Archive for the ‘My Memories’ Category
Music Monday – “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” in Sign Language
by Sherry Stocking Kline
December 4th, 201
I found this on the ‘net and thought that I sure needed to post a “Music Monday” even if I was several days late!
Recently, we were singing along to “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” and to my surprise, my little granddaughter began signing along with the words.
I didn’t know that she knew any sign language, and somehow, it made the song even more moving, so we’re going to try to brush up on a couple more songs before we go caroling with our church group in a couple of weeks.
We always leave the nursing homes and homes with “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” (and because there aren’t many different words!) this one will be a great one to learn!
I hope you enjoyed watching this as much as I did
Have a Very Merry Christmas!
Sherry
Posted in Christmas, Christmas Memories, Music Memories, Music Monday | 
Tags: Sign Language, We Wish You a Merry Christmas | 
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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – My Halloween Personality!
Sherry Stocking Kline
October 30, 2010
Hi Genea-Zombie Friends! As Randy Seaver says, it’s Saturday Night, and time for more fun!
Hey Genea-Zombies, it’s Saturday Night, time for more Genealogy Fun!
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:
1) Go take the Hallowe’en Personality quiz at http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourhalloweenpersonalityquiz/
2) Post it on your own blog, as a comment on this blog, or on your Facebook page.
3) Tell us if this is “right on” or note. Have fun with it!
So, here is mine! Go take your Halloween Personality quiz at: http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourhalloweenpersonalityquiz/ .
You See Halloween as Scary
You’re a friendly person, but not the life of the party. You like making someone else’s day – and you’ll dress up if you think of a really fun costume. (Ok, so far, so good. this really does sound like me. I haven’t dressed up in some time, but plan to again in the future. I am a friendly person, but really, really don’t want to be the life of a party, and actually prefer small gatherings to large parties.)
No one quite understands you, but everyone also sort of worships you. And that’s exactly how you like it. (Nope, none of this. )
Your inner child is open minded, playful, and adventurous. (My inner child does enjoy watching the granddaughters dress up and enjoy Halloween, but am mostly a traditional person.)
You truly fear the dark side of humanity. You are a true misanthrope.You’re prone to be quite emotional and over dramatic. Deep down, you enjoy being scared out of your mind… even if you don’t admit it. (This does not fit me. I do not enjoy being scared ‘out of my mind,’ and am not a ‘drama queen.’
You are a traditionalist with most aspects of your life. You like your Halloween costume to be basic, well made, and conventional enough to wear another year. (I would like my costume well made (I can sew) and would like to come up with something that I’d be willing to wear for more than one year. I think, given the family history interest that I have, that it would be fun to come up with a famous or semi-famous local person, and portray them.
However, all the famous, or infamous people that we hear about from here were associated with Caldwell, Kansas, the cowtown south and west of here, and I would have to be a cowboy, dance hall girl, or ‘lady of the evening. Maybe a cowgirl, I can twirl a rope, and still have my boots from my riding days…
Posted in Halloween, Holidays, Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, SNGF |
Tags: Halloween, Saturday Night Genealogy Fun |
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Sentimental Sunday – There is No Joy in Joyland Today…
by Sherry Stocking Kline
Sunday, September 5, 2010
There is no Joy in Joyland.
On Sunday, July 18th, I received an e-mail forward from a cousin that said “Stan Nelson, owner of Joyland died today.”
Darn.
So I checked Wichita Eagle’s website at Kansas.com and found this article by Beccy Tanner “Joyland a theme in Nelson’s life”.
My cousin’s email also included the link to a photo slide show by Mike Hutmacher, Wichita Eagle, with photographs of the long-closed and now sadly in disrepair Joyland. ( Click Here to view the slide show, complete with calliope music.)
It was the sideshow that prompted this post…
The slideshow begins, and there it is, Joyland. Larger than life when we were children; the stuff of dreams. There’s the bridge we used to run over to get to the magic inside. Now it’s covered with wind-blown leaves. Deserted.
And there are the rides. What’s left of them. Where is the Merry-go-Round with its fiery steeds? And where are the bump-em cars that we drove fiendishly into all our friends with all the the precision of drunken sailors? Both gone.
The Tilt-A-Whirl, part of it, remains, looking like deserted teacups from a giant’s forgotten tea party.
Can’t someone please rescue the train…
And the little steam engine train that could (and did) take you around the park, in and out among the trees, over a little bridge, and by your family picnicking in the pavilian, while all the while going rackety-clackety-clack, and Whoooo-uh-ooooooo when it came to a crossing . The train, a favorite ride, sits waiting for passengers to go again. (Oh, please, can’t someone rescue the train?)
And the roller coaster. Falling, faded white boards. Surely this can’t be the terrifying ride that traumatized me so when our eighth grade class went there on a field trip that after one ride up, down, and around on the rattly track I wouldn’t climb back on it , not for all the tea in China and not even for the chance to sit with the cute little green-eyed, blond-haired boy that asked me to go again? Surely this short, faded pile of wood isn’t the same one.
And there’s the ferris wheel, minus the little ‘people buckets’ that swayed and swung as you went up, over, and around and around, terrifying twenty-something young-mom-me, holding onto my tiny daughter for dear life, afraid to look down.
Joyland. Even the name brings back a kaleidoscope of memories: the night my nephew, Daryl, just barely younger than I pitched a fit so instead of staying home with a sitter, we all got to ‘help’ his folks chaperone the youth group, falling asleep in the back window of a car on the way home letting the stars lull me to sleep. (No seatbelt laws then and no seat belts, either.)
Church picnics, family picnics, and ride-all-night-nights…
There were church picnics and family picnics and ride-all-night-nights-for-$5.00 church nights. And my goodness, look at the sign, a ticket for a nickel. The rides are gone along with the prices.
And while the rides may be gone, and the grounds may be deserted, we still have the memories.
Thank you, Mr. Nelson….
—
Posted in Childhood Memories, My Memories, Sentimental Sunday |
Tags: Daryl, Joyland, Stan Nelson, Wichita |
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Treasure Thursday Great-Grandma McGinnis Sang For Abraham Lincoln in 1860
Abraham Lincoln's 1860 Campaign Rally
Great-Grandma McGinnis Sang for Abraham Lincoln…
This photograph has been in the family for some time and my Great-Grandma Margaret “Maggie” (Corson) McGinnis, (my grandma Maud Stocking’s mother) told her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren that she was a child in this photograph in the wagon on the lower right hand side of the photograph with the sign that reads “Let Me In – Kansas.”
Great-Grandma McGinnis said that she and other children sang for then candidate Abraham Lincoln on this day.
According to my Uncle Herb, and my brother Harold (a.k.a Fred), (both of whom were old enough to remember the story well) Great-Grandma Maggie said that Mr. Lincoln stopped, bent down, and spoke to her about “letting Kansas in” to the Union as a state.
There she was, just a little girl, at a Turning Point in History…
Wow! There she was, just a little girl, being spoken to by a man who was then a candidate for president. Can you just imagine? Did they have any idea that they were at a point in history that would lead to such historically memorable events as the Civil War, the ending of slavery, the assassination of a President, and other major turning points in our country’s history?
In light of what was to come just a few years later, it is no wonder that Great-Grandma shared this story with her children and grandchildren.
I’ve seen this photograph on-line in several places, so I know it must have been a popular photograph in that time and era and I’m glad that Great-grandma Maggie had a copy of this photograph and shared this story with her family.
Other Related Posts:
Corson Family Info:
Wordless Wednesday – Margaret Corson McGinnis’ 100th Birthday
You can learn more about the Corson Family, Book and Association Website Here.
My Corson Family Website and Happy Dance Post is Here.
Three Hundred Years With the Corson Family in America.
McGinnis Family Info:
My Maggie Corson/McGinnis Happy Dance!
Carnival of Genealogy – My Poem to My Ancestors
Maggie’s Husband:
Amanuensis Monday – Thomas J. McGinnis Obituary
Tombstone Tuesday – Guy L. Wood
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, 1947Located 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!
Amanuensis Monday – Thomas J. McGinnis Obituary
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 GazetteThe 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!
Tombstone Tuesday – James & Nancy Hawley – Barren County, KY
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 1929Nancy 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!
STS-131Astronauts to Land on Monday Morning!
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
Posted in Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Metcalf Family Tree, NASA, Stocking Family Genealogy, Today's Memories |
Tags: Photographs |
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Follow the Astronauts & Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger on Facebook
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
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun!
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!
