My Family History wish list

As I consider the past year of research and look ahead to 2010, here are some of my family history wishes. Some are areas where I would like to break through brick walls. Others are just things I would like to get my hands on. Here goes:

• I wish that some kind Osgood relative lets me see Jesse Clark Osgood's diary. Jesse is my 2nd great-grandfather. Regular followers of this blog will remember I had a sample of his handwriting analyzed in October. I know the diary exists. It has been at Osgood family reunions that I was not at. It is probably in the hands of one of my second cousins. I'd even be happy with a photocopy. If I were to get it, I would transcribe it and give copies of that to all Osgood's who wanted it. It is a treasure! This blog would benefit too!
• June is going to be a good month for family history. One of my Osgood first cousins is getting married in June. I'm excited to go to the wedding, of course, but I'm also excited that this will be an opportunity to have a family reunion. I hope to do some oral history interviews with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I also hope to be able to walk through Grandma and Grandpa Osgood's house one last time, if it hasn't been sold by then. I also want to spend some time at the Payette courthouse and look up some probate records of my Graham ancestors. I've also had some contact with a branch of the Graham family that we never knew (my Grandpa Graham's brothers and sisters and their kids). I'd like to be able to meet some of them during this trip.
• I'd like to be able to get my hands on some farm schedules from the censuses. From other census records I have of my ancestors, I know which number the family is on the schedule. It would be so neat to be able to see the details on Robert Barnett Graham's farm, say in 1870 and 1880! It's just a matter of getting to a place where I can look them up, since they are not online. Hmmm....I probably need to get to know my local family history library.
• The Kline family is still a mystery to me. I would like to be able to find Karl Kline's death certificate. He died before the state of Kansas started collecting birth and death certificates, but perhaps there is a record in Marion county. I also would like to find more census records of the Kline's. I'd like to find them before 1880 to document their migration from Ohio to Kansas. I'd also like to find a record of Karl's military service during the Civil War.
• Pioneer Sarah. I haven't done much research on her yet. She is an enigma, and someone who's story needs to be told. I'll share what I do know of her soon.
• I'd love to have new cousins make contact with me. It doesn't matter from which branch of the tree they come from. It is so amazing to make connections with others who have been doing research and happen to be related. I've got my "tentacles" out on bulletin boards, Ancestry.com, and this blog. Any day could be the day to meet new cousins!
• I also hope to be able to keep up with this blog. I'll admit, it has been hard this fall. We moved and are getting settled into our new house. I haven't had the time to think much about family history, much less organize my thoughts to be able to post. I'm hoping that in 2010 I will be able to pick up at a better pace.

This isn't an exclusive list! I'm thrilled at every new lead, every new tidbit of information. Anyone out there with a family connection have any information that they would like to have me find out? (Not that I'm taking orders or anything!) Leave a comment!

Monday Memory - the old Graham house

On our annual vacations to Idaho, we generally stayed at Grandma & Grandpa Graham's home. This is the house my dad grew up in. We would spend a good part of the days over at Grandma & Grandpa Osgood's, but always came back to the Graham place. It had more bedrooms

to put us all in. Plus, over at the Osgoods, at least when I was still little, I still had an aunt and uncle living there.

The "old" Graham place sat in between an apple orchard and a cherry orchard. Grandma & Grandpa bought the place in 1947. Grandpa was a farmer, like his father Guy Graham was. As you can imagine from the orchards, he grew cherries and apples. I remember them shipping our family in California a big box of apples in the fall.

It was great to be able to go and help pick cherries in the summertime. Grandma would give us a bucket and let us go on our way. We ate way more than we gathered! Fresh cherries right off the tree-delicious! I can still see my little brother red-faced with cherry juice and goo all over him! There was an oval "track" that went around the house and Grandpa's barn and garage. In between the two and around the house was a nice lawn. One winter we drove up for Christmas. I was probably around the age of 10. Dad hooked up a sled to a tractor and dragged my brother and I around that oval. It was so much fun....until I kind of fell off the sled and was dragged on the ground for awhile before Dad noticed!

On the edge of the apple orchard was Great-Grandpa Ira Shelton's trailer. He had lived there since 1961. His wife, Alice, had died a couple years earlier. (Great-Grandpa is the son of the mysterious Nathaniel Shelton that I blogged about a few days ago). I would often go and visit him in his trailer. He had stacks and stacks of paperback books out there. When I was around seven, I remember him asking me to guess how old he was. I had no idea, but knew it was pretty old. (At least from a kid's perspective...I realize as I approach 40 that the concept of "old" is relative). He held up 8 fingers and flashed them at me twice--eighty eight. He would give me bananas and we would hang out. Great-Grandpa rarely came into the house, but he did one winter when we were visiting for Christmas. It seemed to be a big deal that he was in the big house instead of his trailer. Great-Grandpa died a couple years later at the age of 90.

Great-grandpa's trailer is on the left of the barn.

Great grandpa shows us his garden in 1972

We would enter the house through the kitchen. Grandma always was able to cook enough for everyone. I found out later that when she was growing up, her mother would cook for all the farm hands in the area. She grew up learning how to feed an army!

In the living room was GRANDPA'S CHAIR. It was his and his alone. Nearby would be a TV Guide, an ashtray and some snacks. I discovered "Whoppers" there one summer. Those chocolate covered malted milk candies will always remind me of then. Grandma and Grandpa liked to watch TV. I remember them watching "The Price is Right" and a soap opera every day. I'm not sure which soap it was....I knew it wasn't the one my mom watched.

I usually slept in a bathroom. That may sound weird, but this was a big bathroom. As I recall, it was on a landing, with stairs going up on the other side of a ceiling, which was slanted. It was pink. There were two single sized beds in the room. On a table was a big shiny conch shell that we were supposed to be able to hear the ocean in. I remember trying to pretend to be asleep on the morning we would be leaving Idaho to go home. Maybe if I never woke up, we wouldn't have to leave! It didn't work. I hated those mornings.

I don't remember ever going up to the next story in that house. I'm sure I did, though.

TV was a big deal at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was on a lot. I was there eating a slice of watermelon on August 16, 1977 and hearing that Elvis Presley had died. I also remember watching the Donahue show with mom and grandma while the show topic was the Jonestown Massacre.

Grandma & Grandpa sold the place when I got a little older and Grandpa retired-it was in the late 70's, early 80's. They moved onto a smaller place in Fruitland and lived in a mobile home with less acreage to take care of. That will be the subject of another memory post in the future. It was a sad time for my dad when they sold the place. I suspect it was for others as well. A few years after that, there was a fire and the house burned down.

All you Graham relatives out there, I'd love to hear some of your memories of the old place. Leave a comment!

One web leads to another-Centerview, Missouri

I'm dabbling on a new genealogy social networking site, GenWise. I joined the Missouri genealogy forum and was browsing through the discussion lists. Why Missouri? Well, several generations ago in about 1833, Robert Graham, Jr., moved his family from Wythe County, Virginia, to Johnson County, Missouri. 3 generations later, my great grandfather, Guy Graham, moved his bride, Jennie O. Shipp to Fruitland, Idaho.

I'm probably most familiar with the names of my dad's line, the Grahams. I know the names of the families that married into the Grahams, but not much else. In the past, I have seen the names of families that married into the Grahams: Roop and Shipp both come to mind. (Although there were Hobsons, McGees, and Kings that gave brides to Graham men). I don't know a whole lot about them past their names. However, my genealogy quest goes beyond knowing the names and dates of my ancestors, though. For some reason, I thirst to know who they were, how they lived, and how the events of their times that we now study as history impacted on them.

Anyway, in browsing the lists, I stumbled across a site on Missouri Genealogy, and specifically Johnson County, where Centerview is located. I found out some interesting facts about these other ancestors:

* William Lemuel Shipp, my great-great-great grandfather was a justice of the peace in 1882. In 1902 he was appointed school superintendent and later elected to that post in 1905, 1907 and 1909. This is a photo of William and his family. My great-grandmother, Jennie is the girl on the bottom left.

* Elhanan Roop was the first postmaster after the town of Centerview was officially founded in 1865

* The first school built after the civil war in Centerview was named the Graham school. (Sound familiar?) This was the only school in the township for some time and pupils from a radius of 6-7 miles attended. In 1868, the school district was organized and purchased the private school house. William Lemuel Shipp was one of the principals of this school.

So how does this all fit? Jennie Shipp, William's daughter, married a Graham. Her mother, Mary Elizabeth's maiden name was Roop. Her father was Elhanan Roop, that first postmaster. The possibilities only continue as I go farther back. In just browsing this one site on the world wide web, I ran into a web of relationships and lives that only mean hours of fascinating research for me. I'd better get reading!

Monday Memory - The Summer Vacation, Getting to Idaho

It's Monday and I'm in a reminiscent mood. So here are a few "lines" about the family:

I was lucky to have both sets of grandparents live in the same small town in Idaho. Fruitland, Idaho, in Payette County. As a kid, our summer vacation consisted of driving 2 days from Southern California up to see Grandparents and other relatives who lived in the area. The cars I remember us making the trek in included: a 1968 blue Volkswagen beetle; a white Chevy station wagon with blue & white checkered curtains that mom made to cover the back windows; a blue Volkswagen bus when the family got larger; and in the end, a 1986 Plymouth Voyager minivan. With the minivan came the first air conditioned vehicle. By then, I was nearly out of High School, so I wasn't always going on those family summer trips.

We would usually set out at the crack of dawn (sometimes before) from our home in Rowland Heights. We would drive a couple hours and have breakfast at this casino restaurant in Adelanto, a tiny junction town in the desert. From there we would charge onwards. I remember stopping for lunch at Bishop, California and going to a restaurant called Hobo Joe's. It's funny how I remember the restaurants...but it was one of the few times we would get to eat out during the year! From Bishop, we headed towards Nevada.

The road seemed to go on forever. Us kids would either nap or have books or games to keep us busy. When there was a town ahead, we all would look up with eager anticipation to see something other than desert. Often the "town" consisted of a dumpy gas station and a few ramshackle buildings! Luckily, the law didn't require seat belts for kids, so we were able to lay down and stretch out.

If we were lucky, we would stop in a town called Hawthorne, Nevada, and stay at a motel for the night. If we were REALLY lucky, that motel would have a swimming pool! Sometimes, dad would push it and try to get to the next town. Sometimes, we would end up driving straight through to Idaho! When we did stop in Hawthorne, we often stayed in a Best Western that was right across the street from the "El Capitan" casino. The motel would give mom and dad a couple rolls of nickels and in the evening they would go play the nickel slots for awhile. Being the oldest, I was "in charge" back in the room. I'm certain I never abused my power. Mom and Dad would come back after having run through the nickel rolls and I remember a time or two them having "Club" cocktails in the room while we kids watched TV.

The next morning, we would have breakfast in the casino restaurant. Then it was on to Idaho! It was always exciting on the second day, because we knew we would get to Grandmas house that day. The car ride could get very long for a kid. I did a lot of napping on those trips. Once it was so hot (we were in the VW bus) that I remember taking a cup of water that I was drinking and throwing it in my own face. We would stop for lunch at Winnemucca, Nevada, usually at the A&W Root Beer fast food joint. Nothing could slow us down too much. That is, if we didn't run into car trouble. I remember a trip or two being grounded for awhile waiting for dad to magically get the car going again. When we hit Jordan Valley, Oregon, we knew we were close. It was hard not to want to drive faster, but the tiny town was known as a speed trap. Or at least, one very persistent sheriff with a radar gun. It had a reputation with us, at least, and kept dad under the speed limit.

Fruitland, Idaho is right next to the border with Ontario, Oregon. I thought it was strange but kind of neat that all the shopping was done in Oregon. When I was older, I learned that there was no sales tax in Oregon. Besides, there wasn't much in the way of commercial stores in Fruitland. To get to Ontario, you would have to drive past "Gay Way" junction, home of the pink "Gay Way" bowling alley. It was painted on the broad side of the building "GAY WAY BOWL." I learned later on that my Grandfather actually named the place after his daughter was born, back in the days when gay meant "happy."

We would stop at Grandma & Grandpa Graham's first and unload. We stayed there overnights because they had a bigger house with beds for everyone. After we had unloaded, we would head over to Grandma & Grandpa Osgood's to say hello. It felt so good to know we were out of the car, which had become dirty and just smelled like the road! Stepping out of the car for the first time and breathing in the smell of the Idaho country air was wonderful. Warm and clean, with a hint of mint in the air. It was great to know that we were at the beginning of a fun time in Idaho.

Getting my surnames out there

I've been seriously hooked on family history since January 2009. I had a mild interest in it before, since I've always enjoyed history. I love historical fiction, where I can read and learn about history through fictional characters being in the context of a larger historical event. I don't know why it took me so long to realize that researching my own family history personalizes this long-enjoyed genre for me. Rather than fictional characters, it is my ancestors and family members who lived through historical events!

Two straws broke the camel's back during Christmas 2008. One was a book my mom got for all us kids: "Born Fighting. How the Scots-Irish Shaped America" by Jim Webb. As I was reading, I recalled a document my Grandma had given me about 25 years ago about the history of the family. I pulled it out and compared it with the book....and it was parallel! From Scotland, to Northern Ireland, to Southwest Virginia and then moving out to the Missouri frontier....my Graham's had very similar experiences to the rest of the Scots-Irish described in the book. For the first time, I can say I really felt an ethnic identity. Having been in America for so long, its nice to know we are something other than "White" or "Caucasian." We are Scots-Irish, and boy do we have the traits to prove it! (Maybe that will be a post later, subject to the permission from the clan.)

The other straw was courtesy of an aunt on my mom's side of the family. She had done some research and found some letters written by my great-great grandfather, Jesse Clark Osgood, during the Civil War. She found out he had enlisted in the 26th Massachusetts infantry. Four of his letters home are held in the Louisiana State Library. She managed to get copies from the library and transcribed them for the family. What a treasure! I've always been particularly interested in the Civil War, so to have an ancestor put there was a thrill.

Then I realized....Jesse was not the only one! Anyone alive during those years was touched by the conflict. I wonder how? It was over. I became a family historian.

In my never-ending quest to learn about the methods of genealogy research, I subscribed to a few podcasts for ideas and inspiration. In one of them, Family History: Geneaology Made Easy, the pocaster (Lisa Louise Cooke) has been encouraging her audience to get into the blogosphere. So here I am! I don't know if I have that much that is of interest to others, but I would love to get the surnames out there that I am researching so I can break down some brick walls and connect with some other researchers looking

into the same family lines that I am. Perhaps we each hold the piece of the puzzle for one another! I'm very happy to share research and collaborate on this fascinating subject!

So....to get my surnames out there and as an introduction to everyone out there, I'm on the constant hunt for the following:

• Jamois (my husband's family in France)
• Graham (Idaho, Missouri, Wythe County, Virginia, County Down, Ireland)
• Osgood (Kansas, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire)
• Partridge (Kansas, Illinois, New York)
• Palmer (Kansas, England)
• Hamilton (Illinois, Massachusetts)
• Clark (Massachusetts)
• Shipp (Missouri, Tennesee)
• Dutton (Idaho, N. Dakota, Wisconsin, New York)
• Floyd (W. Virginia)
• Shelton (Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky)
• Deen (Missouri, Iowa, Virginia)
• Freeman (not sure where yet)
• Roop (Missouri, Maryland, Germany)
• Royer
• Fox (Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky)
• Sampson (Kansas, Indiana, Virginia)
• Kline/Klein (Kansas, Ohio, Germany/Prussia)
• Fordyce (Kansas, Ohio, New Jersey)
• Collins (Kansas, Virginia)
• Speir (Kansas and beyond)