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.
I literally went through a list of my ancestors names to determine my “favorite name”. It was tough but like most everything else, she popped out and despite my looking at other names that caught my eye (one was a first cousin twice removed, Chester Charles Childers because who doesn’t like a good cha-cha-cha) I couldn’t stop thinking of a name I saw before his, and that is Thankful Chapin, my fifth-great-grandmother.
Or is she?
I think she is though many do not have her listed as my fourth-great-grandfather’s mother. He was born in 1809, she died in 1812, seems like he should fall into her realm. But who knows? But here is what I do know about Thankful Chapin Warner.
Who is Thankful Chapin?
Thankful Chapin was born 11 November 1774 in Bernardston, Franklin, Massachusetts to Lt. Joel Chapin (he fought in the French & Indian War and the Revolutionary War) and Sarah Burke, the sixth of seven children born to this couple. Her siblings names are Joel Chapin, Jr., Eddy Burke Chapin, Israel Chapin, Solomon Chapin, Sarah Chapin, and Oliver. Depending on the book you read it claims she had another sister, Gratia, who was also married to Joel, but this book seems to be the only book I can find that lists her.
On 27 April 1799 she married Joel Warner and in their almost 13 years of marriage, they had three children: Sarah Burke Warner born 8 February 1800; Anson Warner born 27 November 1805; and lastly Oliver Charles Warner who was born in 1809. She died on 3 April 1812 and is buried with many other Chapin’s in Old Cemetery, Bernardston, Franklin, Massachusetts.
I have never been able to find a whole lot of information on Thankful, and honestly nothing concrete if she is really Oliver’s mother (though since her younger brother was an Oliver, it really helps to think that she may be).
So over the course of the next few months, as I discuss research logs I plan on using Thankful as my example, to prove that she is the mother of Oliver Charles Warner.
Why Is Thankful a Favorite Name?
I chose Thankful Chapin as my favorite name as it always brings a smile to my face. We all have so much to be thankful for and to have a direct line ancestor named such, and you wonder why her parents, my sixth-great-grandparents, would name their daughter such a name. Did they have a reason to be extra grateful at that time? 1774 had the British Colonial America gearing up for a war with Great Britain, Massachusetts especially. Did they have a good crop that changed their world? So many things go through my mind.
Do you have an ancestor whose name is your favorite? Feel free to share!
This week’s topic for Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is Health. It was proving to be a struggle for me as I went through various people, illnesses, and how my mom was a nurse, but since I had discussed her not so long ago I wanted something that was different and not so obvious, and then it hit me – I have so many relatives who were coal miners, I decided to discuss the unhealthy conditions of working in a coal mine.
Coal Miners in My Family
I started making a list of all the men that were coal miners in my family and had not gotten too far on just my dad’s side and I already had over 20. My mom’s side could easily have just as many with her Fairhurst and Boone relatives as they all came over from England in the early 1900’s and settled in Jefferson County, Ohio where they were also miners (my great-grandmother, Phoebe Boone even ran a boarding house for miners).
My coal miners were not just limited to those who were here in the United States like my Blair’s, or the Fairhurst’s and Boone’s who immigrated from England, but my great-great-great-grandfather, James Boone was a coal miner in England. I do know that Isaiah Boone, mentioned later, moved to Utah and mined there and then returned to Ohio.
An Unhealthy Industry
Coal was one of the main resources that ran engines (stationary and locomotive) when the world began going through the Industrial Revolution. Though in the United States coal mining was done in smaller, rural towns, the mines were sometimes owned by railroads, which would obviously make sure the coal got where it needed to go.
Coal mining was not easy work. You were in the darkness all day, hunched over because most of the time the cavities within had low ceilings and you were constantly inhaling coal dust. Many illnesses were caused by lung issues.
Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis
Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis is a lung disease caused by the inhalation of dust and the lungs become inflamed or scarred which eventually made the person have a difficult time breathing. Another common name for this is black lung.
The stages of the disease often began with a cough, which leads to shortness of breath, then chest tightness. There is no cure, only prevention.
Though technology was not available hundreds of years ago, today’s miners can wear a personal dust monitor that measures the dust exposure, knowing at the end of each shift what the amount of dust was.
Another similar ailment is Silicosis.
Lung Cancer
Lung cancer in coal mining is primarily caused by exposure to the diesel exhaust daily for five-plus years. This is focused primarily on miners since the 1940’s and is normally combined with pneumoconiosis.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a common ailment among many people in today’s world, even outside of being a coal miner (your common habit of smoking is enough to contribute to COPD, my mother and maternal grandmother were both diagnosed). Like pneumoconiosis, COPD cannot be cured. Examples of COPD are bronchitis and emphysema, and along with coal worker pneumoconiosis, it has been classified as an occupational disease.
Skin Conditions
Coal miners suffered various skin ailments along with the lung diseases. Eczema and contact dermatitis were issues that came about since the 1950’s due to chemicals, “communal bathing, prolonged and profuse sweating, friction and dirty clothing” causing bacterial and fungal infections (and was the reason for the most days missed).
Though not deemed harmful, “coal tattoos” also were a sign of the coal miner as the miner would get cut and coal dust would get in it before it healed.
Disasters
Along with suffocation, gas poisoning, another unhealthy part of coal mining are explosions and mine collapse. I know in my own lifetime I’ve witnessed on television in differing areas of the world tragic outcomes where a group of men were trapped underground due to an explosion or a cave-in and it was unknown if the area where the men were trapped had enough air to sustain the 22 miners in China (11 survived), or the 33 miners in Chile (all survived for a period of 69 days), or the 13 miners in West Virginia (only 1 miner survived this explosion).
Explosions in mines are nothing new. I have both direct and collateral ancestors in my tree who died from such mining accidents.
“Mine Explosion Kills Four Men At Wolf Run” – Carroll Journal, 12 December 1935
“Four men lost their lives and 31 had a narrow escape in an explosion early last Thursday night in the Warner Collieries Mine at Wolf Run near Bergholz. Those killed were Isaiah Boone, 50, his half brother, Joseph Boon, 47, and Robert Russell, 25, all of Amsterdam, and Albert James, 50, of Bergholz.”
Isaiah and Joseph Boone were the older and younger brother of my great-grandmother, Phoebe Boone, she was sandwiched between them in chronological order of children of Enoch Boone and Susannah Rigby’s children. Both came to the United States from Leigh, England – Isaiah in 1923 and Joseph in late 1920.
Isaiah Boone, photo permission granted from RWissler Collection
Using Newspapers.com to find articles of the paper, the blast was reported from as far East as Connecticut and as far west as Idaho, and I also found where it was reported in Canada.
Article taken from the 6 Dec 1935 Xenia Daily Gazette found on Newspapers.com
Andrew Jackson Blair
“Blair, Andrew J. aged about 44, of B Court was instantly killed about one o’clock this afternoon when caught beneath a fall of rock while at work in the Forks Coal Mining Company mine. The victim was badly crushed. Mr. Blair’s brother-in-law, Abraham Childers, was injured in the same mine yesterday, having the ligaments torn in his leg”. – Johnstown Tribune, Wednesday, 17 November 1926, Page 26 (This article was found on Find A Grave where it was transcribed for his memorial, I was unable to find the original to include).
My great-grandfather was born in 1881 and on the 1900 census was already working in the coal mines. My dad told me that his dad, Leroy, Andrew’s oldest surviving son, also briefly worked in coal mining but had an accident in the same area his father died and that is when he found a different vocation.
Andrew Jackson Blair, sadly he was cut out of a group photo it is believed to have been from a church. I enhanced it at MyHeritage (hence their watermark in the corner)
I was able to find a newspaper article from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania newspaper, The Evening News, with a snippet of his death:
The Evening News from 17 November 1926 found on Newspapers.com
Other Interesting Facts
Coal mining was an institution unlike any other that I know of. Workers worked for a company who not only paid them in company cash or script, the housing was crude and also owned by the mines, the stores that took the script were owned by the company and priced everything high, but they could, because these stores were the only ones that would take the company cash. You were in a never-ending cycle and it really didn’t give you an “out”.
Young boys began working at the mines by the time they were 12 to 14 years old. They were not allowed to work in the mines but they would stay outside sorting the coal. To work within the mines they had to be 18 years old.
The social systems surrounding the mines were ethnicity based. Those with the highest prestige were the Welsh and English (this would have been where Isaiah and Joseph Boone fit in); then the Irish, Italians, Eastern Europeans and finally those that were from Appalachia. I am not quite sure where my great-grandfathers would have fit in being born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, they weren’t foreign but also too far north for Appalachia.
It had to take a person of strong mind and spirit to work in the coal mines day in and day out. My other paternal great-grandfather, Charles Jackson Morgart worked in the coal mines the last handful of years before he took his own life. I’ve sat and contemplated his death numerous times trying to wrap my head around why he killed himself but I’m sure it’s a mystery I’ll never know for sure. Was it a bit of depression from working in the dark after being a farmer? I’ll never know.
I am sure there are hundreds of other illnesses that can coincide with working in a coal mine that I haven’t listed, but this is what I found in just a day or two researching for this blog of mine. Coal mining was a dangerous occupation that until I saw how many of my ancestors did this for a living, I never gave much thought too (well, until you hear about a grave situation on the news). I look at it so much differently these past few years, so many risks, both health and otherwise, that these men took to provide for their family.
* I found the information for the above article and provided links throughout leading to Wikipedia, American Lung Association, NCBI, NIOSH, and the Nursing Times
Thank goodness for fashion, otherwise we would never be able to figure out what era our family pictures came from. Fashion is also the theme for this week’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, and though there is not much for me to say, more or less to show, I am going to showcase my 2 fashionable aunts on my maternal side of the family.
Ina May Dunbar
I remember a few weeks ago when I was binge-watching Downton Abbey, when I saw Edith’s ‘do in season 3 as we entered into the 1920’s I smiled at how much her hairstyle reminded me of my Great-Grand-Aunt, Ina May Dunbar, older sister to my Great-Grandmother, Mildred Laura Dunbar.
Ina May Dunbar, circa 1920’s
She is so beautiful and stylish, between the fur top of her coat and the pearls. I always have wondered how they got those beautiful waves in their hair, I’m sure I would utterly fail if I ever tried to attempt it myself.
Terry Mildred Fairhurst
My Aunt Terry was such a wonderful lady. She had a hard life, mostly because she made poor choices, but she always did her best to make lemonade out of lemons. Or at least that is how it seemed to me when I would talk to her. No matter how bad life seemed to get, she was a fighter and found a way to land on her feet (probably because she had family who loved her).
But my Mom always loved how stylish her younger sister was. My Aunt loved to dance and just have a good time. I loved her laugh.
Terry Mildred Fairhurst, 1965
I have so many other photos of beautiful ladies but these are the two I have that just really exemplify the decade of fashion they were taken in. The 1920’s and the 1960’s had such unique style, so much that they are often imitated even today.
Today I am not writing about a direct line ancestor, but a man who seems to have been a very special person. His name is Samuel J. Randol and he was the second husband of my maternal great-great-grandmother, Mazie Lorena Warner.
Samuel Joseph Randol holding Alberta Lou Fleming, early 1930’s (again, no date but my Grandma was born in October 1929)
I will tell the tale of Samuel as he at one point worked for the railroad when they lived in Potter County, Pennsylvania. Then, after moving and settling in Akron, Summit County, Ohio, he worked as a truck driver. He was actually making a delivery to Decatur, Macon County, Illinois, when he became ill and died.
Samuel Joseph Randol
Samuel Joseph Randol was born 5 October 1874 in Independence, Warren County, Indiana to Alonzo Randol and the former Laura Altman. Upon doing my homework for this post I came to the conclusion that Samuel had been married three times. He was divorced from a Rosa Cox (born in 1876 and passed away in 1924), and his second wife, Emily, died of a cerebral hemorrhage a month before he married Mazie (I tried to keep an open mind hoping that Samuel and Emily had only been married a short time, but it was 14 years, but this was over a century ago, they did things different then, right?)
Portion of the page from the New York Marriage License of Samuel Randol & Mazie (Warner) Dunbar – this Record of Marriage was found on FamilySearch
His Occupations
According to the 1900 Federal Census, Samuel was listed as a teamster. For those who do not know what a teamster is, it is a truck driver or a person who drives teams of draft animals.
In the 1910 Federal Census he was listed as working for the railroad. This was not his only stint with the railroad, he was employed with the Pennsylvania Railroad once he settled in Akron from 1917 through about1922. When he initially moved to Akron he worked for the Swinehart Rubber Company, which was not far from where he lived.
Around 1923 he opened his own grocery store entitled “SJ Randols” located on Howard Street in North Akron. This entrepreneurial endeavor did not last long as he was once again a truck driver by 1925 (I tracked his occupations once he arrived in Akron using the digitized City Directories that are located online by the Akron-Summit County Public Library, from years 1859-1969).
S.J. Randols Grocery Store – this was amongst my great-grandmother’s items, no date, no names. Circa 1923
Life With Mazie
Seeing as his first 3 marriages did not last long, that Samuel was married to my great-great-grandmother for 23 years, it must have been love (or at least I hope it was).
Samuel and Mazie were married in Olean, Cattaraugus County, New York on 16 December 1914. By this point in time my great-great-grandfather, Arthur Dunbar, had been dead for 2 years (he passed away of heart failure, most likely a complication from his having polio).
When Samuel married Mazie he got a full package, her and 3 daughters, who he took on and cared for as his own. Myrtle had already married William Harvey of Elmira, Chemung County, New York, but Mazie was still raising a teenage Ina May Dunbar and my 6-year-old great-grandmother, Mildred Laura Dunbar.
Just before moving to Akron, Samuel and Mazie had a son, Richard LeHoty Randol 8 March 1916. Five months later on 7 August 1916 he died of intestinal intoxication, which is a severe dietary deficiency. It’s so sad when you see dehydration and malnutrition as causes of infant deaths just a century ago as IV’s and formula now do so much.
Richard LeHoty Randol, only child of Samuel & Mazie, 1916
Samuel and Mazie had no more children but had their hands full with Ina and Mildred.
Ina married John Slater, had a daughter, but when the marriage didn’t last it was Samuel and Mazie who took them (Ina and daughter) in. The same could be said for Mildred twice over as she got married, then divorced, got remarried, had a daughter, then another divorce and when she married for the last time they lived with Samuel and Mazie for a couple of years before finding a home (I like to think they were saving up for a down payment?).
Ina did re-marry Ralph Stone in 1928 and I remember attending their 50th Anniversary Party. I was 5 and my Daddy was getting me punch, not realizing it was spiked. All I remember is laughing a lot and saying “Oh Johnny” as I thought my older teenage cousin was really cute (Johnny descends from my Aunt Myrtle, and I have yet to find him in my genealogy search).
Anyhow, I digress. In 1938 Samuel was still a truck driver, often going to Decatur, Macon County, Illinois. He apparently got sick while there, was taken to the hospital and after a week “with a complication of diseases” he died.
The Decatur Daily Review, Monday, October 17, 1938 – found on Newspapers.com
They shipped his body back to Ohio, and his funeral had quite the turnout. Along with the photos and such my dad gave me that were my great-grandmother’s, Samuel’s funeral book is among the items. I was amazed at all the names of all the people, at least 10 full pages, who either attended calling hours or the funeral (or both). Among them, one of his first Ohio friends, Clyde Geer (and most likely my great-great-grandfather). Clyde worked at Swinehart Rubber Company when Samuel did when he first moved to Akron in 1916.
The Akron Beacon Journal, Tuesday, October 18, 1938 – found on Newspapers.com
But working in transportation – be it by train or automobile (maybe even heading up a team of animals???) is how Samuel supported himself and his family. That he changed with the times was quite trendy of him.
Though I never met Samuel (he died about 35 years before I was born), he seemed like a loving man and I couldn’t have asked for a better person to care for Mazie.
Transportation was the theme for week 28 of Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks family history writing challenge. It’s a fun way to stop and write about your family each week. If you would like to sign up, please do so here.
Bridge. Such an ominous theme for this week’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. I didn’t know what I could possibly write about. A bridge – I don’t know enough of the specifics of my ancestors to see if a bridge made any sort of impact in their lives.
So I kept thinking – and it finally occurred to me that I am the bridge, I am the link between my family’s past and present. So this week I am not going to write about an ancestor, I am going to talk about me.
My Childhood
I was born in the early 70’s in Akron, Ohio, the exact same city as I live right now. Though I was raised in the Akron suburb of Cuyahoga Falls (it means “crooked river” in Indian). I am the youngest in my family – my only other sibling is my older sister, who was 5 when I was born (read between the lines here that she wasn’t happy with the attention I took away). I don’t think my sister ever realized how envious I was of her – she got dance lessons and I had…. nothing.
Not that I was upset, but I what I wanted to learn more than anything was to play the piano. I use to pretend that the end of my bed was a piano and I would “play” music for hours (it was me, humming the music). My mom always told me she wanted to get me lessons, and it’s not that they couldn’t afford them, they couldn’t afford the piano. Oddly enough, as I am typing this “from the hip” I ordered up a 36-lesson course to teach myself to play, and it just arrived, so maybe my inner child’s dream will come true.
Me on the left, my sister on the right, 2 October 1976
My childhood was nothing extraordinary – if anything it was extra ordinary. My sister and I had our spats – she pulled me by my feet around and around the two entrances into our living room giving me a horrible patch of rugburn on my chin (yes, the chin was what was on the ground) while I ended up pushing her off the top bunk of her bunk beds when she finally gave me a minute to get up there (she went to push me but I pushed first – don’t worry, Grandma Blair took care of the situation – which means I didn’t get in trouble at all).
I remember learning a bit of math early on because I saw my sister doing it so I wanted to do it too. When I started to learn how to read in elementary school I went at it with everything in my being because my dad and sister were big readers, so I wanted to read too.
But there came a point when I saw where my sister didn’t always get the best of grades and I saw how upset it made my mom and so the “watch and learn” period began. I did my best to get good grades as that made my mom happy. Maybe not ecstatic but at least it gave her less to be upset about.
It’s funny, my sister pointed out how I tried to be better than her on a road trip to me within the past year. She thought I was doing it to be better than her, and I guess after a certain point it was, but it really started out trying to keep up with her. I didn’t think about not being as old as her, I only wanted to be on the same level as her, and being 5 years younger I had a lot of catching up to do.
In fifth grade I began my love of history. For some reason Ms. Roberson made history entertaining. None of my other teachers really had, and my history geek self was born.
In sixth grade I gave a complete answer to a substitute teacher in Social Studies and so the nickname of “Becky the Brain” was born. And instead of trying to put it out of my mind, I attempted to live up to it every year. Though I wasn’t very good in math so I couldn’t understand how anyone would think of me as a “brain” but I tried to keep the moniker alive. All the way through high school.
The College Years
College was my troubling time. I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up (and face it, time was running out, what am I talking about, I am still trying to figure that out). I opted to get a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration/Marketing in Management, not sales. But everyone assumes you want to do sales. I enjoyed marketing research. I find it thrilling to analyze information and detect trends. But you needed an MBA to even get your foot in the door and I was sick of school.
My goal was to move to New York City. I was born in Ohio but I was meant to be a New Yorker. The city brings a confidence in me that I have never experienced anywhere else. The energy makes me feel more alive and that’s why I tried to find a job there. But every job I was offered didn’t pay enough money, and though my mom didn’t tell me I shouldn’t go, she just offered one bit of advice: Do you really want to live somewhere that you have to work 3 jobs to get by? The answer was no, because then I’d never be able to enjoy living in the city I’d so wanted to be a part of.
In 1999 I returned to school and earned my Bachelor of Arts in History with my focus being American History. I don’t think I ever read so much in 1 year (well, except for the year I chose to read a certain number of books – and though I started off with a goal of 100 books, I condensed it down to 60 in June realizing I did need more of a life than just working and reading). While going back for my history degree, one of the classes had us getting internships at the local historic house, Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens. This class changed my life, as one internship turned into a second, which turned into a job. Best place to work to this day and it was all because of my co-workers. Many I am friends with on social media, but they were all genuinely good people. I just wish I could have continued working in the history field as I know I’d probably be a bit happier. What is that saying – if you do what you love you never work a day in your life?
Married Life
I met my husband while working at Stan Hywet. Anyone who is willing to try burnt hot chocolate to impress you must not be so bad, right? We got married in 2003 (the photo to the right below is of the English Garden at Stan Hywet, where hubby proposed) and have had two wonderful children (isn’t that what you are suppose to say???). Actually I can’t complain, I nag about grades (for some reason the more I nag the less interested they are – and they weren’t like this in elementary school, and they are both so smart which makes it that much more infuriating).
We do the simple things – eat dinner together, go on camping trips as a family (well, the heat of Myrtle Beach did me in so now I prefer hotels), or go to places like Washington, D.C. (that was our last vacation – last year we were contemplating things but Covid-19 nipped those plans).
Our house isn’t fancy but it is home. We have a dog as well. Max, a Jack-Russell who is now finally almost 13 and starting to mellow for our standards.
My Love of Family History
My love of family history began when I was in 6th grade and had to do a genealogy project. It was simple, you had to either get to a different state or a different country. I had it lucky – my dad’s parents had both been born in Pennsylvania and my mom’s grandparents were either Pennsylvania or England, so score me extra points for getting out of the country.
I then began gathering information and doing stuff when I first began college. I really wish I would have stuck with it in the early-to-mid-nineties because I could have asked both grandmothers so much information. But I am not always so smart. My cousin, Darlene, who also worked on genealogy, sent me family group sheets and such to help me get started. Of course working and going to school ended up taking up a bunch of my time and it once again got put on hold.
Fast forward to 10 August 2016, the day I decided to Google family history or genealogy, who knows, but it was the day that I signed up for FamilySearch.org and I have never looked back. It started because on this particular day, I missed my Grandma, and I figured a way to get close to her was to learn all I could about her family.
I have learned so much about so many members of my family. And the more I learn the more mesmerized I am. These people were so strong and lived through so much. Life today would seem like a cake-walk (well unless family history became their hobby and they had some of the brick walls I do about them).
I’ve had DNA lead me to a branch of my tree that no one even knew about (well, unless I’m totally wrong). It’s amazing what a powerful tool a simple spit test can be.
Between attending conferences, family history days at the Family History Centers, and webinars and other online/in-person presentations, and Facebook groups, I have learned so much about this hobby of mine, and just how generous people in the genealogy community are, always willing to jump in and research from a different angle.
I Am the Bridge
I am the bridge because I then tell my family about what I have found. I deal with the eye rolls and whatever else may come my way for that person who says “wow, that’s interesting” and it makes it all worth it. I know my dad enjoys hearing what I find, often telling me he would never have the patience himself to do it, but he loves to hear about it.
I firmly believe in the Russian proverb I posted a while back, “You live as long as you are remembered” and I try to keep each and every one of my ancestors alive.
So I will do my best to work on my tree, break down walls, and do my best to fill in the dash between the years, attempting to bridge the present with the past. All along, hoping to make my ancestors proud.
Growing up my parents never took me to cemeteries to view the headstones of our dearly departed. My grandfather, Leroy Blair, who passed away when I was 2 years old, was cremated, so we didn’t have any gravesite to visit.
The first death that affected me was that of my great-grandmother, Mildred Laura Dunbar. She passed away 8 January 1982 which was my cousin Jaclyn’s birthday, who turned 4 that day. My mother always remembered Jaclyn sitting on her lap, telling her that she bet “Great Grandma probably already has her wings”. It was the perfect sentiment for my mom about one of her most favorite people in the world. Mildred did have a gravesite but I only ever remember visiting a couple of times. There was extremely frigid weather taking place around her death, so it took a bit before she was able to be buried, if my memory serves. There was no cemetery portion of her funeral, it all took place at McGowan-Reid & Santos Funeral Home in Cuyahoga Falls (I don’t think it’s called that anymore).
Then I remember hearing issues about Mildred’s gravestone. They kept setting it incorrectly and water kept accumulating all around it. No matter what they did it just never seemed right. Both times we went, there were puddles.
Sadly as an adult I haven’t gone to visit my Great-Grandmother’s grave, but in the past year someone has added it to Find a Grave. The photo above was taken by Kedillow.
My next gravesite I found was that of my grandma, Anna Maria Morgart. She had everything all arranged prior to her passing so my parents had little to do but the finalized ceremony. I don’t think my parents ever went to my Grandma’s gravesite after the ceremony at the cemetery. We didn’t have the one at the gravesite, but my brother-in-law stood by while the men buried her. Apparently he did that as one of his past jobs. I’m often glad my parents skipped that portion, I don’t think I could have handled watching my Grandma be put into the ground.
It has been a few years (not sure exactly how many) when I decided one day to go find my Grandma where she was buried at Rose Hill Burial Park in Akron. My husband pulled in and all I could remember was that she was under a tree, and I knew she had chosen a good spot because she would have liked the shade. But as we tiptoed trying to find her from a memory at least seven years prior, I was so happy when I finally found her headstone. It was a flat one in the ground. And though I had stepped so lightly and was so cautious to not step on anyone, lo and behold I was standing right on top of Grandma. But I laughed, if anyone would have forgiven me it would have been her.
Once I began getting involved in my genealogy seriously, I became extremely focused on finding my Great-Great-Grandmother, Mazie Lorenia Warner, and found her I did. It took a while as she is not listed on any of the cemetery sites, and the cemetery she is buried in, Mount Peace Cemetery, also in Akron, Ohio, doesn’t have her listed. But I contacted the office and they were able to send me over the invoice copies of when she purchased both plots back in 1938 when her second husband, Samuel Randol, unexpectedly passed away. I was so excited when I went on a whim with my husband to find her, I did it so I could show my mom more easily on a lunch hour one day.
But that lunch hour excursion never happened. I found Mazie and Samuel in September 2017 and my mom wasn’t feeling up to ever meeting me at the cemetery. I figured I would the next year, but just 8 months later, she had passed away too.
Like my Grandfather Blair, my Mom opted to be cremated. I understand, there is a great deal of expense when burying a loved one. But I will admit, I wish I had a cemetery plot to visit so I could hash out the worldly problems with my her. Especially on days like today, the 3rd anniversary of her death.
Two years ago I went back to Pennsylvania and spent an entire day visiting the graves of my direct line ancestors on my paternal side (with some bonus extras I found in the same spots). There was something so wonderful to be so close to where they had their final resting place, to be so close to them. But in that one day I was able to visit with at least 22 direct-line grandparents (probably more as I know some where buried in the vicinity where I was standing, but probably didn’t know for certain where they were buried due to their headstones being gone).
This week’s prompt for Amy Johnson Crow’s writing challenge, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, is DNA. It has been almost 2 years since I took my DNA test on AncestryDNA in order to solve a family mystery (you can find that story here). But it has given me the opportunity to meet extended members of my family I may have never had the chance to know. A few I have begun corresponding with on a regular basis and like to call them friends.
I’ll give you a heads up now, I am writing this but respecting my cousin’s privacy, so they will be referred to as “her” as they are all girls.
My Second Cousin
One of my first contacts I reached out to from my DNA match list was my 2nd cousin who is the great niece (grand niece?) of Anna Maria Morgart (aka my Grandma Blair)!
Going through my Grandmother’s photos I have a lot of pictures of “her” grandparents (my Grandma’s sister and her husband), but sadly only a few of her dad, but it was so nice to reach out and communicate with family from my Grandma’s side. We both have vague memories of Gammy (Margaret “Maggie” Dora Wise) as she is both of ours Great-Grandmother.
The below photos were from the collection of Anna Maria Morgart Blair – the one on the left is a photo of Virginia Morgart Dipko and Anna Maria Morgart Blair in 1940, and the one of the right is a photo of Anna Maria Morgart, Joe Dipko and Joseph Dipko, Jr. in 1930 (Joe Jr would be about a year old).
My First Cousin Once Removed
One of my more recent matches was a first cousin once removed on my maternal side of my family. My mother always had happy memories of “her” parents, which her mom was the youngest sister of my grandfather, Harold Fairhurst.
When she came up as a match, it took me a few weeks to summon the courage to message her. I’m not sure why as she is quite lovely. She even supplied me a photo of my great-grandmother, Phoebe Boone, which was just tremendous as I had no idea what she looked like. My mom had no photos and my aunt (my mom’s youngest sister) only recalled ever seeing her in her coffin (I believe my aunt was only about 8 when Phoebe passed away in 1962).
I have attempted to keep the lines of communication open with her as I want to be able to keep our families in touch.
Phoebe Boone
My Second Cousin Once Removed
I’ve actually discussed each lady as I have come into contact with them. My last cousin I saw her for some time listed amongst my DNA matches on Ancestry and then I attended RootsTech and there she was again, on my list of family members that they had. FamilySearch expanded their “relatives around you” feature and let you see the relatives that you are most likely related too (assuming the one big tree was accurate) that were attending RootsTech.
And there she was, my DNA match (she had the same nickname on FamilySearch as she does on Ancestry) and I decided to contact her at once. And I am so happy I did because we have gone back and forth first via FamilySearch messenger and now we are Facebook friends.
My message to my DNA Match – my 2nd Cousin 1x Removed
I am so happy that I sent that message and hope to learn more about her (she was very nice and gave me all the information on her family for my software this evening, too! Yay!).
We are related on my Boone side. Her grandfather, Isaiah Boone was the older brother of Phoebe (they are back to back siblings), and he died in a mine explosion at Wolf Run, Ohio, in 1935.
Why Reach Out?
You obviously can’t befriend every DNA match on your list, but there are so many things you can learn by taking a moment and reaching out and learning more about other parts of your family.
Two of the matches I referred to I’ll admit I know nothing about that side of my family. I was always dumbfounded when my mother told me that she thought she had only met her paternal grandparents at most 5 times her whole life, which leads to the lack of information on two branches of my tree. That made me so sad (not the lack of information, though that is sad, but that she never knew anything about an entire side of her family).
Granted, I discuss my Grandma Blair (Anna Maria Morgart) more than my Grandma Metzger (Alberta Lou Fleming) simply because Grandma Blair was always there (my dad was an only child so Grandma Blair went everywhere with us). Grandma Metzger had moved to Florida when I was 3 or 4 years old and stayed living there until I was in high school.
But it is so easy for families to become estranged, maybe DNA will be able to bring families closer together. I know I will do my very best to try and bridge the gaps.
Great. That is this week’s prompt for Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. I’ve learned to go with my gut when writing for the weekly topics and I’m not going to stray (that probably wouldn’t be so “great”), and the first thing that popped into my head was going into my genealogy program and finding out my furthest back direct relative, and that happens to be my seventh-great-grandparents on my maternal side, Lt. David Ryther and Martha Shattuck.
Oddly enough in trying to find a bit more information on my 7x-great-grandparents, their house is still standing! It was just sold a few years back but here is a photo I found on the “Captivating Houses” website. If you decide to peruse through the photos of the home and its property, my favorite part was the mentioning of the addition that was built in 1800.
Lt David Ryther & Martha Shattuck’s home built in 1745. Photo from Captiv
David was also one of the people who helped found Bernardston, Massachusetts. I found this pretty cool and see a visit to the town in my future.
Relatives That Get Me to My 7th Great Grandparents
Obviously it takes several people to get you back in time to my 7th-Great-Grandparents (however, if I go by FamilySearch.org and the big tree, I could technically go back farther, but these are not verified relatives) and I will go through them going from me to David and Martha.
My Mom
The first stop (well, after myself) is my mom, Cynthia Anne Fairhurst. She was born 22 December 1947 and passed away 28 May 2018. As I told in a post two weeks ago, she was the oldest in her family, went to school to be an LPN at age 40 and loved being a scrapbooking grandma.
Cynthia Anne Fairhurst – she liked this picture.
My Grandma
My Grandma was Alberta Lou Fleming, mother of 5, outstanding bowler and lover of big band music. She had the sharpest wit of anyone I knew, so much so that if I had one trait I could have wished from her it would have been her clever comebacks. Alberta was born on 2 October 1929 and passed away on 24 July 2006.
Alberta Lou Fleming on V-J Day
My Great-Grandma
Are you noticing a trend? Don’t worry – there are two more ladies to go and we finally hit a male! My Great-Grandma was Mildred Laura Dunbar and she was born on 15 March 1908. I’ve written about her as well. Mildred was a modern woman her entire life, initially being employed as a stenographer, but later branching out into other administrative roles. She was a mom to a daughter and 2-sons and I loved her taste in jewelry as I inherited many pieces of her collection to play with for dress-up (and her shoes as she had small feet!). She passed away on 8 Jan 1982.
Mildred Laura Dunbar, my favorite photo of her since I was a little girl
My Great-Great-Grandma
If you have frequently read my blog you will be familiar with Mazie Lorenia Warner as for some reason, she is my favorite relative I have learned about while doing my genealogy. I find her to be so strong and so beautiful. Mazie was born on 21 July 1877. She had 3-daughters and a son with her first husband, Arthur James Dunbar, who died in 1912 from Polio. She re-married Samuel Randol with whom she had a son who passed away when he was just a few months old (her son with Arthur died from bronchitis before he was a year old). Samuel and Mazie moved to Akron in 1916 where they settled and made their home. She passed away on 19 May 1945.
Mazie Lorenia Warner, not sure when it was taken but will never forget the day I had a face to go with the name (and my bangs curl the same every which way just like hers)
My Great-Great-Great-Grandfather
Finally a boy! Winfield Scott Warner was born on 14 Apr 1847 and passed away on 21 Mar 1899. He was a farmer who left his fields to fight in the Civil War. He was married at the age of 22 and had 4-daughters (Mazie was the oldest).
My Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather
Oliver Charles Warner was the father of Winfield and was born in Franklin, Norfolk, Massachusetts in 1809 and passed away 21 Dec 1878 in Potter County, Pennsylvania. Oliver was the relative who moved this portion of my family “west” (though he may have come with his father, Joel, still trying to determine that). He was a lumberman, was married 3-times but seems to have only had children with his first wife, Mary A. Jones.
As the photo says, Oliver Charles Warner, it is a photo I found on Ancestry.com
My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather
Joel Warner was the father of Oliver and also was born in Massachusetts but moved to Potter County, Pennsylvania before his days were over. He was born on 19 Jun 1773 and passed away on 5 May 1854. He was married twice and had 3 children with each wife. Oliver was the youngest child with his first wife, Thankful Chapin. He had a second wife, Rebecca Putnam and they had 3 children as well.
My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandmother
Hannah Ryther was born 10 May 1746, the oldest of her parents children, and married Ichabod Warner on 7 Jan 1766. She had 7-children (Joel being the 4th-oldest). She passed away 6 Aug 1815 in Bernardston, Franklin, Massachusetts.
Finally We Make It to David & Martha
Seven generations back – that’s a long time ago. Lieutenant David Ryther (though sometimes seen as Rider/Ryder due to religious persecution that was common around this time) was born 15 Aug 1719 in Sherborn, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Martha Shattuck was born 2 Apr 1725 in Northfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts. They were married in 1745 and their oldest daughter was born a year later. While Martha raised their 11 children, David fought first in the French & Indian War and later, at the ripe old age of 60, in the American Revolution. Martha passed away 12 Nov 1802 while David died less than 2 years later on 6 Jun 1804.
I enjoyed learning about my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents, and look forward to learning more about them. I didn’t delve into Martha as much as I would have liked, but I’m sure that’s another story for another day. For a man who seemed to stand-out, my guess is that Martha had to be special to stand-out to him.
The theme for Week 13 of Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Week’s is Music. I know I myself absolutely love music – all kinds from pop music, classic rock, alternative, classical, Broadway tunes, and due to my son being in a volunteer band while learning to play the trumpet in school, I’m evening expanding into jazz.
But when I think of my relatives and music, both of my grandmother’s come to mind and below you will read about these special ladies and their love of music.
Alberta Lou Fleming
My maternal grandmother, Alberta Lou Fleming, loved music. She was one of those people who loved to dance and listen to the big band music of the 1940’s. When chatting with my Aunt she was able to tell me how when she was growing up, every Sunday they (Alberta, and her children) would go over to their grandma’s (Mildred Laura Dunbar) for dinner and they would put on the big band music and sing their heart’s out and dance. That must have been something to see in her living room.
Alberta Lou Fleming, New Year’s Eve at her friend, Margie’s, house (I love how she is all dressed up to dance and party, just wish the photo hadn’t looked like it had partied too)
I know my Grandma’s (Alberta) favorite song was “In the Mood”. I can’t say that I blame her, when I hear songs from that era, it is one of the ones that really gets my toes tapping as well. I can imagine it would be hard to not get up and dance.
The apple didn’t fall far from the tree when it came to a love of music. My Aunt, who would have been 72 years old today (April 2), loved music as well. Her younger sister told me that her favorite was music by the Beetles. Here is a photo of my Aunt Teri (she changed the spelling over the years) from her High School Yearbook – she was always so fashionable and I love this photo.
Can’t you just see her dancing? Photo from the Cuyahoga Falls High School Yearbook
Though I was unable to confirm it, I thought I remembered my mother telling me how she had bought my aunt a life size doll to dance with. I asked my other aunt (my mom and aunt Teri’s younger sister) and my own sister, but neither remember. Initially I wasn’t going to add it, but it seems to me I wouldn’t have ever thought to make something like this up, but I like what my aunt also said, it totally sounded like something my mom would have done. So if she didn’t, I’m sure she must have thought about it.
Anna Maria Morgart
My Grandma Blair (as I know her) loved to hum. It didn’t matter what she was doing, she hummed. When she did dishes. When she crocheted. She could be sitting in a chair and daydreaming and she would hum. Even when I called her on the phone and there was that slight lull in the coversation.
She would also listen to her radio to church music and the like as well. But when I think of her I think of her humming. And there are times now that I am older when I am doing something and I don’t have music on, I hum too. (Just to add, today, April 2, would have been my Grandma’s 107th birthday).
Grandma Blair (aka Anna Maria Morgart). Not necessarily a moment when she was humming, but it is a photo that makes me smile (I believe she had finished dishes and was flinging water at us with her fingers). Not sure when this was taken, but it was in the mid-late 1980’s in her kitchen)
To me nothing brings back memories better than music. Often a song will come on the radio and it’s as if I am going through all the emotions of the that moment as if it just happened. No other sense is as powerful for me. So when I hear “In the Mood” I think of my Grandma Metzger (aka Alberta Lou Fleming) and how she made me laugh with her fabulous sense of humor that I wish I had, or when I find myself humming in a room by myself, I smile as I know wonderful people before me did the same.
Helping History Come Alive 