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…
I love pork! I really don’t have to say much more than that! One of my favorite weekend dinners is roasted pork loin. It is easy and can stretch it into several weeknight meals … unless you have your cousin, daughter and 4 other men at the dinner table like I did! Two of them…
Every genealogist has hit a brick wall … that moment when your family tree suddenly quits branching. You can’t get anywhere because there are no more records, no more proof, and NO CLOSURE! It’s painful. It leaves you wanting. The parents of my 2nd great grandpa, Winfield Scott Douglas … Scott … (1847-1913) have proven…
My German grandmother made them … and my mom made them … and I can’t even remember when I first ate these German Inspired French green beans. Yep, you read that right! They’re multi-cultural! Honestly, I’m not entirely sure if a can of “French Green Beans” is really the long thin variety or our American…
This is SO true! I think about this quote every time I get and email from Ancestry telling me I have more leaves to turn over!
I’m not sure when I decided I would name my daughter Phoebe … it was certainly LONG before she was even a twinkle in anyone’s eye. By all accounts, Phoebe Douglas was a strong and strong-willed woman and I wanted my daughter to embody that spirit. It seemed fitting she would embody the name, too….
My mom and I frequent the antique stores in Murphysboro, Illinois. We’re almost never looking for anything specific … but almost always find something interesting. On our most recent trek, I found a 1946 edition of The Joy of Cooking that seemed to call to me from the bookshelf. Have you ever had that feeling?…