Writers suffer from writer’s block and I’m convinced that genealogists suffer from something called ancestry block … that moment when you think the branches and leaves on your family tree are so many that you can’t decide which branch to research next! Okay, I just made that up … but I suffer from this pretty…
My Grandma Raines’ grandparents, Jake and Anna Mueller, were married on October 29, 1895 in Ava, Illinois. This wedding photo was nestled in a box of family portraits that Grandma kept on a shelf above her washing machine … a likely place for family photos, eh? Jake is the grandson of Jacob Heinrich…
When I was a little girl, my bedroom door was right across from the “family portrait” section of the hallway. Portraits of my dad’s grandparents, great grandparents and an as of yet unnamed female (presumably a 2nd great grandmother) hung there. My bed was, unfortunately for me, positioned so I could stare back at the…
Easter is around the corner … literally. Now, I’m an only child, but I’m fortunate to have women in my life who are close enough they might as well be sisters … my friends Stephanie and Amber are certainly among the handful! So, Aunt Stephanie and Aunt Amber came over Wednesday night to help me…
Piecing together family history from 18th and 19th century published genealogies is like putting together a puzzle with frayed pieces … nothing fits quite as perfectly as you’d like. It seems, at least, that the Lindsay Clan was established well enough in Scotland to merit some record keeping. There are variety of books and publications…
My Grandpa Raines always took care to place flags on grave sites of his veteran ancestors … my mom would handle flowers for the rest. Grandpa’s people are buried in Boucher Cemetery in Murphysboro, Illinois … his mom, grandparents and many of his siblings. He would always visit on Memorial Day weekend ……
My Grandma Raines kept all of the Schuster family photos in a box marked “trophies” on the top shelf of the linen closet. She would often get it out and show me photos of long lost relatives that were completely foreign to me. To her, however, they were memories of childhood and stories of the past….
I have spent the better part of the evening deciphering my Lindsey heraldry. Okay, it was actually only one family, quite a distance from any royal line, but I had names and birth and death dates completely out of joint and it was driving me nutty. So, like any good family historian, I pulled the…
It’s Friday! We’ve been drenched for 3 days here. Between snow and rain, I’m ready for a warm weekend to clean my backyard and get ready for summer BBQs. In my preparation, I’ve been searching for great party food. Here’s what I found! Green Beans that Noodle will eat! I have a picky little eater…
It’s Throwback Thursday, and that means it’s time for me to showcase another favorite family photo. I have many portraits of ancestors, but very few snapshots … I like the more candid moments because they tell such a story that portraits really can’t. This is a photo of my 2nd great grandfather, Winfield Scott Douglas…
Last week, I quietly looked toward the sky and wished my Grandpa Raines a happy birthday. Yesterday, I looked the same direction and wished my grandparents a happy 74th wedding anniversary. I seemed only fitting that this week’s 52 Ancestors post be about my grandmother, Doris Louise Schuster. Grandma was born on July 23, 1923…
I only remember Mom making sauerkraut a few times when I was growing up. We loved to eat it, but we didn’t love to smell it every time we walked through the kitchen! Mom used to talk about the “old German women” on her street when she was a kid (old was probably my age…
This has been a bit of a rough week for Noodle … and Mom, here, always runs toward comfort food for dinner on those really bad days. Enter, tuna casserole. We all define comfort food differently. For me, it’s food that I remember from childhood. It’s not fancy. It’s not even always pretty. It is,…
This has not been a good winter here in southern Illinois. It snowed about 12 times, which is 11 more times than our normal winter and 11 more times than I was interested in! I’m not a winter person. I like spring … I like fresh herbs and produce and berries in the summertime. I’ve…
I love the Throwback Thursday (#TBT) trend on Facebook. Seeing photos of my friends when they were tiny tots or in high school often makes me giggle. I’ve decided to put a family history spin on #TBT and share some of my favorite photos. Photos always tell a story, even if we only read things…
One of my favorite things about researching my family history is finding little nuggets of information somewhere unexpected. This afternoon, I found a few nuggets about my dad’s grandma, Agnes Moore. Until tonight, I didn’t know much about her. She wasn’t the topic of conversation in our house … I vaguely recall Daddy talking about…
Is it Friday already?! This week flew by! I am so thankful that we didn’t have any snow this week (except Sunday) and it has been warmer and sunnier! Here’s a few of my food finds for the week. Enjoy! What’s under that kilt? I’ve been trying to catch up on a little reading this…
Today is my grandpa’s birthday. Today is the anniversary of the 1925 Tri-State Tornado. One single event that happened on the 6th birthday of a little boy shaped the man we called JR. James L. Raines Grandpa was born on March 18, 1919 to Phoebe (Douglas, 1880-1932) and James Albert Raines (1877-1957) in Murphysboro, Illinois. He was…
In honor of my Scotch-Irish roots … and, of course, St. Patrick’s Day, I popped out of bed this morning and made oatmeal scones for breakfast. Okay, I didn’t exactly pop out of anywhere. It was more like a slow drag. I’m not a morning person! I am, however, an oat person … love them…
Sometimes the smallest of things turn out to be the most remembered traditions. When I was growing up, one of the things my dad and I shared a love for was movies. We liked the same kinds … or maybe he just pretended to like my movies! We’d stay up to the wee hours…
I love cooking and wouldn’t trade my modern conveniences for anything, but I’ve always been fascinated at how we have cooked throughout history. This is rather obvious when you look at my cookbook collection … I have as many heritage cookbooks as modern; I think reading about historic cooking methods serves as a great way…
It’s been a full week of reading and researching, and I’ve come across a few blogs and other food-related sites that I’ve shared below. Enjoy lurking and linking … and eating! Food Blogs Over 300 Cookbooks – Join Kerrie as she explores her enormous cookbook collection! Of course, I would be drawn to the German…
Over 900,000 German men, women and children immigrated to the United States between 1845 and 1855. My 3rd great-grandfather, Philip Friederich Schuster was one of them. Philip was 13 years old when he arrived in New Orleans with his parents and younger sister. Philip Friederich Schuster was born on September 16, 1838 in Hassloch, Germany…
At the end of the hallway at my parent’s house hang portraits of my dad’s great-grandmother, Isabelle LeMaitre, and her 2nd husband, Walter Seaver. Notice I didn’t say my dad’s great-grandparents. Walter, although loved by Isabelle, wasn’t our blood relation. Of her three husbands, she loved him best. My dad’s great-grandfather, Charles Daniel Essler, was…