Saturday Night Challenge: Which Ancestor Do You Most Admire

This week's Saturday Night Challenge and the links to the other bloggers that participated can be found HERE.  The actual wording of the challenge is:

1)  The Family History Hound listed 20 Questions about your Ancestor, and I'm going to use some of them in the next few months.  

2)  Please answer the first question - "Which ancestor do you admire the most?"

3)  Write your own blog post, make a comment on this post, or post  your answer on Facebook or Google+.  Please leave a link to your answer in comments on this post.



My family history research includes interesting people who do not have a direct ancestral line to me.  Often I will go wondering off into a branch that has an especially interesting person that I have ran across.  Although that disqualifies my research as a strict genealogy I still work my tree in the way that I enjoy. I have found many ancestors that I admire in my tree.  Therefore picking the person in my research that I admire most was difficult.  Mary Draper Ingles is by far a very admirable person so I decided to write about her this week even though the connection is very remote.  

Mary Draper Ingles

1732-1815

Mary Draper is not a direct ancestor of mine.  She is very indirectly related to my children.  But I am proud to have her information included in my family history and I admire Mary very much even if the connection is very remote.  My children's father's paternal grandmother, Hazel Fan Coffman Lyle,  has many famous lines in her tree which have interesting historical men.  This is the line that also traces indirectly to Mary Draper Ingles.   Hazel's mother was Emma Norvell,   Emma was the daughter of Isabella Givens Duffield and she was the daughter of Mary Polly Givens.  The father of Mary was Robert Givens and he was the son of William Givens.  Captain John Givens was William's father.  John was the brother of Elizabeth Givens and she was married to Brigadier General Andrew Lewis. whose brother was Thomas Lewis.  Thomas had a daughter named Agatha and she married Colonel John Stuart.  One of their daughters was Jennie Lewis Stuart who married Major Robert Crockett.   Robert Crockett's sister was Jane Crockett and she married John Draper  whose father's name was also John Draper and he was the brother of Mary Draper Ingles.

Mary Draper was born in 1732 to Irish Immigrant parents in Pennsylvania.  In 1750 she married William Ingles and they migrated to a small Scots Irish settlement in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.  In July of 1755 while she was heavily pregnant with her third child and the men were out in the fields, the community was raided by Shawnee.   Some of the settlers were killed and some were taken captive.  Mary was one that was taken captive.  The Shawnee took their captives 500 miles away.  One day Mary grabbed her chance to escape.  Using the Ohio River as her guide she walked home.   You can learn more about Mary's ordeal HERE.  An Indiana author named James Alexander Thong wrote a book about her.  To prepare for the book he donned his back pack and walked in her foot steps.  It is a wonderful book.  It can be found HERE.   There has also been a TV movie made about Mary Draper Ingles which can be found HERE.   She deserves to be honored in this blog for her courage and her amazing survival story.  

The legend of Mary Draper Ingles can be found in detail all over the net.  Below is a map of the route she walked home.

She escaped in the fall and the weather became colder and colder as she traveled.  She had no way to hunt live game or fish.  At one point she even ate earth worms.  The woman she escaped with and was traveling with got so hungry she even tried to kill Mary for food.  By the time Mary arrived at her destination there was snow on the ground and she had no shoes.  In fact she no longer had clothes or even a blanket.  Today the descendants of Mary Draper Ingles have rebuilt the cabin that the family lived in after she got home twenty miles from the original site.  The original one that was raided was burnt and was located at what is  now Virginia Tech.  

Even though Mary is technically in the ancestry of my children's on their father's side and then it is distant,  I wanted to pick her for this weeks challenge.  

Amanuensis Monday

A  man named John Newmark is the original creator  of the concept of a weekly amanuensis blog but other bloggers have joined in.  HERE is the original explanation of the concept.  I am the worlds worst skimmer when it comes to reading.  And the harder the item is to read the less of it I take my time and read word for word.   Therefore I know this would be a very worthwhile exercise for me to do once a week.  My lack of self discipline will probably not allow it to happen on a weekly basis but whatever I do get transcribed will help me to read that document carefully.  I have been very fortunate that I have a friend who loves to type and often will type things up for me.  But to do some of them myself will help me to look at the documents more carefully. If the reader clicks on the census record they should be able to see it more clearly.  Or it can be located and viewed HERE.  

1870 Census for Samuel and George Rairigh

There is always more information on a census record than meets the eye.  This record is from 1870 Darke County, Ohio.  Although both Samuel and George Rairigh are on this census I am going to transcribe Samuel's household because he is my direct ancestor.  

Starting at the top

Page No 57

Inquires numbered 7, 16, and 17 are not to be asked in respect to infants. Inquires numbered 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 19, and 20 are to be answered (if at all)  merely by an affirmative mark as /.

Schedule 1. - Inhabitants in Adams Township, in the county of Darke, State of Ohio,  enumerated by me on the 8th day of July, 1870.

Post Office: Gettysburg  Wm E George Ass't Marshal.

1- dwellings homes numbered in the order of visitation

2 - families numbered in the order of visitation

3 - name of every person whose place of abode on this first day of June 1870 was in this family

4- age at last birthday. If under one year give age in fraction, thus 3/12

5 - sex Males (M.) Females (F).

6 - color White (W), Black (B), Mulatto (M)< Chinese (C), Indian

7 - Occupation or trade of each person male or female

Value of Real Estate Owned

8 - Value of Real Estate

9 - Value of personal estate

10 - Place of birth, naming State or Territory of US; or the country, if of foreign birth. 

Parentage

11- father of foreign birth

12 - mother of foreign birth

13 - if born within the year state month (Jan Feb &c)

14- if married within the year state month (Jan Feb &c)

15 - attended school within the year

Education

16 - cannot read

17 - cannot write

18 - whether deaf, dumb, blind, insane or idiotic

Constitutional relations

19 - Male citizen of the US of 21 years of age and upwards

20 - Male citizen of the US of 21 years of age and upwards whose right to vote is denied or abridged on other grounds than rebellion or other crime

Surnames listed Meyer, Leechner, Schmidtt. 

then skipping down to line 11

461-450

Rairigh Samuel

age 54, white, male, farmer,  $2408 value in real estate, $844 value in personal goods, born in Pennsylvania, parents were born in this country,  can read and write, is not deaf, dumb, blind, insane or idiotic, a male citizen 

Rairigh, Barbara age 50, white, female, keeping house,  no value in possessions or real estate, born in Pennsylvania, parents were born in this country,  can read but not write, is not deaf, dumb, blind, insane or idiotic, a male citizen 

Rairigh James Q age 19, male, white, farm hand, no real estate value but $200 value in personal goods, born in Pennsylvania and parents were born in this country,  can read and write

Rairigh Mary age 17 female, white, helps mother, born in Pennsylvania and parents were born in this country,  attended school in the last year, can read and write

Rairigh Margaret age 14, female, white, attending school, born in Pennsylvania and parents were born in this country,  attended school in the last year, can read and write

Rairigh Sarah age 9, female, white, attending school, born in Ohio and parents were born in this country,  attended school in the last year, can read and write

Below Samuel Rairigh's family is the family of his son George.  Other surnames on the page are: Rohr, Koster, Bryon, Porter, Patterson, and Hertzler.  

The bottom of the page says:

Number of dwellings - 8

Number of families - 8

Number of white males - 20

Number of white females - 20

Number of colored males - 0

Number of colored females - 0

Number of males foreign born - 4

Number of females foreign born - 5

Numbers of blind - 0

17143

9576

Number of insane - 0

I always find the census records interesting.  Each time they were taken the information gathered was different.  The census records provide an interesting snap shot of a family through out their lifetimes.  

Saturday Genealogy Challenge: Three Father's Day Stories

This week's topic is to choose three Father's Day stories to tell which can be either about our father or another man that was significant in our life.  The original post with the links to those that participated can be found HERE.  And the exact assignment is as follows:

1)  Sunday, 18 June, is Father's Day.  Let's celebrate by writing a blog post about our father, or another significant male ancestor (e.g., a grandfather).

2)  What are three things about your father (or significant male ancestor) that you vividly remember about him?

3)  Tell us all about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook Status or Google+ Stream post.

Since my father is still living I felt that I might compromise his privacy by posting pictures and stories on my blog because the privacy setting is set to public.   So I picked my grandfather as he is no longer living.  Actually the man I chose was my step-grandfather.   He married my mother's mother in 1943.  His name was Waldo Augustas Reed.  

Waldo Augustas Reed 

1914-1994

My "Grandpa Reed" worked in factories all his life and, although he retired from Bryon Steam Corporation at which he worked with metal,  early in his working life he worked in furniture factories.  This experience caused an interest in wood working.  By my earliest recollection he had an second garage at the back of his property filled with table saws and other wood working equipment and tools.   I have many fond memories of spending time with him in his workshop.  I held the light.  I held the other end of boards.  I found his hammer when he laid it down and forgot where he put it.  He made me a doll bed,  a doll high chair and a child size Hoosier Cupboard.   He was missing some fingers on one hand.  I asked him how that happened and he told me he was asleep and got his hand caught in the machine.  For many years I imagined him asleep with his hand hanging over the side of the bed into a clothes washing machine until I grew up enough to realize he meant he wasn't paying attention and he got it caught in the skill saw.   Grandpa Reed called me Skeezicks.  

Grandpa always told funny stories about the old days.  He used to drink too much in his younger years although I never saw him drink anything but Pepsi in small bottles.  One story I remember very vividly is he told of when he was dating my grandmother and one evening they had been at a bar.  After the left the bar they went for a night time drive in the country.  Pretty soon he needed to get rid of some beer so he pulled over to the side of the road and relieved himself.  Then he got back behind he wheel and drove off.  Presently he was talking to my grandmother and noticed she wasn't answering.  He reached his hand down and slide it across the seat only to realize she was not in the car.  He went back to where he had stopped to urinate and there she was waiting on him.  She had gotten out to go too and he had drove off and left her.  

My grandparents home had an access to their attic from the ceiling of the attached garage.  One day I went up there with my grandmother while my grandfather was at work.  I can't remember why we went up there.  Maybe she was handing up Christmas decoration boxes to me to put away.  Anyway,  I have what some call a fear of heights and others call a fear of falling and I could not bring myself to step out onto the ladder to get back down out of the attic.  I was stuck.  My grandmother tried to talk me out.  She scolded,  she threatened,  and begged but still I could not find the courage to get out of the attic.  Finally grandpa got home and walked over to the ladder.  He climbed up it and stood on the ladder.  He told me to turn around and stick my foot out of the door way.  He took my foot and put it on the rung and told me he was there and to stick out my other foot.  I did so and he placed it on the rung.  Then he backed down the ladder with his arms on each side of the ladder at my sides and I scooted down the ladder like it was the easiest thing.  My grandmother wouldn't speak to either one of us all through supper.  

My first born son's middle name is Reed.  My cousins and siblings all say I was Grandpa Reed's pick (favorite) and were jealous.  He had no children of his own so all of my grandmother's children were the benefactors of his skills and attention.  These are just a few of the many cherished memories I have of him.  He is sorely missed.  

Remember The Descendants Blog Party Entry

For several months I have been interested in participating in a genealogy blog party that takes place on a monthly basis and this month I decided to jump in.  The original post and all the links of those that participate can be found HERE.  The question to answer in order to participate is:

Q: HOW WILL YOU PRESERVE YOUR FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH FOR YOUR DESCENDANTS?

All family historians worry about what will happen to their data after they are no longer in control of it.   Here is what I intend to do.  

1)  There is a form at the Ohio Genealogical Society that allows a person to leave their genealogy collection to them.  I think other organziations also probably provide this same type of form.  Of course one has to be aware that they may not choose to keep everything.  I feel even if they have a huge bonfire with my treasures at least there is a chance that some of it will come to good use if I leave it all to an organization that specializes in family history.  Read more about donations of this sort HERE.  

2) Besides being in a data base on my lap top,  and backed up on my external hard drive, my tree is online a few places. And I will make a thumb drive of it at some point to hand to someone in the family.  I am not sure who in my family will take it if I try to give it to them.  

3) More important than my research,  I would like my ancestors to be remembered.   I have developed an interest in writing non fiction articles and fiction stories about my ancestors hoping that someone will find such a format more interesting than traditional family tree formats and traditional family history lineage books.  

4) I have a fascination with historical cook books.  The only book I have ever had aspirations to write is what I call a matriarchal cook book.  I want to have sections of the book that each feature various women in my ancestry with information about them,  about what their life would have been like,  followed by recipes that they either did hand down or else are historically accurate of what they might have prepared.  

5) I have always wanted to make the ancestors cards that I have seen described online.  I would want to make a regular playing deck with them instead of the baseball type collection cards.  Then as the family played cards they would see the various ancestors and maybe even read a bit about them.  My extended family are big card players so that might share my research to them in a way that incorporated their interest.   One idea of making ancestor cards can be found HERE.  

6) Along the same lines I have seen ideas of making home made board games with various themes and see no reason why one can't be created around one's ancestors.  That way even the kids can be exposed to some of the information.  For example a game one mom made up for her family is HERE.  My idea would be to create a board game more ancestry specific to one's particular family.  

I am sure there are many other ways to preserve research and I am really looking forward to the other blog posts that choose to participate in this month's blog party.  

Starting Thursday With Amanuensis Monday

I have had a busy week.  Sigh.  

A  man named John Newmark is the original creator  of the concept of a weekly amanuensis blog but other bloggers have joined in.  HERE is the original explanation of the concept.  I am the worlds worst skimmer when it comes to reading.  And the harder the item is to read the less of it I take my time and read word for word.   Therefore I know this would be a very worthwhile exercise for me to do once a week.  My lack of self discipline will probably not allow it to happen on a weekly basis but whatever I do get transcribed will help me to read that document carefully.  I have been very fortunate that I have a friend who loves to type and often will type things up for me.  But to do some of them myself will help me to look at the documents more carefully.

LeRoy Shepler (1864-1945) and his wife Clara Barton Patton (1866-1945)

she died in June and he in November

Another picture of LeRoy and Clara Shepler

Unknown which newspaper this is from but they were married in 1884 so this event would have been the year before their death. 

Mr. and Mrs. Shepler To Have Sixtieth Wedding Anniversary

Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Shepler, 334 East Fifth Street, will celebrate their sixtieth wedding anniversary Thursday, November 23, at their home. 

Mr. and Mrs Shepler have been life long members of the Church of the Brethren and their wedding ceremony was performed by Rev.  John Wolf, of the Pipe Creek Church of the Brethren, on the Ford Wallick Farm, in a house not now standing.  They are both natives of Miami County,  and with the exception of a few years in Cass County, lived their lives in Miami County.  They are eighty and seventy-eight years of age respectively.  

The children are Edward of Wabash,  Mrs. Harve Rairigh and Mrs. Charlie Oberlin of Peru,  and Mark of Logansport,  they have twelve grandchildren,  twenty-two great grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren. 

Although there will be no formal open house,  relatives and friends wishing to call may do so in the afternoon.  

What I learned from this exercise:

I am pretty sure this would have been from the local paper of Peru Indiana.  I thought they lived in Cass County longer than that.  When my mom took me to Mark Shepler's place it was at New Waverly not Logansport.  I never knew they were married at the Wallick Farm.  I lived on Wallick Road from sixth grade till I graduated from high school right down the road from the Wallick Mansion.  I don't remember much about Edward of Wabash so I should see what I can find out about him.   And I am pretty sure it was this Charlie Oberlin that married my mom and dad.  I didn't realize the Uncle Charlie that married them  was that many generations back.  I knew it was my great grandmother's brother in law but just never put the age range together.   

Mister Owita's Guide To Gardening by Carol Wall

Mister Owita's Guide To Gardening 

by

Carol Wall

A little book with a big message,  Mister Owita's Guide To Gardening is the story of two people who become friends.  Carol hires Mister Owita to get her yard into shape and they become good friends.  But they happen to be good friends with a twist.  They are both dying.  This is the true story of how they coped with the time they had left.  The message of the book is that when life doesn't go as we planned out there is still a lot of good in the moments that we have if we don't miss those moments wasting time with  disappointment,  anger,  guilt and blame.  The author has since passed away but her family keeps the web site and book signings going.  This book was number three on Oprah's book list of books every joy seeking woman should read and can be found HERE.  I know several people that would really enjoy this book and it would offer of a lot of fodder for discussion at book groups.  Please click on the links found in this blog for more information and listen to the author in the video below.   

Belated Saturday Night Genealogy Challenge - Recent Ancestor Photos

I am now three days beyond the Saturday Night Challenge but wanted to jump in belatedly.  The challenge and the other participant links can be found HERE.  And a copy of the challenge follows:

1)  Do you have photos of all of your ancestors back to the 1850 time frame?  Which recent ancestors do you not have a photograph of?  

2)  Review your files, and list the ancestors for whom you want and/or need to find a photograph.  Also list where they resided and where they died.  Where would you look to find a photograph of them?

3)  Share your answers on your own blog post (and leave a comment here with a link), or on Facebook or other social media.


I feel very fortunate in that I have a lot of photos of recent ancestors.   All my grandparents,  all my great grandparents,  and many of  my great great grandparents.  In most of my lines that covers to 1850.  There are three individuals beyond that time that had children in the 1860's so I had to go back one more generation and I don't have photos.  I will list the names of those missing photos and where they lived and died.   I did not check for photos for every one alive in 1850.  Only for those born in 1850 or later with the following exceptions who had children after 1850.  


 Third Great Grandparents
Abraham Shepler 1821 - 1891  Born in Rockingham County Virginia and died in Miami County Indiana.  In between he lived in Montgomery County Ohio and Marion County Kansas.  

Sarah Wissenger  1823 - 1870  Abraham Shepler's wife.  Sarah was born in Montgomery County Ohio and married Abraham in Dayton Ohio.  She died in Miami County Indiana.  She lived in Marion County Kansas too.  

The above couple were involved in the German Baptist Church.   Besides their other descendants perhaps descendants of the other members of the churches they attended might have old photos of their own ancestors that included group photos at functions where mine were present.  


Francis H. Sullivan 1822 - 1878  Born in Maryland died in Indianapolis Indiana.  Buried in Cass County Indiana.  

I am in contact with descendants and have not seen a picture of Francis H. Sullivan.  I am not sure where to look.  He did teach school for awhile.  In between living in Maryland and Indiana he lived in Miami County Ohio.  Maybe I could look online in  the Ohio Memory Project.   Or perhaps check with descendants of his siblings.  His father was in the War of 1812 so perhaps the Daughters of the War of 1812 might have some lineage lines for me to check out.  

2nd Great Grandparents

Herman August Funk 1850 - 1916 born Marburg,  Prussia, Germany  died Miami Indiana United States (I am wondering if that should be died in Cass County Indiana) 

Sarah Amanda Zelner about 1852 - 1879  Herman Funk's wife.  Born in Lehigh Pennsylvania died in Indiana.  I am pretty sure she lived in Trumbull County Ohio awhile.  

I don't know if there would be any pictures of Herman in Germany.  He grew up in an orphanage but did become a Lutheran Minister before he immigrated.  So maybe the institution that educated him would have a photo.  Or perhaps USA cousins of mine might have one.  Common descendants might have one of Sarah too but she died so young.  There might be a wedding photo though somewhere.  

Justice Hildebrant 1843 - 1883 born in Prussia died in Cass County Indiana.  

Louisa Raymer 1848-1906 wife of Justice.  Born and died in Cass County Indiana.  

The Raymer family was fairly well to do.  There should be some family pictures somewhere.  I could check the Logansport Indiana library vertical files or check with the Cass County Indiana Historical Society Or perhaps find a descendant that had some photos.  

This was an interesting exercise.  It was fun to review all the photos.  And it is always interesting to see all the work I have to do yet to fill out the the lives of the people I have already found that are in my family tree.  

The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins

The Girl On The Train

by

Paula Hawkins

This book is a best seller and has been made into a movie.  It is considered a "thriller"  type mystery and it is said that if a person liked Gone Girl then they would like The Girl On The Train.  I hated Gone Girl.   I listened to The Girl On The Train in audio book format and I can't say that I didn't like the book.  It is well written and held my interest.  In the beginning of the book I didn't think I was going to like it as I didn't care for any of the characters.   The story revolves around three nut job women and two creepy nut job men.  One of the women is murdered and the book is about solving who killed her.  The novel is written from the point of view of the three women and changes between their voices.  Different actors are used for each one so it makes for a cool audio book.   The reader can't help but get caught up in to the mystery although I must say I was able to  figure out early on who committed the murder.  One woman is an addict to alcohol,  one woman is an addict to sex,  and one woman is an discontented housewife/young mother.  They are all three miserable and unhappy.  Both men are violent and controlling but one of the men is also a pathological liar who sleeps around.   It is tragic how they all treat one another.   But the ending is great.   I really think the author wrote a fantastic conclusion.  While it is not my typical genre I can say that I would recommend this book to people who are mystery fans especially if they are drawn to psychological thrillers.  Please click on the links above and enjoy the movie trailer that follows.  I have not seen the movie so I don't know if it is comparable to the book.  

Waste Free Kitchen Handbook by Dana Gunders

Waste Free Kitchen Handbook

by

Dana Gunders

I am not sure exactly when I became aware of how bad our food waste problem is but this book has been on my wish list to read for awhile.  I like to keep a non fiction book going along with my fiction book I read at bedtime and my audio book I listen to in the car and so I checked out this one from my list at the State Library of Ohio digital books site onto my kindle app on my iPad.  I find non fiction easy to pick up a read a bit and lay down as tasks need to be completed.   It is a very informative little book and a quick read.  It contains a lot of  tips and has a recipe section on using up left overs.  What I noticed when I read it was that I was raised to do a lot of the things she mentioned.  My mother could squeeze the buffalo off of a nickel and waste not want not was the mantra of many of the people who lived through the Great Depression, such as my mother, who was a child during that time.  My grandparents also did not waste anything as a result of the experiences they had during the Depression.  Today we have lost that mind set and young people are not taught the basic life skills that people of my generation grew up with as normal behavior.  The sections of the book on food borne illness were excellent.   She recommends checking out the CDC information which can be found HERE.   The only criticism I have of her book is that she seems to recommend zip lock baggies a great deal.  I wish there was an alternative to using disposable things made of plastic.  Gunders does recommend reusable containers when possible.  I did smile at one recipe that was to use up stale potato chips following a party.  I didn't realize anyone ever let potato chips get stale.  😋  Please click on the author's name and book title above to follow three seperate links to more information.  And enjoy the video of an interview with the author that follows.  

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by Jk Rowling

Harry Potter 

and the

Chamber of Secrets

by

JK Rowling

Reading the first two Harry Potter books has been a wonderful gift from my grandson who recommended the series to me.   I borrowed the first book from my daughter and the second book from the library.   Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second book in the Harry Potter series.   It is the story of Harry's second year at the boarding school for witchcraft and wizardry.  I find the series very entertaining and there were times during this book I was on the edge of my chair because Harry got into some more adventures.  Make no mistake,  this is a book for kids,  but I have thoroughly enjoyed escaping into the world of Hogwarts School.  I make it a point in my book reviews to not give away too much information because I don't want to spoil the story for others.  Clicking on the book title and author's name above will allow the reader to follow links to more information as will watching the video below.  I do want to make a point of recommending this series.  It is great fun and wonderful escape to read these books.  The following quote from the head master of the school is from page 333 of the copy I read and I found it very profound:

"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

I have heard people accuse the Harry Potter series of being evil and say that it drags children into the dark side of spirituality.  I think that is hogwash.  The books emphasize values like loyalty, honesty and hard work.  They take a stand against hurting others and encourage the importance of looking out for one another.   Certainly they are fantasy books but so are many fairy tales of times gone by.  Fantasy in not my normal genre although I have read some of it in recent years.  The Harry Potter series in my opinion is right up on the list with The Lord Of the Rings.  I highly recommend the series to both young people and adults. 

Amanuensis Monday - squeaking under the wire

It is still Monday for another hour so perhaps I will get this finished and posted in time for it to count for Monday. 

A  man named John Newmark is the original creator  of the concept of a weekly amanuensis blog but other bloggers have joined in.  HERE is the original explanation of the concept.  I am the worlds worst skimmer when it comes to reading.  And the harder the item is to read the less of it I take my time and read word for word.   Therefore I know this would be a very worthwhile exercise for me to do once a week.  My lack of self discipline will probably not allow it to happen on a weekly basis but whatever I do get transcribed will help me to read that document carefully.  I have been very fortunate that I have a friend who loves to type and often will type things up for me.  But to do some of them myself will help me to look at the documents more carefully.

 

Oscar Rohrer

1878-1938

holding his grandson (my dad)

This week I chose my great grandfather's draft registration and his draft card.   There has been a lot of online activity about the one hundred year anniversary of WWI.  My great grandfather was not in WWI but he did register for the draft as was required.  I thought it might be interesting to examine a WWI draft registration and a draft card from WWI carefully.   If you click on the images they should enlarge so you can see them more clearly. 

The first one is hard to read as it is a poor digital copy.  It is the actual registration.  Starting with the left I see:

Registration card

??  3132

?? 13

1 Oscar Rohrer

first name middle name last name

2 permanent ? mail 

Route 6 Peru Miami Ind

street ? ? ? ? 

Age in years  Date of Birth

3                     4 

40                August 22, 1878

Race

White     Negro?  ????  Indian? 

                                      ?? ??

5check       6           7      8  9  

U S Citizen                                                            Alien

Natural Born?   Naturalized?   ????                        ?    ?

10check                   11                12                     13    14

15 ??

Present Occupation                         Employers name

16 Farming                                       17 Self

18. Place of Employment    ?????

Route 6 Peru Miami  Ind

Nearest Relative 

Name

19

Alice Rohrer

Address

20

Route 6 Peru Miami Ind

I affirm that I have  ???????   and that they are true

  ?????

Oscar Rohrer

On the right is: 

Registers Report

most of it is illegible 

I do see the numbers 

18 - 1 - 19 

and it looks like his eyes are blue and his hair is black

There are two check marks but I don't know for what.

Albert Donaldson signed it 

Sept 12, 1918

H.E.K

Local Board for the County of Miami, State of Indiana,  Peru Indiana

and I can't read the rest. 

And the lower darker colored draft card:

P.M.G.O. form No. 68.

REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE

To whom it may concern, greetings,

THESE PRESENTS ATTEST.  That in accordance with the proclamation of the President of the United States, and in compliance with law, Oscar Rohrer (first name) (middle name) (last name)  Route 6 Peru Miami Ind (no) (street or R.F. D. no) (city or town) (county) (state) has submitted himself to registration and has by me been duly registered on this 12 day of Sept, 1918, under the supervision of the Local Board designated on the back hereof.  3-6172 Albert Donaldson (Place stamp of Local Board on back of this card.)  H.E.R.

The Which Ancestor Moved The Furthest Saturday Night Challenge

This week the Saturday Night Challenge is to determine which ancestor moved the furtherest.  The original challenge along with the links to every one's posts that participated can be found HERE.

Which of my ancestors moved the farthest from their home is not an easy question to answer.  There is no part of my family tree software that I am aware of that calculates that type of information.  So I had to rely on my memory.   My ancestors in general immigrated from Europe to Philadelphia and settled in Pennsylvania for a generation.  Then they moved on to Maryland or Virginia.  Another generation took them to Ohio and then another generation until they were in Indiana.  But I was able to remember one ancestor who immigrated from Prussia to America and then ended up in Indiana.   So that was who I picked as my ancestor who moved the farthest from his phone.

Herman August Funk was born in September 1, 1850 in Marburg, Prussia, Germany.   His parents died when he was an infant.  He was raised and schooled in an orphanage.   He trained as a German Lutheran Minister and graduated at age 17.  Then he came to the United States by boat with several friends,  one account says they sailed their own boat and another account says they were stow aways. Prussia does not exist any more but as near as I can google it is about 3,426 miles from Frankfort Germany to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  That is by air.  I could not find the milage by sea.   Then to travel from Philadelphia to Cass County, Indiana was 697.6 miles.  So I figure my farthest moving ancestor moved 4123 miles.  But I am not sure he moved farthest from home because I am not sure he had what counted as a home to move from.   The following are some pages from the Funk Family Bible.

Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter

and the

Sorcerer's Stone

by

J.K. Rowling

The day before Mother's Day I was sitting at a restaurant in South Bend, Indiana enjoying a  brunch with my son and grandson.  Since I moved to SWOH I don't get to see them very often so it was a special event.   Somehow the subject of books came up.   My nine year old grandson Tucker highly recommended to me the Harry Potter series.  I always felt I was left out of a movement because my kids were pre Harry Potter era so I had never read the books or saw the movies.  That evening after  I had left South Bend and returned to my daughter's home which is located more  in central Indiana,  I was telling her about Tucker's recommendation.  Being a school teacher,  she happened to have book one and book three in her storage and office area.   Night before last I finished reading the first one which is called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.  I have to say that Tucker was right,  the book was very enjoyable!  Even though I generally read at bedtime this is the first time I have felt like I have had bedtime story time since my children were small.  The book really transported me far away from any current event issues or any personal worries and into a world of fantasy that cleared my mind and allowed a good nights sleep to envelope me.   In this first book of the series,  Harry Potter is introduced.  It starts out when he is living with an abusive aunt, uncle and cousin.  But fairly early in the book he is able to move on to a boarding school for young wizards.  He has adventures at school and the book covers his first year away at boarding school.  Please click on the author's name and book title above to follow three links to more information.  And enjoy the video that follows.  It is the movie trailer for the first Harry Potter movie.   I plan to enjoy the Harry Potter series in the months to come and highly recommend escaping into Harry Potter's world by reading these books and/or watching the Harry Potter movies.