Monday, May 29, 2023

Find A Grave

 Finding the Graves of Our Ancestors

Today, May 29th, is Memorial Day.  In addition to honoring our fallen Military, many observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries to leave flowers for loved ones who have passed on.  Memorial Day is also the perfect time to reconnect with your family heritage by visiting the graves of your ancestors.  Although, it may not be possible to visit all the graves of your ancestors in person, you can visit virtually thanks to sites such as  FindAGrave  or BillionGraves.  And, it is also possible to leave a flower🌼 or message🗉 on your ancestors' memorial page.  

Bethel Cemetery, Ohio

Much of my time researching family history has been spent searching, locating, and visiting the gravesites of my ancestors. I have visited cemeteries from Massachusetts in the east to Utah in the west, from Wisconsin in the north to Texas in the south, and many states in-between.  Have also visited cemeteries in Denmark, Wales, Scotland, and England.  While most gravesites are found in town, community, or church graveyards, some gravesites are in small private family cemeteries found in the middle of a field or in a grove of trees.  Click here to read about finding John McNeil's grave.  

Finding McNeil Cemetery 2009

Word of caution -- information posted on Find A Grave is user submitted, sometimes wrong, and is not a primary source except for showing a place of burial.  While I have found mistakes on Find A Grave, I have also found a lot of valuable  information that could not be found find elsewhere.  Read about how Find A Grave solved a mystery about an unidentified photo, click here

Below are links to the Find A Grave memorial pages for many of our ancestors.   May I suggest visiting a few of your ancestors' memorial pages and leaving a flower and/or message.🌻🌹🌼

Grandparents

Great-Grandparents 

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Sunday, May 28, 2023

Memorial Day Observance

 Memorial Day 2023

Memorial Day is a U.S. national holiday that honors our country's military who died in service.  Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, was started in 1868 to remember the soldiers who died in the Civil War, and eventually became an official federal holiday in 1971.  Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday of May -- This year Memorial Day is on May 29, 2023.  Activities might include visiting the graves of veterans and soldiers to leave flowers or flags.  Or, participate in our National Moment of Remembrance by observing a moment of silence at 3:00 pm on Memorial Day. 

A Grateful Land Remembers

Below are links to lists of family veterans: 


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Sunday, May 14, 2023

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day🌸 

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mother's in our family.  Those in our family owe much to all the mothers who came before us.  Below are photos of some of these amazing women -- grandmothers, great-grandmothers, 2nd great-grandmother, etc.  They were the very heart and soul of their families.  They settled new lands, traveled in wagons, gave birth at home, sang lullabies to their babies, sewed all their clothes, cooked over campfires and wood stoves, washed clothes on a washboard, grew gardens, made bread, preserved their own food,  taught their children to believe in God, buried children and husbands, had faith to carry on, and most of all they loved their families.  We would not be here without their love, strength, and courage.

To read about each of them, click here.



The slogan of the Mother's Day International association is:

"In honor of  'the best mother who ever lived' -- The Mother of Your Heart."

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Friday, May 12, 2023

Stagecoach Driver

 Joseph West, Stagecoach Driver

Stagecoach 1830, loc.gov

Joseph Jackson West was born September 22, 1819 in Mason County, Kentucky.  His parents were Michael West and Susannah McKee.  Joseph was the brother of our direct ancestor, Susan Emeline Leffel.  Read about the West family here.

Joseph grew up in Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana.  On May 23, 1842, he married Hulda Dunkle in Montgomery County, Indiana.  Joseph and Hulda were the parents of seven children: Adeline, Martha, John, Barbara, Joseph, Thomas, and Mary.  Hulda died in 1894.  Joseph married again a year later to Josephine Blackburn.  On 27 June 1904, Joseph, died at his home in Linden, Indiana.  He was 84 years old at the time of his death.  An obituary was placed in the Attica Daily Ledger on 28 June 1904.

According to the obituary, "Mr. West was an Indiana pioneer and in his earlier days drove a stage coach between Crawfordsville and Lafayette.  He was a man of excellent character and was considered one of the best and most trusted stage drivers in the country, and during the days of overland travel passengers would wait over for many days to ride with him, knowing him to be a man who did not drink, and they felt themselves perfectly safe in his care." 

Stage Coach Driver Is Dead

Attica Daily Ledger, Attica, Indiana
28 June 1904




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