this application.) out the clothes on the clothes line until I was in the 5th grade (1952) when our family lived in Galveston at the parsonage on N 1/2 Street. We had a gas dryer there for the first time. As I recall, it was in the garage.

Even then, probably on some days we still hung out the clothes on the clothes line. That was a job that my mom gave to me and my sister Llew. All of our clothes lines had T-poles at each end. Sheets were the hardest. They had to be folded in half so they wouldn't drag the ground and for a short person, that was a chore.

Also, have you ever dropped a clothespin when your other hand is in the air holding the item on the line? What a wasted effort. You have to start over again. I remember continuing to do that job when we moved to Duncan, Oklahoma in high school (1958-1960) in the first parsonage in the back yard. One day the sky "turned green" and either the clothes were or were not dry yet, but we had to get them off the line quickly, because a big storm was coming.

As an adult I hung out clothes at my first mother-in-law’s home in Tulsa, Oklahoma and later at my second mother-in-law’s home on Amuxen Court in Islip, New York. I recall that the first job was to take a wet cloth and run it over the wire clothesline to get it clean. Next shake out the clothes and arrange them in the basket, which had a sewn in plastic liner or was a bushel basket like fruits comes in. This was in the day before plastic laundry baskets.

Many people probably hung up their clothes haphazardly, but I remember organizing them so that the sheets, towels, and larger items were either on the outside lines or at an end where they covered the more private clothes, like underwear and unmentionables.

Madlyn Simkulet, Baytown, Texas

Here is what you can learn about a community from their clotheslines:

1. You can tell how many people live in the house including their sexes and approximate ages

2. You can tell when there is a new baby in the house. This was back when we still used cloth diapers.

3. You have a hint of what type work the father does. If there are lots of white shirts, he might do office work or if there are lots of work pants on the line, he might be a laborer.

Go to the following link for stories, comments, and other information about clotheslines:
http://www.theclotheslinebook.com/virtual_backfence.html

Carolyn Mandeville, Louisiana

Hanging the clothes out on the line was my job when I was small. It was a challenge to get the sheets stretched without dropping them. There was absolutely nothing more delicious than taking the clothespins off and folding the stiff, sweet-smelling sheets. When I was older, I got to iron the sheets on the mangle out on our screened side porch. While I ironed, I listened to Our Gal Sunday and Stella Dallas. They were radio soap operas.

Go to the following link to learn more about the mangle “mangler” mentioned in Linda Kohler’s writing:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Ironrite_Mangle_Ironer

Ironrite Mangle Ironer 78

One of the appliances pictured in the 1946 article is an IronRite ironer... known generally to the population as a "Mangle". (You can see why the Iron-Rite corporation is so emphatic about calling it an Ironer.)

So, here is an up close look at a small piece of the American Dream
The IronRite Ironer
The Attractive cabinet

Gray Family Connections

2009-01-28T18:14:00.016-06:00

There is a wonderful feeling when close and distant family members connect with each other through today's technology. Using http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ Anderson County, Texas Message Board, I have been able to connect with two second cousins who I did not know before. I am a Hollingsworth Gray descendant on my mother's side. One of them is a Brinson Gray descendant on his mother's side and the other is a Simpson Gray descendant on his father's side. We are near each others' ages even though they are first cousins to each other and I am a second cousin to both of them.

They have surnames of Brinson and Simpson, but because their mother and their father were sister and brother, I have a connection with them through my maternal grandfather. The sister's and brother's mother was the oldest sister to my maternal grandfather.

We share a common great-grandfather and great-grandmother who were Richard Lusky "Dick" and Mary Ellisor Gray who I wrote about in an earlier January 2008 post. Their oldest daughter lived from 1878-1924. She married a Simpson who lived from 1861-1942. These two first cousins were born after the death of their grandmother and near to the time of death of their grandfather. The two second cousins did not get to know their grandfather and grandmother.

In my family of fourteen first cousins, including my brother, and two sisters, we were fortunate in the timing of the lives of our grandparents because they lived until most of us were out of high school, going to more school, working, and/or married. Even though my maternal grandfather was a younger brother of my two second cousins' grandmother, he was born 15 years later and lived from 1893-1978. My maternal grandmother lived from 1893-1980.

The miraculous part is that, without today's technology and the Internet, these two second cousins and I would not have made contact with each other. The days of holding family history papers and photographs by one family member are over. The sharing of documents, letters, diaries, photographs, and stories is the only way to go. To do less is to hoard and prevent future generations from knowing about their family history.

Publishing family histories with paper is still important. Locating printed documents or copies of original documents that support and cite genealogy research about our ancestors is critical to telling the facts as they were, without leaving anything out or embellishing the truth, more than it was.

I am grateful for hearing the stories that my relatives recall about growing up, or that their parents told them about their parents. These are the stories that are worth writing down for future generations to read.

One of the second cousins' stories is a memory of attending the father's funeral at Pilgrim Cemetery of their first cousin. Another is about one cousin shooting a bow and arrow into the air and both cousins running for cover when they were young. A third story concerns one cousin loaning his cousin his knife to whittle with while visiting each other.

These are private stories, and to protect the living, no names are given. The stories are told about each other in general terms, and we will leave the details of who told what in the stories to the tellers themselves when they choose to reveal themselves and their stories.

I hope my relatives will read this story. I have sent them email notices about looking at this story and others I have posted here about all sides of my family.

I hope one or more of them will post their own story, short or long, humorous or serious, on this blog about our common ancestors. This is the way we will continue connecting with each other and our future generations.

Other genealogy lovers are also welcome to comment or share their feelings about any of the posts here.

My Great Grandfather Richard Lusky "Dick" Gray, Sr. from Alabama and Texas

2009-01-12T18:06:00.038-06:00

My maternal great-grandfather Richard Lusky "Dick" Gray, Sr. was born on August 23, 1853 in Alabama to James Malachi (1830-1922) and Henrietta E. Williams Gray (1828-1897). Dick's family came to Antrim Community in Anderson County, Texas about 1848-1849. His father served in the Conferate States of America Army for four years as a Private in Company K, 22nd Texas Infantry, from 1861-1865, but more about that in another story.

Dick's life began in Alabama, but he lived about the last 60 years of his life in Houston and Anderson Counties in east Texas as a farmer, mostly in the rural area soutwest of Palestine and Elkhart, in a community called Antrim where he and his wife Mary raised their nine children.

By 1870, Dick moved with his family to Houston County, Precinct 5, near Grapeland, Texas. The nearest post office was at Crockett, Texas. Dick, 17, was a farmer, along with his father, James Malachi Gray, 45, and his older brother, John Williams Gray, 19, and younger brother, Benjamin "Bennie" S. Gray, 15. His youngest brother, James Frank Gray, was 10. The father's real estate was valued at $500.00 and personal estate was valued at $200.00.

Nancy Smith Williams (1810-1870), 59, born in Alabama, also lived with the family in 1870. She was Richard Lusky Gray, Sr.'s father's mother-in-law. Her daughter was Henrietta E. Williams Gray. The Williams family arrived in the Antrim Community about 1850. More will follow in another story about her family.

In 1877, Dick, 24, married Mary Ellisor, 18, whose parents were Joshua Malachia (1833-1876) and Lucy Ann Chaffin Ellisor (1837-1908). By 1880, Dick, still a farmer, 26, moved with his wife Mary, 21, and two daughters, Linnie, 1, and Mary Etta, 6 months, to Anderson County near Elkhart, Texas to Antrim Community.

By 1900, Dick, farmer, 47, lived at Elkhart, Texas in District 8 Enumeration District, Justice Precinct 2, Voting Precinct 5, with his wife Mary and children, Linnie, 19, James, farm laborer 16, John Edward,farm laborer, 13, Luna Lenora, 10, Ethelinda, 8, Richard Lusky, Jr., 6, Bennie C., 3, and Nora Azalee, 1. Dick stated he was unemployed for 4 months. Daughter Mary Etta was not listed in the US 1900 Census.

By 1910, Dick, farmer, 56, lived with his wife Mary, and daughters Luna Lenora, public school teacher, 20, Ethelinda, 19, Richard Lusky, Jr., farm laborer, 17, and Nora Azalee, 16.

I am indebted to second cousin Ivey Maurice Brinson, whose grandmother was Linnie Gray Simpson and whose great-grandfather was Richard Lusky "Dick" Gray, Sr.

Ivey Maurice Gray's grandmother and my grandfather, Richard "Lusky" Gray, Jr. were older sister and younger brother. Maurice shared the photographs of Dick, Mary Gray, and their descendents and information about the Antrim Community and School in Anderson County, and Antrim Cemetery in Houston County, Texas that he, his sister, and father have helped to maintain for many years.

This story is not documented with citations. However, correct and proper citations are located in my Ancestry Family Tree as well as in Legacy Family Tree. I photographed many Antrim Cemetery headstones in July, 2008.

The home of Richard Lusky "Dick" and Mary Ellisor Gray, no known date, Antrim Community, Anderson County, Texas. From left to right: Richard Lusky "Dick" Gray, Sr., John Edward (known as John Ed) Gray, unidentified, and Robert "Rob" Little

Headstones of R. L. Gray (August 23, 1853-February 7, 1917 or 1920) and Mary Gray (December 30, 1858 or 1859-1943) at Antrim Cemtery, Houston County, Texas. The photograph of R.L. Gray's headstone disappeared. I will include it later.

Left photograph: Richard "Lusky" Gray, Jr., (1893-1978), my grandfather; John Edward "Ed" Gray (1886- ), Gramma Mary Ellisor Gray (1858 or 1859-1943), Mary "Etta" Gray (1880-1950), "Luna" Lenora Gray (1889-1971), Ethelinda "Ethel" Gray (1891-1965, and "Nora" Azalee Gray (1898-1964).

Center photograph: Jasper Simpson (1861-1942) and his wife Linnie Gray Simpson (1878-1924), Ivey Maurice Brinson's grandmother, on their wedding day in 1900.

Right photograph: "Luna" Lenora Gray, Richard "Lusky" Gray, Jr., my grandfather, and Ethelinda "Ethel" Gray, no known date.

Antrim Community School Children in 1920, Anderson County, Texas. Fourteen of the children were my and Ivey Marice Brinson's ancestors.

Note: I recall my mother, Opal "Murriel" Gray Hollingsworth and her sister, my aunt Nora "Azalee" Gray Snow talking about all their Gray relatives and calling them by these names: Aunt (pronounced "Aint") Etta, Aunt Ethel, and Uncle Ed. I recall when I was a child that I visited most of these relatives, and did not realize the significance of asking questions about their lives. The only one I know to ask now is my second cousin Ivey Maurice Brinson, whose mother told him many stories about his Gray ancestors.

What I Have Learned About Pauline Wheeler Robbins

2009-01-06T09:45:00.007-06:00

Pauline Wheeler was born January 1, 1864 to James and Sarah Larose Wheeler, in New York. Pauline Wheeler’s father, James Wheeler, was born in Montgomery, Orange County, New York to Elisha Pearl and Phebe Wheeler. Pauline's mother, Sarah Larose Wheeler was born August 12, 1839 at Riverhead, Suffolk, NY to Joseph and Charity W. Hudson Larose. Pauline's maternal grandfather Joseph Larose was born in Venice, Italy (no date given) and Pauline's maternal grandmother Charity W. Hudson Larose was born July 1, 1814 at Riverhead, Suffolk, NY.

Notes:
LaRose is sometimes spelled as Larose. This family's name appears more often in Suffolk County, Long Island Genealogy Records as LaRose. Suffolk County is the largest county on Long Island, New York.

Pauline Wheeler’s birth date given as January 1, 1864 is the date given in the 1900 U.S. Census when Pauline Wheeler was committed to the Napa Insane Asylum in Napa, Napa County, California. My opinion is that the date might have been manufactured since Pauline’s mind may have been such that she may not have known her exact birth date, or whoever entered the record into the 1900 U.S. Census made up the date to satisfy the records. Note in November, 2011. After visiting with several other genealogists, it may be that Pauline Wheeler Robbins was destitute after her father's death and did not have a source of income. She may have also suffered from depression which can be common after the birth of a new child. Pauline had a second child name Ida Pauline Lockwood. The father's name Lockwood has not been sourced, but there was a Lockwood who lived on the same block as the Wheeler family lived in San Francisco.

The 1870 U.S. Census lists Pauline (Paulene) Wheeler as being born about 1864 and age 6 by August 16, 1870 to James and Sarah Wheeler with brother Bradford and living in Astoria, Queens, New York. The post office was Astoria, Long Island. It lists all family members as being born in New York, James as a lawyer, with $6,000.00 real estate value, and $500.00 personal estate value. It lists the mother Sarah’s father as foreign born. I have discovered that Sarah's maiden name was LaRose or Larose in the Long Island Genealogical Society online database and her father was

The 1880 U.S. Census lists Pauline Wheeler as being 16 and living in San Francisco, San Francisco, California in what I suppose to be a rooming house with apartments owned by Mr. Alfred Rix, listed as the head. There were 38 people living at the rooming house besides the 5 Rix family members, but including the 4 James Wheeler members, James (Jas.), wife Sarah, daughter Pauline, and son Bradford. Pauline’s birth date is still listed as about 1864. She was listed as at school. The 1880 U. S. Census was taken on June 2, 1880. Another question arises? Alfred Rix was also listed as an attorney. Did James Wheeler possibly work at the same address as Alfred Rix? Not a top priority question, but one to think about since they were both attorneys. The street address is 745 Pine Street.

I was shocked to look for more addresses on the previous page 3 in this 1880 U.S. Census San Francisco, District 6, and I found a boarder at a lower number Pine Street address by the name of Arthur D. Lockwood. Could this man, age 23, bookkeeper, have known Pauline Wheeler, age 16, and later become the father of Pauline’s second child, named Ida Pauline Lockwood in 1895-1898? He and his parents were born in Connecticut.

William Walter Robbins went to San Francisco, California in 1887 to marry Pauline Wheeler, daughter of James and Sarah Wheeler, and sister of Charles Bradford Wheeler. William Walter Robbins was from Babylon, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. Pauline Wheeler married William Walter Robbins in San Francisco, California on February 22, 1887. They were married by Reverend A. L. Brewer according to the San Francisco Morning Call of February 23, 1887, page 6, column 8, a local newspaper that is reposited at the California State Library Microfilm Newspaper Collection, Sacramento, CA, no reel numbers. As it turns out, Reverend A. L. Brewer's name is significant because he was also the Episcopalian minister in charge of the San Mateo Orphanage where Pauline Wheeler Robbins' first child, William "Willie" "Robbie" Augustus Robbins will live after his mother Pauline was sent to Napa State Hospital by 1900.

In 1893 Pauline's father died in San Francisco, California. His body was sent to Middletown, Orange County, New York where his sister Emeline Wheeler Mosher received him. There was a small service with family in attendance, and burial was at the Hillside Cemetery where his father, Elisha Pearl Wheeler, was buried. These facts come from The San Francisco Morning Call and the Middletown, NY newspapers.

Pauline's son, William Augustus Robbins, said he was born in 1888 in Babylon, New York, but he also said he was an orphan and was found to live in California at a fairly young age at the Bishop Armitage Orphanage at San Mateo, California. This information comes from the California State Library archives. William Augustus Robbins received a delayed New York birth certificate from his birth at Southside Hospital, Bay Shore, Suffolk County, New York in 1929 when he married Fannie Harriet Love.

In 1898 Pauline had a second child, Ida Pauline Lockwood, as evidenced by the child growing up in California in two girls' orphanages and later marrying as shown in each US Census except for 1890.

By 1900 Pauline Robbins was committed to Napa State Hospital, Napa, California and her two children were raised in two different orphanages, William Augustus Robbins in San Mateo County at the Bishop Armitage Orphanage, California and Ida Pauline Lockwood in Sacramento County, California.

Pauline Robbins remained at Napa State Hospital until her death in 1940.

The 1900 U.S. Census (California: Napa: Napa: District 93) lists Pauline Robbins at Napa State Hospital for the Insane (Patients), Napa, Napa, California, age 36, birth date 1864, taken on July, 13, 1900 (June marked out) birth place New York, Relationship to Head is Patient, listed as married, Residence is Napa Township, Soscol and Coombsville Precincts (Excludes Napa City), Napa, California. Pauline Robbins is #45 on page 22 of 54 in www.ancestry.com's original US Census copy. Her birth place is listed as New York, but her parents’ birth places are not listed at all. She is listed as a housewife, Months Not Employed: 12, Can Read: Yes, Can Write: No, Can Speak English: No. I wonder what caused this her inability to not be able to write or speak English? Was it her physical or psychological condition? Was it medication? Why did she shut down?

The U.S. 1920 Census lists Pauline Robbins (Row 33) at Napa, Napa, California (Juarez Precinct, Napa State Hospital, Enumeration District 56, taken on January 19, 1920), aged 55, born about 1865, birthplace New York, listed as Inmate, listed as Widow, Able to Read: No, Able to Write: No. Pauline’s place of birth: New York, Father’s place of birth: New York, Mother’s place of birth: New York; Able to speak English: No. By 1920, Pauline Robbins was not able to read, not able to write, and not able to speak English. Again, why did this occur? Was it her physical or psychological condition? Was it medication? Why did she shut down?

The 1930 U.S. Census lists Pauline Robbins (Row 29) at Napa, Napa, California (Jaurez Precinct, Napa Township, Inola: Unincorporated Place, Napa State Hospital (Insane), Enumeration District No. 28-12, Supervisor’s District No. 5, April 10, 1930), age 66, birth year about 1864; birth place: New York; listed as patient; Single; Attended school during the last year: No; Whether Able to Read and Write: Yes. Pauline’s Birthplace: New York; Father’s Birthplace: New York; Mother’s Birthplace: New York; Whether or Not Can Speak English: Yes. Why is Pauline able to speak English after 30 years of not being able to speak English at Napa State Hospital? Is this true or did the enumerator copy information that may be incorrect that the hospital staff gave him to copy?

The California Death Index, 1940-1997 lists Pauline Robbins, Female, Birth Date: January 1, 1864; Birthplace: New York; Death Date: June 5, 1940; Death Place: Napa; states No Social Security in Citation.

Her son William Augustus Robbins, who lived in Islip, Suffolk County, New York, paid for her headstone in Vacaville Cemetery, Vacaville, California. Pauline's friends Ralph and Laura Schaefer of Vacaville provided a burial place for her in their family plot.

Her daughter Ida Pauline Lockwood Cerf did not attend her mother's graveside service. She was preparing a dinner for her doctor husband and his business associates. They lived in San Mateo County, California. Some genealogists have offered an opinion that Ida Pauline Lockwood Cerf may have been to embarassed to attend her mother's funeral, even though her burial place was within driving distance of Ida Pauline Lockwood Cerf's home.

William Augustus Robbins' son Kenneth Charles Robbins never knew about his grandparents, William Walter and Pauline Robbins during his parents' lifetime and only found out through the efforts of his wife in genealogy.

Through good fortune, time, the Internet, writing letters, paying for vital records copies, and the assistance of professional genealogists, all, or almost all of the brick walls will come down to provide the true and complete story of Pauline Wheeler Robbins, my husband's paternal grandmother.

If any readers have had experiences similar to this story in your family history, I would appreciate your comments about how you approached the mental institutions for help to find out about your loved one who spent so much of their lives in a mental institution.