All my life my favorite holiday has been Christmas. My mom always preferred Thanksgiving because family would get together for simpler things: family and food, she felt with Christmas and Easter the gifts and candy were the reasons people got together. But it wasn’t just gifts that have made me love Christmas, it was the tree and all the decorations, baking cookies and that little bit of magic that all the very special ornaments and lights can bring.
As I have gone through the photographs that once belonged to my Grandma Blair (aka Anna Maria Morgart) and her mother, Margaret Dora Wise, I saw photographs of Christmases past. This delighted me to no end, as it made me feel that my love of Christmas was something that is in my soul, and that I have inherited from those who came before me.
Christmas 1953 – Margaret Dora Wise standing in front of her tree.
My Grandparents – Leroy Blair and Anna Maria Morgart in their home on Christmas Day, 1963 (You can see the photo of my dad as he was off in the Navy at this time).
But not on just my dad’s side of the family, oh no, my maternal grandmother, Alberta Lou Fleming, loved Christmas as well. I have so many photos between Christmas day and her yearly Christmas Eve parties when she returned from living in Florida.
Here is a photo from Christmas 1949 of Santa, my aunt, Terry (Teri) Mildred Fairhurst, and my mom, Cynthia Anne Fairhurst.
This one is from Christmas 1957 and has all my mom’s siblings. From left to right is Alberta Lou Fleming, Howard Fleming, Cynthia Anne Fairhurst (in blue), Mildred Laura Dunbar (in red), and the other blue-grey jumper is my aunt, Terry Mildred Fairhurst. The other three are still alive so I’ll respect their privacy.
This was either the late 80’s or early 90’s at a Cardinal Village home that my grandparents use to manage in Bedford, Ohio. My mom, Cynthia Anne Fairhurst, is seated to the left, her face partially covered by her hand), standing is my Grandma Metzger (aka Alberta Lou Fleming, and facing the tree in red is her husband, James Edward Metzger.
Though Christmas is my favorite, to me the holidays more or less begin on Thanksgiving and don’t really end until New Year’s Day. So many wonderful memories throughout the years and sometimes they all just flow together. If no other time family gets together, it’s a holiday. We get together with my husband’s family on Memorial Day and Labor Day each year. We changed it up and have gone to my cousin’s on the 4th of July (which is nice as it’s our shared uncle’s birthday, too).
All in all, holidays are just very special days, no matter how you celebrate them. It’s just extra special to share them with those you love.
It doesn’t take long for our ancestral lines to quickly multiply within our family trees. By the time I arrive at my great-great-grandparents I already have 16. I have a total of 61 surnames on my family tree, and I am sure there are just as many, if not more, unknown to me.
Sadly, there are some I know more than others. I tend to be more familiar with my paternal side than my maternal side as I didn’t do much research on my mom’s side as she always seemed to be upset with whatever information I found. Odd part was I didn’t even work on her dad’s side of the family because I know she wasn’t fond of him. But when I came home with information about my great-grandmother, I think that made her even more unhappy (as I’ve stated in past posts, like my Grandma Blair was to me, my mom was very fond of her maternal grandmother, Mildred Laura Dunbar, and to be clear, I loved her very much as well).
My goal in the coming year is to get to flesh out some of my family more. I’ll admit working on 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks does get me writing, but I’m a full-time working girl, it doesn’t give me a lot of time to actually research. I miss that. So, I’ve signed up, but I do not anticipate writing every week (but I’m happy that even though I didn’t get it published on the week it was due, I will have gotten all 52 prompts done this year).
Below is word art of my 61 surnames (or I hope I got them all), or my known ancestral lines. So much to learn. Always learning.
The theme for week 46 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is Birthdays. And I am not sure what day of the year for sure has the most birthdays, but I know off the top of my head that April 2 is high on the list for my ancestors.
I have a total of 9 birthdays that appear on 2 April, the oldest being born in 1725 (my 7th-Great-Grandmother, Martha Shattuck) and the youngest being born in 1949, my Aunt Teri (which would be the 6th-Great-Granddaughter of Martha).
Here is my list of names, how they are related to me, and how old they would have been in 2021.
Martha Shattuck – 7th-Great-Grandmother – 296
Elizabeth Naill – Wife of 4th-Great-Granduncle – 222
Eliza Horton – 3rd-Great-Grandmother – 208
William Harrison Geer – 3rd-Great-Grandfather – 181
Arabelle Morgart – 2nd-Great-Grandaunt – 165
James Stevenson – 1st Cousin Twice Removed – 112
Anna Maria Morgart – Grandmother – 107
Willis Mellott – 3rd Cousin Once Removed – 84
Terry (Teri) Fairhurst – Aunt – 72
My software program that I used to track my genealogy has a calendar maker and in the beginning of this year I contemplated printing one out to honor my relatives. I was astounded when I saw I had so many events on 2 April that my Grandma wasn’t even listed in the primary box. At the time she was the second youngest to my aunt (I’ve since added Willis Mellott).
So funny how some dates have so many whereas I am the only person on my birthday so far (which makes me feel special).
To my knowledge, sports is not a huge part of my family’s life. We love to spectate as my cousin loves OSU football, and my mom and I were/are big fans of football and baseball, my mom being a huge fan of the Cleveland Browns and the Cleveland Indians while I prefer the New York Football Giants and the New York Yankees. My mom liked the Ohio State University Buckeyes football as well. My husband is a devout follower of the Alabama Crimson Tide College football team. But if you haven’t guessed, we are watchers, not players.
As I mention in a previous post, my parents met in a bowling alley and they were on bowling leagues off and on throughout their married life. My mom’s siblings did as well. My maternal grandmother, Alberta Lou Fleming, was a bowler as well, belonging to bowling leagues for women with high averages.
Found in the Akron Beacon Journal on 9 December 1974 on Newspapers.com. My grandmother is noted under the bolded paragraph Other High Finishers…
The other sport my family was involved in is golf. My maternal grandfather, Harold Fairhurst, made part of his living as a golf pro (he was also a Mason). My uncles both play golf, my mom’s youngest brother just took his nephew (my cousin) to a golf outing that was a fundraiser for Huntington’s Disease. This same uncle’s daughter passed away last year from complications of Huntington’s.
My grandfather did achieve a hole in one at the now defunct Valley View Golf Course. My Aunt remembers that my grandfather won a years supply of free Pepsi for his achievement.
From the 17 September 1964 edition of the Akron Beacon Journal, found on Newspapers.com
On my dad’s side hunting is the sport of choice. I remember going to my Uncle Don’s house where he had a huge deer and turkey on display. I recently learned from my dad that his dad, Leroy Blair, only shot animals for food. When he could afford to purchase food at the grocery store, he no longer hunted. That explained why I have never had eaten deer (granted when my dad went deer hunting with friends we threatened to call him a “Bambi killer” so he probably opted not too).
Fishing is another sport we do. My mom took a big interest in it before she passed away but I have fished off and on my entire life, as my Daddy taught me when I was little. It was always a fun activity when we went camping as where I fished all the nearby campers would come out and watch me and applaud me as I ran up the hill to our campsite so my dad could take the fish off my hook. He is who I still go to now when I catch a fish (well, assuming he has gone with us).
Cynthia Anne Fairhurst with the fish she caught. For a lady who wasn’t into fishing most of her life, the last 5 years or so she truly enjoyed it.
Lastly, I enjoy hiking. I am lucky to live in an area that has a park system in place that provides a wide variety of leisure activities for everyone. Hiking, archery, kayaking, ice skating (oh, my mom did this when she was little at the Gorge Metro Park), camping, mountain biking, sledding, you get the idea. Each year I participate in the Fall Hiking Spree. Between September 1 and November 30 you complete 8 different hikes and you earn a shield (though the first year you earn a shield and a hiking stick). It’s a great activity to get me exercising. Below are photos from the hike I did last week at the beforementioned Gorge Metro Park, I finally got started… 1 down, 7 to go, and this year I’ll be earning my 10th shield. I’m rather proud of myself.
There are all kinds of ways to enjoy sports – both in watching and taking part. It’s all about finding what you like and doing it (or watching if that is the case).
Sports was the prompt for this week’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks by Amy Johnson Crow. If you would like to participate in this writing challenge click here.
Fun and games is the topic for this week’s writing challenge for Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. I’ve been so busy and lately the prompts have gone more in depth than what I know about my relatives, so I’ll share what I know.
Anna Maria Morgart
My gosh I wish I didn’t have them so packed away as I would have dug out my Grandma’s porcelain dolls that are located in a box up in my attic. Her request when she was getting ready to pass was that I would get them as she knows I am the pack rat she is and I would take care of them. Knowing the dolls are over 100 years old has them wrapped up and tucked away in the space but my goal is to display them when I have the space up there to do them justice (and then I’ll add a photo to this post). My Grandma loved her dolls and took excellent care of them.
My Daddy
My dad’s big hobby growing up was reading. He read every chance he could, so much so that he often claims it was the reason that he spent many summers attending classes to make up for the assignments he didn’t do throughout the normal school year.
He also claims that he must have liked summer school as he may have changed his habits if he truly hated it.
When I called and asked him what his favorite book was he said he didn’t really have one from back then. His favorite books were history books that were 156 pages long published by Random House. The books featured stories about Guadalcanal, the Revolutionary War and Daniel Boone (to name a few). He said they were a good size, he normally read them in about a day, while he was in school.
My dad is pretty sure this was the first book he read. I found this at Thriftbooks.com
I know I have inherited my dad’s love of reading (however I read at home or during Study Hall). He still loves to read and is finishing up a trilogy on World War 2 that I purchased for him for Christmas, his Birthday and Father’s Day.
My Mommy
I can honestly say I don’t know what all my mom did for hobbies. She wasn’t a reader, that is for sure. I always remember her telling me stories of how the Gorge was her playground/ The Gorge is part of the Summit County MetroParks that people hike, ice skate, picnic, and fish at each year.
For example the photo of the pipe she claims she walked across. I find this hard to believe as she was afraid of heights. Like majorly afraid of heights. But maybe she was more daring as a kid/teenager.
The above photos were all taken by me – the top is looking down on the Falls that is about to be taken out and the originals restored. The rock formation is Mary Campbell Cave where Indians had apparently abducted a girl and that is where they held her, and lastly is the field where in the winter the skating rink is located. Weather hasn’t really allowed for any ice skating the last few years, but I know my mom and her siblings had wonderful memories there.
To find a farmer to talk about is about as easy as finding a coal miner in my family, I have many in my tree on both my paternal and maternal sides. With this week’s theme being about life “on the farm” I’ve opted to swing over to my mother’s side of the family and discuss my great-great-grandfather, Arthur James Dunbar.
The Beginning
Arthur James Dunbar was born on 4 August 1869 in Independence, Allegany, New York to Delos Dunbar and Harriett Williams. Delos was also a farmer, both in Independence and in Genesee, Potter County, Pennsylvania which is where the family moved between 1875 and 1880.
According to the official website of Potter County, it’s primary industry in the 1800’s was lumber. Known for it’s white pines, hemlock and other hardwoods, lumber mills were developed near streams where the water could power the saws. In time towns were formed when churches and schools were built in these areas.
While doing searches on Delos Dunbar, Arthur’s father and my 3rd-great-grandfather, there were various small articles on him where he is either cutting wood for someone, or building a home for someone. So I’m guessing though noted as a farmer as well, he may have been more of a lumberman, or had tree farms.
Marriage & Family
On 2 January 1894 Arthur Dunbar married Mazie Lorenia Warner in Wellsville, Allegany, New York. They settled in Hebron Township in Potter County, and began their family on 17 March 1896 when their oldest daughter, Myrtle Iona Dunbar was born. Their next child was Merle Winfield Dunbar, born 10 July 1899 but died on 18 January 1900 of bronchitis. Ina May Dunbar came next being born on 18 April 1901. Their youngest was Mildred Laura Dunbar, born 15 March 1908, my great-grandmother.
Farming
On the 1900 and 1910 Federal Census’ Arthur (A.J.) Dunbar had an occupation of “Farmer”. He owned his property, paying on a mortgage and it lists the agricultural schedule that he was listed on for both population census, Farm Schedule 63 in 1900 and Farm Schedule 18 in 1910. Below is the 1910 Census where it shows that his occupation was “general farm”.
Another clue that he was a farmer was the below newspaper clipping about a young cow he lost. The item below is more than likely is my great-great-grandfather as well as he was known as A.J. Dunbar in many documents.
The Potter Enterprise – 18 April 1901 – found at Newspapers.com
Death
Arthur James Dunbar passed away on 18 December 1912 of a combination of Heart Failure and Anterior Poliomyelitis.
According to the FreeDictionary.com poliomyelitis, commonly known as just polio, is a “disease marked by the inflammation of nerve cells and brain stem and spinal cord”. It was highly contagious and most who caught it were between 6 months and 4 years old but adults did contract the disease. Paralysis in children were 1 in every 1000 cases, paralysis in adults was 1 in every 75 cases.
When adults contracted the disease, it was often white, affluent men. Thankfully this has more or less been done away with by vaccine. I don’t have the tell-tale scar that my mom and sister have (I imagine my dad has it too) because by the time I needed my vaccines for school, it was no longer necessary.
My goal as I continue to do searches about my great-great-grandfather is to find out what kinds of things Arthur farmed, and if there is anything out there that could tell me what kind of person he was, as I am so fond of his wife, Mazie, I always just assume he must be pretty special, too.
Since I spoke of my many coal mining ancestors in Week 30 with the Health topic, I have decided to expand on it with this week’s theme of working. Three of my 4 great-grandfathers worked in the coal mines. Two in Pennsylvania, the third in Ohio.
Andrew Jackson Blair
Born 17 April 1881 in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, Andrew Jackson Blair was born to another Andrew Jackson Blair and Susan Jane Foster. According to the 1900 Census, when Andrew was just 19 years old he was already working in the coal mines (and so was his 13 year old brother, William). His father was also a miner, having it noted as his profession in the 1880 census, as well as his profession in the death register when he passed away in 1899.
I won’t go into details about Andrew too much as I have written about it before (see here). He died when the mine he was in had falling rock and it crushed his chest, killing him instantly. He was 45.
Andrew Jackson Blair
Charles Jackson Morgart
Born 2 August 1873 in East Providence, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, Charles Jackson Morgart was born the oldest child of George Washington Morgart and Mary Ann Ritchey. Charles was originally a farmer but then became a coal miner. It’s odd, I can find him and my great-grandmother, Margaret Dora Wise, twice in the 1910 Census. When they were living in Bedford County he was a farmer, when he was found in Huntingdon County he was a coal miner. His death certificate also listed him as a coal miner. He did not die in the mines, but he committed suicide. It was not the first in his family as his mother had too.
Charles Jackson Morgart
James Fairhurst
Born 8 July 1890 in Leigh, Lancashire, England, James Fairhurst was already working in the coal mines in England in the 1911 census when he was still living at home with his parents, Thomas Fairhurst and Rachel Topping. He came to the United States in 1913 leaving behind his wife, Phoebe Boone (pregnant with their son, Wilfred) and his daughter, Elsie, to work with his brothers at Wolf Run, Jefferson County, Ohio. Phoebe came over with Elsie and Wilfred in January 1915. By June 1917 he had filed his declaration of intention to become a citizen of the United States, and by 14 May 1920 he was a naturalized citizen.
James occupation took a turn for the better. He opted to move to the rubber capital of the world in Akron, Ohio and began working for the various rubber companies, a much safer occupation compared to the work one did working in the coal mines.
Life in the Coal Mines
Working in the coal mines was a dangerous occupation. Most began working at a young age of 10 to 12 years old where you started out sorting out the coal from other rocks (sometimes elderly coal miners would do this too).
Underwood & Underwood. (ca. 1913) Boys picking slate in a great coal breaker, anthracite mines, Pa. Pennsylvania, ca. 1913. New York: Underwood & Underwood, publishers. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2007681337/.
As you got older, responsibility increased. The next position for a teen would be keeping the the tunnels lit at key spots in the mine. Miners did wear hats with lanterns attached to help them see what they were doing and where they were going, but there were still people sometimes positioned in key places so that danger could be avoided.
Other jobs within the mine would be pushing and pulling the carts throughout the very narrow tunnels and the actual mining of the coal. They spent 12 hours a day underground in the dark hunched over.
Collier, J., photographer. (1942) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania vicinity. Westland coal mine. “Mantrip” going into a “drift mine”. Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Allegheny County United States, 1942. Nov. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2017841040/.
Company Towns
Those working in the coal mines were often paid in company money, renting company housing, and the stores you were able to shop in were also owned by the coal mining company as it was the only store that took the company money. It was very difficult to be able to move onto another company to make more because the coal companies more or less owned you.
Wolcott, M. P., photographer. (1938) Company houses, coal mining town, Caples, West Virginia . United States Caples West Virginia, 1938. Sept. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2017752393/.
Working in the coal mines was a difficult job but was just one of many sacrifices the coal miner made to provide for their families. It was a hard job that had many health risks, but it was taken with the hope that the next generation would do better.
Wolcott, M. P., photographer. (1938) Coal miner waiting to go home, Caples, West Virginia. United States Caples West Virginia, 1938. Sept. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2017752675/.
This week’s topic is “school” for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks and I am going to discuss my high school. Counting my own children, there have been 4 generations to attend Cuyahoga Falls High School beginning with my maternal grandmother, Alberta Lou Metzger. Her children attended, including my mother, my sister, myself and cousins, and now my kids.
Cuyahoga Falls High School
Cuyahoga Falls High School was built in 1922. The original building is still a part of the functioning school, often referred to as the old building (at least that’s what it was called when I was there). This part of the building is where your 100’s, 200’s, and 300’s are for classrooms. Back when I went it was foreign language, English Department and Math. Mix in the Old Gym and the Little Theater and this was the original building used for probably 30-plus years.
It’s a view of the Old Building from the football stands taken 2 September 2021 while my son had band practice, I thought the sky extra pretty.
Little Theater
The Little Theater was often where multiple classes went to view movies and such when I attended in the late-80’s, early-90’s. It was also where the Fall Play took place each year.
The primary highlight I remember from my mother was that is where she was when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. It was a moment she would never forget.
A cookie a classmate of mine made for our reunion. This was the logo that was on our gym clothes for years. Since the football team was going over footage I wasn’t able to take a photo of the Little Theater so this seemed a good spot for the cookie.
Old Gym
The Old Gym is where we would go when you were doing sports where 4-classes in the regular gym got to be too much (though it was common when I was in 10th grade to the mat room used for wrestling where my all girl gym class because of choir would play crab soccer – it’s amazing how that huge ball used for it would not mess up the big bangs that were essential for hairstyles during this time).
Recently I went on a tour of the high school for my 30th class reunion. The Little Gym was set up for batting practice for the baseball players. I found it a good use for this the space.
The New Building(s)
The new building was already a functioning part but still very new when my mom attended the high school in the 1960’s. It consists of the 400’s, 500’s, and 600’s. It included a bigger gymnasium (hence the “Old Gym”) and a state of the art auditorium, along with a music wing. It also houses a cafeteria, library, and the offices. Science classes are basically based in the 400’s, more history and classes like typing were held in the 500’s (I doubt they even have typing classes today). The 600’s is where the instrumental and vocal music programs are.
The present gymOne of my favorite spots in 10th grade. The end of the hallway in the 400’s, I always got to school early and a fellow classmate and I sat here and discussed “Days of Our Lives” and all sorts of things. I remember discussing Ted Bundy the day he was executed by the state of Florida with her too. She is one of the people I miss from school and she isn’t on social media.
I believe at sometime between the above buildings and 1980 is when the vocational wing was built. This homes the cosmetology, auto tech, and marketing career programs for junior and seniors. Kids from other schools participate as well as part of a six district program.
I enjoyed checking out this part of the vocational wing as my daughter is enrolled in the Auto Tech program
Class Legacies
Each graduating class from probably the 1980’s on leaves their mark by creating a piece of art that is displayed in the cafeteria. My sister’s class is below. I tried to find my class but after the horrible experience of Columbine in 1999 they covered my classes art up. The student who won the art contest wore a trench coat (that was his style) and had that as part of the tiger in our 1991 artwork, but that was considered a negative after Columbine. I found it sad when I found out after our tour that was why we couldn’t find it. I feel they could have asked said student to come in and try to fix it up a bit instead of painting over it.
The Future
So many memories at this school and soon it will be no more. The citizens of Cuyahoga Falls voted to build a new high school and middle school complex which means soon the school that I figured would stand forever will be torn down. I doubt my middle school will go, it was the newest of the buildings but would probably be turned into something else.
But the auditorium is what brings me so many tears. My choir concerts, my daughter’s choir concerts, my son’s band concerts. I know they need newer, and better to attract families with kids, but there is something to be said for the past.
I can say this much – I don’t know what all will be taken from the old building to the new building, but I do hope this cafeteria sign goes. It was hanging in the lunchroom when I went to school and we noticed it still hanging there on my 30th reunion tour. I just feel it should be moved to the next. And not a new copy, this same sign.
The Marching Band
Along with the school being 100 years old, the Marching Band is also celebrating it’s 100th anniversary this year as well. I am beyond proud that my son has become a part of this legacy. I never learned to play an instrument (though I’m teaching myself the piano presently). but he plays the trumpet.
So impressed with their talent and dedication through good times and bad (which would have been last year and coping with Covid challenges).
This photo was taken on 3 September 2021, the band was awesome and the football team won too!
I’ve really had a hard time coming up with someone for this week’s theme for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. I contemplated writing about my third great-grandfather who was a deeply religious man, but I haven’t done much with him yet, other than figure out all his kids (there were 16 – and thankfully someone wrote a book to assist with finding them all).
The person who kept popping in my head was a man who is not blood-related to me, but he was family, and the only man I can remember being a grandfather to me. My dad’s dad passed away when I was 2, so I didn’t really get to know him. My mom’s dad was just mean and I didn’t like him so there’s that. But my mom’s mom remarried (twice) and her third and final husband was James Edward Metzger, whom she married the month after I was born. He was a lively sort and for a very long time I thought he was just one of the greatest people ever.
So for this week’s post I’m going to write about my Grandpa Jim, and hopefully he will make you smile as he use to make me.
James Edward Metzger
James Edward Metzger was born on 12 May 1930 to Howard J. Metzger and Gertrude Mary Rule in Columbus, Ohio. In a few years time he was joined by a sister. I’ll admit I haven’t done a great deal of research on him just because I get so caught up in blood lines, but I believe Howard and Gertrude must have divorced and she remarried Marty Roush, but I’m not sure when.
James Edward Metzger, sitting at the dining room table at my parents house (aka my first home) sometime in the 1980’s (the sofa and curtains were the originals)
Marriages
On 2 September 1950 Jim married Mary Jo Williams, with whom he had two sons. He divorced Mary Jo in 1956 and remarried a woman named Florence and they had a daughter. Their marriage also ended in divorce in 1962. His third marriage would be his last, to my maternal grandmother, Alberta Lou Fleming. He always made sure that he told everyone that he paid for her second divorce (as it was final 16 March 1973 and James and Alberta got married on 24 March 1973 (1 month and 2 days after I was born).
He Was A Character
Not that my grandparents ever had much, but they would do what they could to help you. My Grandpa Jim was a drinker, but he wasn’t the type to get mean and violent, the more he drank, the louder he became, and the funnier he thought he was (it was hit or miss to those around him).
But my Grandpa Jim always took the time to be involved in what mattered to me, as well as my other cousins. When I was into swimming, he was my biggest supporter. I remember him taking the time to cheer me on when I visited with him and my Grandma in the summer of 1986, it was my sister’s graduation present but I ended up tagging along too. For the 6 weeks we spent in Florida with them, except for the days we went to Disney and to Busch Gardens Tampa, all my time was spent with me swimming in the pool. I’d get up and swim, take a lunch break between 12-1 to watch my favorite soap at the time, Loving on ABC, then I’d swim in the pool until 4 when it was adult swim time – at that point I’d head to the Gulf of Mexico for an hour and then I’d eat dinner, only to return to the pool again from 6-10, my Grandpa calling me in when he went to close the pool for the night, I went inside and be it a chair, recliner or sofa, that’s where I fell asleep and I’d get up in the morning and do it all again, which was easy as I was still in my bathing suit.
Grandpa Jim was different from anyone I knew. His passion was singing, and he sang so beautifully, so much so that he joined the local Barbershop Quartet (or choir as it was sometimes) in Florida. He would burst into song (not like a musical, but if a song fit the moment, he’d sing it).
Everything he did was a bit larger than life. And though I know life wasn’t a bowl of cherries, he always tried to make it seem that way when all of us younger grandchildren were around.
He was a die-hard Ohio State Buckeye fan and would brag at no end about how his step-dad, Marty, would caddie for Jack Nicklaus (this seems to be true).
Jim Metzger in his red sweater & Buckeyes mock turtle neck (my grandma, Alberta Lou Fleming, is to the left)
His Occupation
At some point in his life I heard that Jim Metzger sold dental equipment before he began managing condominiums and apartments with my Grandmother. Alberta was the manager while Jim fixed things. It was a good set up.
A Funny Story
I consulted with my mom’s sister for this next story as it was one that always made my mom cry she would laugh so hard. So here is what my Aunt told me, the story includes my Grandpa Jim, my Uncle Jim, and an outhouse.
“A death occurred on Howard Fleming’s side of the family in Corsica, Pennsylvania. The house they were staying in belonged to an Aunt Margaret (possibly Martha). She was apparently a hoarder by frustration as she got tired of picking up after everyone, so she began stacking stuff and eventually everything became full except a little path from the bedrooms to the kitchen.When she got up in the morning the boys had gone outside to use the outhouse (there was no indoor bathroom). As they were standing there, taking a leak, the floor gave away. Somehow they were lucky enough to have both feet land on a pole that was ran underground under the outhouse, but they were still waist-high in poop.
My Aunt doesn’t remember what they did for clothing but they had no shoes for the funeral. My Aunt could only wonder what Jim Metzger was thinking.”
I don’t think he was married to my Grandmother yet.
My Grudge
I’ve been told by both sides of my family that I am as stubborn as the other side. My mom telling me I’m as stubborn as the Blair’s while my dad says I’m all Fairhurst. I have learned that deep down I’m probably a combination of them all.
One such time of my showing how stubborn I could be was when I’d hold a grudge against someone, and I had such a grudge towards my Grandpa Jim. He embarrassed me one day when he was drinking really heavy in front of my best friend. doing a really bad imitation of Jerry Lewis, it was never good, but this day had him doing it repetitively trying to get people to laugh, and it wasn’t working. Top it off with the fact that I was in 10th grade, so you know how that age can already be, but he was slurring his words and just going a little too much over the top. Even my mom would admit that was a bad day. He ended up getting in his car and driving to Columbus after an altercation with someone (that part escapes me now but I remember my mom being horribly worried something really bad would happen, to our knowledge nothing did).
After that day I never was the same around him, giving him the silent treatment and the like (well, he and my grandma forgetting my 18th birthday a year or so later didn’t help, but maybe I brought it on myself).
Where I ended up making my peace with my Grandma Metzger, I never had the chance to really do that with my Grandpa. I was young and stupid. And then I was in my twenties. They had moved back down to Columbus so I didn’t see them all the time. I’d like to think he would forgive me, he was the first person who drank a lot that I was around. I have/had all kinds of addictive personalities in my extended family, but he was the first person who I truly “saw”. And he was one of my heroes, they aren’t suppose to fall off their pedestals.
How Scanning Photos Changed My Mind
I also think my opinion really changed last year during Covid when I began scanning my Grandma Metzger’s pictures that my dad gave me and I found the one below of my Grandparents. Look at them looking at each other. And I can tell this was when they lived in Florida which was a good 13 years into their marriage. So much love. I can just hear him calling her “Dear Heart” (well, he called everyone that). He may have had his flaws, but you can tell he loved my Grandma.
Alberta Lou Fleming and James Edward Metzger circa 1983-1985
James Edward Metzger died 21 July 2001 from lung cancer in Columbus, Ohio. He was far from perfect, but he was full of personality, and considered everyone he came in contact with a friend.
The theme for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is “tragedy”. I’ll admit I did a search in my genealogy software trying to find a relative who was a logger and died under tragic circumstances (I could not find them) or I contemplated about a distant cousin who died young under horrible circumstances (leaving that for another year?).
But then I decided to be different.
All week long when I began attempting to compose this post the Bee Gees song began going through my head. Why? Well “Tragedy” is the name of the song, it’s also quite catchy, as most songs by the Brothers Gibb are.
But for me the Bee Gees songs have a greater meaning, in the last 20 years of my mom’s life she loved the Bee Gees and would often ride her recumbent bike listening to them, or when taking a walk around the block or at the local gym. She would often comment that their music would allow her to bee bop through the house (she had a specific term for this bee bopping but I shall not say it, because though Cynthia Anne Fairhurst meant it as a HUGE compliment, it may not be seen that way in today’s climate).
The Bee Gees Greatest Hits were one of my mom’s favorite albums, and my sister often has moments that she feels my mom is with her when a Bee Gees song comes on. Sadly, I don’t listen to the correct radio stations to be blessed with this – but that’s okay. I get cardinals in my lilac bush on her birthday which is just as nice.
Helping History Come Alive 