Archive for the ‘Today’s Memories’ Category

Just this week I clicked on a Facebook link that took me to Tami Koenig’s  “Your Story Coach” blog and the “7 Photo Memories to Capture Now” and I had an “Aha, I should be doing this moment!”

Actually, to be honest, I had an “Aha, I should have already been doing this moment.”

Quite some time back, I attended a scrapbooking workshop, and the instructor advised us to take photos of the inside of our home.

Take photos, she suggested, of each part of each room, including the wall hangings, the way the furniture is arranged, and, well, just everything, including one thing I never would have dreamed of doing, the views out each window, because as Tami Koenig reminds us in her blog post above, things change.

And sometimes, things change unexpectedly, such as when an earthquake occurs, a tornado hits, a flood damages, or a fire destroys.

So, the best time, as Tami says, to take those photos, is now, today.

And many years ago, when I first heard that instructor’s advice to take a photo of the view out each window, it was already too late.  A house fire had destroyed the home that I grew up in, and that window of opportunity was already gone!

For more ideas on other photos you might want to capture now, tuck a camera in your purse, read Tami’s  “7 Photo Memories to Capture Now” blog post, and head out the door.

by Sherry Stocking Kline
27 April 2010

Here is a tombstone for a family member on my husband’s side, and I’ve been having a great deal of  fun lately trying to put the puzzle pieces together, and honestly, trying very hard to just shove some of those pieces in place and make them fit!  I knew they had to, I just didn’t know how.

Guy Wood Tombstone - Milan Cemetery, Milan, Sumner County, Kansas

On the Stone:

Guy L. Wood
Apr 16, 1891
Oct 11, 1947

Located in the Milan Cemetery,  just about 15 miles west of Wellington, Kansas (and a couple of miles west of Milan) on Highway 160.

But the pieces just wouldn’t fit, no matter how hard I tried.  And then one day, someone said “a Wood married a Wood” and it all fell into place.

Now what are the odds that a Wood family would live a mile away from another Wood family, that they would NOT be related (for at least two generations back), they would originate from totally different Eastern states, and that they had several children with the same name?

Thanks to helpful family hints from a cousin, research I’ve done, and the records that I’ve found at the Sumner County History & Genealogy Center in Wellington, I’ve added some good branches to this tree, and firmed up some of the other connections.  More to come!

by Sherry Stocking Kline
26 April 2010

Last week I wrote the exciting news that during a short conversation with my dad’s sister I learned that my great-grandfather had not died in Sumner County as I believed, but in Emporia, Lyon County, Kansas.  A quick call to the Emporia State Library, Emporia, Kansas on Saturday and and early Monday morning e-mail to the genealogy librarian and by mid-afternoon, the scanned image of my Great-Grandfather Thomas J. (I think it stands for Jefferson, but I haven’t seen that on official documents yet!) McGinnis’ obituary, and burial info was in my e-mail inbox!

Thank you, Ms. Sundberg!

Woo Hoo!  Monday Happy Dances are always awesome!  I learned a lot of great info, but the one thing I wanted to learn wasn’t in his obituary.

Who Were His Parents?

I did learn the exact address of where he lived when he passed, that his funeral was in his home rather than the church, even though the obituary mentioned him being a faithful worker in the Methodist Church, and I learned that his body was brought by Santa Fe Train No. 13 to Sumner County, where he was buried in the Osborn Cemetery, Mayfield, Sumner County, Kansas. (I did know where he was buried, and have photographs of his stone.) But the obituary did not mention Thomas’ parents. So far, no death records have been located, and Thomas passed away TWO months before Kansas’ State-wide death records were mandatory.

Here is Thomas J. McGinnis Obituary Transcript – Emporia Gazette May 12, 1911

T. J. McGinnis Dead

T. J. McGinnis died this morning at 5:45 at the family home, 1309 State Street.  He had been sick with a complication of diseases since last July.  He was born in Westville, Ohio, August 17, 1842, where he grew to manhood and taught in country schools for a few years before going to Illinois, where he continued to teach school.

He was married near Springfield, Ill to Miss Maggie E. Carson (my note: should be Corson), and lived there until 1886, when the family moved to Kansas, locating first in Barbour County. (this may actually be Bourbon County)

He taught in several of the high schools in the southern part of Kansas before coming to Morris County, from which place the family moved to Emporia four years ago.  Mr. McGinnis’s failing health preventing from further work.

He was a man of exceptionally strong personality, and many lives have been made stronger by his uplighting influence in the class room.  As a young man he served a short time in the Civil War before leaving his native state.  He was a member of the Masonic lodge and of the A.O.U.W., and was for years as active and efficient worker in the Methodist Church.

Besides his wife he leaves five children.  They are Charles E. McGinnis, an attorney to Pueblo, Colo..   Eugene McGinnis of Ford County, Kansas; Virgil McGinnis, of Pueblo, Colo; Mrs. Maud Stocking, of Mayfield, Kan.; and Miss Ethel, who lives at home.
No definite arrangements have been made for the funeral, but the body will be taken to Mayfield for interment.  The funeral arrangements will be announced later.

Notes:

Maud Stocking was my grandmother, and she used to tell me wonderful stories about my father’s childhood.  I wish someone had told me that by the time I was thirty, those memories would fade like a quilt beyond repair…

Miss Ethel a.k.a. Myrta Ethel, became Dr. Myrta Ethel McGinnis, and taught at Ft. Hays University in Western Kansas, and later at a small college in Pennsylvania.
I don’t recall meeting Gene, Charles, or Virgil.

Thomas J. McGinnis Funeral Information Transcription
13 May 1911 Emporia Gazette

The McGinnis Funeral Tomorrow

The funeral services of T. J. McGinnis will be held at the home, 1809 State Street, at 10 o’clock, sharp, tomorrow morning.  The services will be conducted by Rev. H. W. Hargett, of the First Methodist Church.

Thomas J. McGinnis
15 May 1911 Emporia Gazette

The McGinnis Funeral

The funeral of  T. J. McGinnis was held yesterday morning at 10 o’clock from the home on State Street.  The services were conducted by Reverend Henry W. Hargett, of the First Methodist Church, of which church Mr. McGinnis was a most faithful member.  The floral offerings were abundant and showed the wide circle of friends Mr. McGinnis had made during his few years of residence in Emporia.  The pall-bearers were D. A. Dryer, H. A. Tibbals, J. W. Shawgo, Newberry, William Jay and T. O. Stephenson. 

The body was taken on Santa Fe train No. 13 to Mayfield, Kansas, where the interment was made today.

18 May 1911 – Emporia Weekly Gazette

The funeral of T. J. McGinnis was held yesterday morning at 10 o’clock from the home on State Street.  The services were conducted by Reverend Henry W. Hargett, of the First Methodist Church, of which church Mr. McGinnis was a most faithful member.  The floral offereings were abundant and showed the wide circle of friends Mr. McGinnis had made during his few years of residence in Emporia.  The pall-bearers were D. A. Dryer, H. A. Tibbals, J. W. Shawgo, Newberry, William Jay and T. O. Stephenson. 

The body was taken on Santa Fe train No. 13 to Mayfield, Kansas, where the interment was made today.

Related Posts:

52 Weeks to a Better Genealogy – Letter to the Emporia State Library, Emporia, Kansas

Margaret (Corson) McGinnis (Thomas’ widow) on Her 100th Birthday!

by Sherry Stocking Kline
February 23, 2010

When I snapped the photo of this stone in the Caney Fork Cemetery at Temple Hill I knew from our KY cousins that they were part of our family, but we didn’t get into just how, and census research this week along with other previous research has shown exactly how he ties into the family.

039 - James L. & Nancy J. Hawley - Caney Fork Cemetery, Barren Co, KY

On The Stone:

HAWLEY
James L
24 June 1850
09 January 1929

Nancy J.
09 March 1849
03 August 1925

James is the son of John and Mary (Whaley) Hawley, and John is my great-great grandmother Virginia (Hawley) Smith’s brother.

John and Virginia Hawley are the children of James Hawley.  James was  born 11 AUG 1781 in Stafford County, Virginia, and died about 1842 in Falls Creek, Sullivan County, Tennessee.

Nancy J., James L. Smith’s wife  may also be a part of our Smith family.  Her father’s name was W. W. Bell, and her mother was Margaret Smith, but digging into Margaret’s family will have to wait for another day!

What fun it is to put together the puzzle pieces, then double check and make sure they ‘fit’ where I’ve placed them!

by Sherry Stocking Kline
18 April 2010

The following excerpt is taken from the NASA.gov website as the astronauts gear up to land Monday morning!

Shuttle Crew Prepares for Monday Landing

Preparations for landing take center stage Sunday as the seven astronauts on space shuttle Discovery wrap up a 10-day stay at the International Space Station that included three spacewalks and delivery of more than seven tons of equipment and supplies.

Commander Alan G. Poindexter, Pilot James P. Dutton Jr. and Mission Specialists Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Rick Mastracchio, Stephanie Wilson, Clayton Anderson and Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki are scheduled to land their spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center at 8:48 a.m. EDT Monday.

And we appreciate your prayers for their safe landing tomorrow!

Other Related Posts:

Follow the Astronauts & Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger on Facebook

What’s Going Up in Space with Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger

April 5th ABC News Launch Video

Astronaut Cousin Makes History Today!

by Sherry Stocking Kline
17 April 2010

Look, Ma, No Hands! Dorothy Metcalf Lindenburger

The above photograph was posted on the STS 131 NASA Facebook page.  Become a Fan Here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Houston-TX/NASA-Fit-Explorer/79062778725 and you can see all the latest Facebook posts and photographs, some uploaded before launch and some since.

What fun it is to watch and see what’s going on, and think about the work that goes into becoming prepared to make this trip.  Just think about all the advancements and inventions that have come about because of the space exploration.  If I remember right, even the ubiquitous velcro came about because something was needed to keep things from floating off.

I’m not sure I understand the ramifications of the new billion dollar space program at all, but I do understand that Dottie’s team is one of the last that will be going ‘up’ with our own launches.  I’ve not watched enough television to know for sure, but think I heard someone saying on the country radio news station that I listen to that we will be paying another country to take our astronauts into space.  What a change!

Here is the NASA website http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts131/index.html where you can read more about the mission and it’s payload!  Dottie told me via Facebook e-mail that she would be working with the robotic arm that will move the 18,000 pound cargo onto the space station.

Wouldn’t you just love to be a mouse in the corner when they all get back to Earth!

Other Related Posts:

What’s Going Up in Space with Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger

April 5th ABC News Launch Video

Astronaut Cousin Makes History Today!

by Sherry Stocking Kline
10 April 2010

Here is this week’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun Challenge from Randy Seaver!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1) Tell us: Which ancestor or relative do you readily identify with? Which one do you admire? Which one are you most like, or wish that you were most like? Which one would you really like to sit down and have a heart-to-heart conversation with?

2) Write your response in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook note or response to this post, or in a comment on this post.

Oh my, which ancestor or relative do I most identify with?  I think my ancestors, especially the women, were brave and courageous, so in some ways I wish I were more like them.  My great-grandmother Frances Hitchcock Stocking picked up her life, packed up their belongings, and followed the man she loved, Roderick Remine Stocking, here to Kansas, a flat prairie with tall grass and no trees for firewood (read they used buffalo chips to heat their homestead with) or they drove their wagon about 15 miles south into Oklahoma’s Indian Territory (which was illegal, mind you) to pick up firewood.  They also lived within a few miles of the Chisholm Trail, and those who still traveled up and down it, even after the cattle drives ended.

And then there is my other great-grandmother on my mother’s side, Salinda Rose Breneman, who lived out on the prairie in Nebraska, where Indians might (and did) poke their heads in the window wanting food.  And Indians wouldn’t have been their only danger.  They would have lived in fear of prairie fires as well as rattle snakes, and her children, even at a young age, were sent out on horseback, sometimes with their lunch in a pail to herd the cattle, often being out of site of the homestead for the whole day.

Could I do what they did?  I don’t think so.

Who would I most want to sit down with?  My great-great grandmother, Elizabeth Laird Jones Crabb!

I would ask her what her first husband’s name was and thereby break down that brick wall!  I would learn first-hand from her what her husband died from (or if they were divorced!) and I would ask her what brought them here to Kansas, and did they miss their home state of Kentucky and their daughter who stayed there?

And maybe I would just ask them how they ‘managed?’  How did they cope with the hardships, water that came from a well and wasn’t the clear liquid that we’re used to today, growing and canning and preserving much of their food, and sewing many of their clothes?

And particularly, where did they find the courage to go on when they had to bury their young children because their lives were cut short from disease and farm accidents?

So many questions that I would ask these courageous women!

by Sherry Stocking Kline
07 April 2010

I had no idea that so much ‘stuff’ went up into space with the astronauts, but I can see what kind of impact it can have on the students of a school!  What a great idea!

You can read the story here: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/behindscenes/whatsgoingup131.html and then check out the podcast here.

The news just said that the Discovery was able to dock with the Space Station, though they had some problems with an antenna, and would be having their first space walk soon.

Dottie told me in an e-mail on Facebook that she would not be walking, but would be directing the robotic arm that would be moving 18,000 pounds of equipment.  That’s a pretty big load!  (I’m used to thinking in terms of a wheat truck load,  and this is many times that!)

Here is some of the NASA info on the mission:

Mission: STS-131
Space Shuttle: Discovery
Primary Payload: Leonardo multi-purpose logistics module
Launch Date: April 5, 2010
Launch Time: 6:21 a.m. EDT
Launch Pad: 39A
Landing: April 18, 2010
Landing Time: 8:29 a.m. EDT
Landing Site: Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
Mission Duration: 13 days
Inclination/Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles

You can read today’s Space Shuttle news here.

Our whole family is very proud of Dottie, and we appreciate your interest and your prayers for her safety!

Other Related Posts:

Follow the Astronauts on Facebook

April 5th ABC News Launch Video

Astronaut Cousin Makes History Today!

by Sherry Stocking Kline
06 April 2010

This week’s Tombstone Tuesday is my Mom’s Great-Aunt Bettie Crabb.

Bettie Crabb's Stone - Glasgow Cemetery, Barren County, Kentucky

On The Stone:

Bettie Crabb
Oct 15, 1866
Oct 31, 1932

What you can’t see in the photograph here is that Bettie is buried next to her father, J. R. U. Crabb who died 11 years before she did.  (Bettie never married.)

For a few years, J. R. U. and Bettie’s mother, Elizabeth Laird Jones Crabb lived on a farm in Sumner County, Kansas, just east of Milan, Kansas.

Bettie’s mother Elizabeth, died and is buried there, far away in the Milan Cemetery, Sumner County, Kansas.  You can see her tombstone here.

Sometime after Elizabeth died, J. R. U. and Bettie returned to Glasgow, Barren County, Kentucky, to be near Bettie’s sister, Sally Crabb Mayfield, wife of George. Sally and George are buried in the Glasgow Cemetery, Glasgow, Kentucky, also.

The photograph below shows Bettie and J. R. U.’s  place in the cemetery next to each other:

L - R: Bettie Crabb and father J. R. U. Crabb Stone - Glasgow Cemetery, Barren County, Kentucky

Our new-found cousins, Dennis and Nancy (Bertram) Bush who so kindly showed us around Barren County, told us that just a couple of years earlier, some man picked this spot, and this tree, to hang himself…  Gave me shivers then.  (Still does.)

Related Posts (also included in the Text):

J. R. U. Crabb’s Tombstone

Elizabeth Laird Jones Crabb Tombstone

Milan Cemetery Listings, Milan, Sumner County, Kansas

by Sherry Stocking Kline
06 April 2010

Thanks to so many who have sent e-mails and left comments.  I hadn’t thought to keep updating this site on Dottie, but I thank you for those suggestions, and I will do that!

It is amazing to think that as I tuck into bed with night-time prayers, sit here at the computer, do everyday stuff, that Dottie and her fellow astronauts are far above the earth circling us and working.  Hard to imagine!

Here is a link to a nice article from ABC News about Dottie, “Discovery Teacher Breaks the Mold” and a short lift-off video that they call “the picture perfect” lift off!  For those of us who remember when  the lift off ended quickly with an explosion, “picture perfect” are great words!

You can see the latest news about the STS-131 mission here at the NASA.gov website, as well as an awesome lift-off photograph taken by NASA personnel.

And you can see more great STS-131 Mission Photographs here!

Here you can see a great photograph of the space station, and read about what the mission will be doing, how many space walks it will do, etc.  Dottie told me what her job will be, and you can read about that in my first post here.

God Bless, Dottie!

Other Related Posts:

Follow the STS-131 Astronauts on Facebook

What’s Going Up in Space with Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger

Astronaut Cousin Makes History Today!