Tag Archives: genealogy

Update on Garden and Knee

Letter transcription:

9-18-64

Dear David –

Keep this letter. It is a record as to when your policy went into effect.

Our Japanese garden is making progress. I waited all morning and half the p.m. for truck to bring rack so didn’t get to go to Lafayette for evergreens. Plan to go tomorrow. Alma Walker is going with me.

Dad’s knee is better, but he says he doesn’t want it bumped yet. He had thought he would have to see Dr. Ferguson, but didn’t have to.

Love Mother

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/01/13/update-on-garden-and-knee/

Knee Injury

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Letter transcription:

Sept. 12 – 1964

Dear David and Bonnie –

Last Sunday Aunt Ruth came to spend a few days with us. She had not been feeling very well and wanted Daddy to check her. Yesterday she said she should go home so this a.m. we went to Wilmington. She was somewhat depressed about returning home but there were some things to be done. She had some mail waiting for her. The furnace had to have a new part before she could have a fire so that was taken care of while I was there. The dog is still there and it seemed to me she knew Uncle Earl wouldn’t be back. She didn’t even bark when we entered the house. I told Aunt Ruth I would spend the night with her but felt like I should come home. Dad hacked his left knee while doing some work in the yard and he thinks he has injured his knee cap. He is to see Dr. Ferguson Monday. He would have planned to go tomorrow but Dr. Ferguson will be out of town. We are planning a Japanese style garden to extend from the front door entrance around the house to the terrace on east side of house, and he was using some of the weed barrier we used around the flower beds several years ago. The ground in hard because we haven’t had much rain this summer and he was using a new hatchet to cut the ground. By accident he hit his knee. He came into the house with blood streaming down his leg. I helped him get the blood cleaned off and put a bandage on. It kept bothering him so he put a cast on for two days but had to take it off because his leg started to swell. He walks like Chester. I will be glad when he sees Dr. F. and if he tells him to go to bed I won’t be surprised.

I am sending you a tube of Moruguent. If you use this you don’t need the water treatment. The main thing is to keep a burn covered and this burn cream is about the best covering you can get. It almost seems to work like a miracle at times. I have seen it used in the office so much I know you know if I ever get a burn I immediately cover burn with ointment. It also helps reduce the pain. I will send it with your birthday gift. Your gift, I think, will be a real surprise.

I found an outline you had used one time when you were teaching Bible during vacation (M.Y.F.). I am using it. I also found some sermons of Hodapp and Katayama. I have found them quite interesting. I am glad you are looking forward to school. I haven’t had much time to read in the past month – what with spending some time with Aunt Ruth, keeping Kirk, then having all of them here for a part of the following week and the rest of the happenings this month. I really would like to do some reading in my Interpreters.

Dad is reclining in the living room watching TV which is the best thing for him to do under present circumstances. I think the more he keeps off his feet the better.

We will take care of your ballots. I called John this evening. His suit and shirts had come from H.K. and I knew he was anxious to know. Also when he bought his household things he found a bargain in Teflon

[page 2] and I told him to get me some. He said the special was still on and that he had bought some for me, so now I will have a set. Thanks for the stamps. I sent in several hundred about a month or so ago and had a very nice letter last week thanking me. Just don’t cut them off so close.

Love Mother

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/01/12/knee-injury/

Gratefully Acknowledged

The Descendants of Jacob Troxell

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In 1998, when I was still in my twenties, I self published a family history of my ancestor Jacob Troxell. The manuscript was not fancy by any means. I wrote and typed the document on a simple word processing typewriter as we did not own a computer. I copied the pages on the xerox machine at work, then took them to Kinko’s to spiral bind them together. I wrote dozens of letters to various family members, in the beginning, to gather information for the book, and then later, to sell copies of my precious manuscript. Even then I was thinking ahead when I donated a copy to the Allen County Public Library in Indiana. Today, the book can be found by searching WorldCat.

WorldCat Entry for the Troxell book

Some Mayflower silver books from my own collection

Back then, I was a relatively new genealogist, but I knew the importance of numbering systems and including my sources. The book was not footnoted, however, but modeled on the style of the Mayflower silver books. Each descendant was assigned a number, followed by their full name with an accounting of their lineage back to the original ancestor or immigrant. Biographical information and a list of known children came next. At the end of each entry, a list of references was included. The Mayflower books have evolved since then, with later volumes in the series using inline references instead of footnotes.

As my skills have developed and evolved in the last 18 years, it has become more important to me to revise my first manuscript. I waffle between embarrassment and pride in my early accomplishment. The state of Indiana celebrated its bicentennial during the year 2016. As a result, there was a push to release state historical documents into the public view. Last June, while I was at SCGS’s Jamboree, Ancestry released several Indiana related databases, including but not limited to, death, marriage, and birth records. Overall, this has been a huge boon to my research as three of my four grandparents were natives of Indiana. Many of my maternal grandfather’s ancestors were among the earliest settlers of the state, particularly in the county of Fayette. Jacob Troxell was one of these early pioneers, arriving in the mid 1820s. His family belonged to the wave of settlers who moved west from Pennsylvania into the Miami Valley of Ohio during the first decade of the nineteenth century. As a young child (or teenager), Jacob Troxell settled outside of Dayton, Ohio. As the United States expanded into Indiana, prosperous Daytonians began purchasing land in Indiana. Abraham Troxell, Jacob’s father, bought land in Waterloo Township in 1826 and Jacob relocated his young family to Fayette county. A few years later, Abraham deeded the Fayette county land to Jacob.

n The revised outline of Jacob’s descendants

So where do I start? As my friends and family will attest, I have been bombarding them with updates on this enterprise. Over my Thanksgiving break, I pulled out my copy of the Troxell manuscript. I began to construct a new framework (or outline) for Jacob and his next three generations of descendants, based on the original manuscript and all the subsequent research I have added to my database in the last two decades. My outline was simple, recording only Jacob and his descendants, spouses, and children, with only birth, marriage, and death dates. Overall, I prefer the NGS Quarterly system of numbing. (For more information on genealogy numbering systems, check out Numbering Your Genealogy by Curran, Crane, and Wray.) In this draft, I stopped to write very few footnotes as I wanted to focus on constructing the outline. Those footnotes that I did write were generally for infants who died young. There would be little for me to add later on. At this point, the outline has become my research plan.

Obituary spreadsheet

In the next phase, I transferred all the names of the direct descendants to an excel spreadsheet. In four generations, Jacob’s progeny increased to 206 known individuals, including those of his four step-children. Currently, I am collecting obituaries with the goal to locate as many newspaper articles, obituaries, and death notices of these descendants as possible, with about 50% tracked down already. This week I expanded the spreadsheet to include spouses. I have been delighted to discover many of Indiana’s county libraries have improved online research request forms as well as online obituary indexes. St. Joseph county, Allen county, and Plymouth county have been extremely useful to me during the last month. I was also pleased to discover that newspapers[dot]com added two Muncie newspapers to their premium membership in the last week. Having a spreadsheet to record what records I do and do not have has been extremely helpful. I feel my research is much more focused, plus I love crossing things off when I obtain a record! One additional research bonus…I have found it very helpful to organize my research based on the assigned number a descendant was given, both in my paper and digital files.

Stay tuned for periodic updates on this endeavor in the coming months! What plans do you have to record your family history?

“Who Lives? Who Dies? Who Tells Your Story?

Time…”

Very Quiet After Sunday

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Letter transcription:

Sept. 4 – 1964

Dear David & Bonnie –

The suit coat arrived – I took it to the cleaner & Dad wore the suit last night. We went to Watseka to give a program for the Nurse Assn. Dr. & Mrs. Roberts also attended. The group thanked us and invited us to give another program next month since we just got as far as Bali with the program last night.

Mark and Shirley went home this a.m. They were going to stop and visit with Aunt Ruth. I talked to her over the phone before they started. She said Romaine and Tye had been with her until yesterday. I have promised to go get her sometime and bring her over here for a few days. I hope she gets to the place she can drive her car. I think all she needs is a little confidence in herself.

Mark and Shirley waxed my car yesterday. However, since we are having a long dry period I am afraid it won’t do much good.

John took a load of things to Champaign Tues. He is

[page 2] coming back today to spend weekend and take rest of his things back Sunday.

This place will seem very quiet after Sunday – after all the company we have had this summer.

Alma has stopped several times this summer. She has recently been to visit her sister in Missouri. We received a letter from her this week and she was getting ready to return to Crown Point.

I have a basket of work waiting for me on my desk so I think it would be a good idea for me to get to work.

Love Mother

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/01/10/very-quiet-after-sunday/

The Funeral

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Letter transcription:

9-1-64

Dear David & Bonnie –

The past week has been rather full. Mark & Shirley left Kirk with us Monday. He got quite attached to John and John to him. Friday night Aunt Ruth called and told us Uncle Earl had passed away. Floyd came Sat. a.m. and went over to be with Aunt Ruth. Tye & Romaine couldn’t get there until Sat. evening. They drove. Sunday Steve brought Aunt Ruth here and in the afternoon we drove to Wilmington. Friday afternoon Shirley & Mark came back to get Kirk and he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to have anything to do with them. Shirley said she thought he was mad at them for leaving him. Lea & Bob came the same day, so we had a family reunion for a little while. Lea & Bob stayed but M. & S. took Kirk and went to get Becky. They are coming back today. John just left to go to Champaign with his car loaded. He bought about

[page 2] $200.00 worth of household goods, and took most of his things on this trip.

Yesterday we attended the funeral. Dad & John went to Wilmington Mon. a.m. So many of the Clay City relatives were there, Clarence, Clara, Ralph, Kenneth, Mary Lois, Duane & Joan and a number of Mutchler relatives. Since I had been with Aunt Ruth the better part of one week (Aug. 18 to 21) and had gone over Sunday afternoon, John & I came back home shortly after the funeral was over. Some of the relatives didn’t arrive until just before the funeral so they stayed longer. Ruth & Floyd stopped here on their way home at about 7:30 and they said they were the last to leave. Tye & Romaine were gong to stay in Wilmington a day or two.

I have to give a program at Williamsport tonight and as of this minute haven’t decided what I will give and before Mark & his family get here I think I had better get my program ready. M. & S. are going to be here until Thurs. then they are going back home (to mow lawn, etc.). Mark has a new job with All American Ins. & Casualty in Park Ridge – which will be closer home than his present job.

Love Mother

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/01/09/the-funeral/

A Book

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Letter transcription:

Wilmington, Ill. Aug. 18, 1964

Dear David and Bonnie –

This a.m. I drove to Joliet and spent the day at the hospital with Aunt Ruth and am going to stay here (Wilmington) tomorrow and maybe next day – it all depends on developments.

Uncle Earl is still in Intensive Care. Aunt Ruth says he doesn’t know her and has had to be fed thru his veins. However today he was able to take a little milk and juice. The Dr. who is taking care of Uncle Earl doesn’t say too much except his slow progress doesn’t look too good.

John had to go to Syracuse & Ithaca, N.Y., and plans to return home Thurs. He said he would try to call you if possible while he is in N.Y. He has to go to Urbana Friday. He seemed interested in the record club you mentioned if he doesn’t have to buy records regularly.

I bought a book for you and Bonnie today – it is “Our Wedding and Married Life.” I will list the gifts and fill in what other data possible but some of it will have to be filled in by Bonnie or by you. It is quite a book and I hope you like it. Aunt Ruth thought it was quite nice.

It is 9:30 and I am getting sleepy – not that I have done much today but sit, but I started out early this morning. Left home at 8 a.m.

Love Mother

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/01/08/a-book/

Grammatical Error

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Letter transcription:

August 13, 1964

Dear David and Bonnie:

The enclosed came here yesterday and we were at a loss to understand what it was all about. We haven’t had an account with Hayden, Stone for several years, but that isn’t the point. This statement is for you. If you are dealing with Hayden, Stone, you should inform them that you are of age and statements do not have to come to us. I am curious however, did you buy Sunset International Petroleum and if so, what did you make of it? It is a low priced stock and listed as a B in our Stock Guide.

Yesterday afternoon John went with me to see Aunt Ruth. We couldn’t see Uncle Earl. He has been in hospital at Joliet (we stopped at Wilmington and talked to Mrs. Johnson and she told us Ruth was at the hospital – where we thought she would be) and has had a stroke. He was quite ill when he was rushed to the hospital and since he reacts unfavorable to sedation, the Dr. had a hard time getting him quieted down. He was sleeping yesterday. We left here at 1:00 and arrived at the hospital at 3:00. We stayed with Aunt Ruth the rest of the afternoon, then took her home. Romaine had not been able to go to Wilmington because Tye was away from home on business and the woman who stays with the children was not available, but Aunt Ruth thought Tye would be back home and Romaine would be able to come any day now. Dad called the Dr. who is taking care of Uncle Earl and his report wasn’t too favorable. At a time like this I wish I could be closer to her so I could furnish transportation for her, but their friends have been very good about getting her to and from the hospital. Tye’s parents live in Wilmington and they have been very helpful.

In your last letter you made a grammatical error, which I hope you know better than to make and which I hope you won’t repeat in anything you hand in to be graded. Your last paragraphs reads, Could you please send a small print of the black and white picture of Bonnie and I leaving the church? As you know it should have been, Bonnie and me.

I suppose this cold wave has reached the east coast by now, but believe it or not, we turned on the furnace last night – at least Dad had turned it on before we came back from seeing Aunt Ruth. The thermometer outside the front door reads 62 at 10:30 AM today.

About your Virgin Birth paper. Last week when I took the Cadillac to Lafayette I took it with me, because I thought I would deliver it in person and had it when I met a friend to have lunch and when she saw what I had asked me if she could take it and read it before passing it on to Mrs. Northacker (the woman who asked for it). Also Mrs. Green’s husband, who is a teacher at the high school in Lafayette was going to read it. Mr. and Mrs. Green are quite active in the Trinity Church in Lafayette.

The picknick basket came from L. Feichter, 113 Conover Kronshage, Univiety of Wisconsin, Madison 6, Wisc. I hope you have received it by now and I also hope you have sent the jacket back to Dad. John had some clothes sent and said if by any chance they got sent to you, send them back here. I was talking to him about how that coat could have gotten sent to you and he said, “You know the Chinese, one big family” and the difference in address didn’t seem to make much difference to them. He said tho, he stressed that they send his things to this address. You see they had your Bloomington address and our address, but evidently were careless about which address they used. John has to go to New York next week. He said he would call you when he gets there. He has to go back for a physical and to wind up his business with Stat University of New York.

Time is getting away from me and since this is Thursday and the bank closes at noon, I must get this finished and get to the office.

Love Mother

2016 – A Year in Review

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Working at the library

A week ago, I honestly didn’t think I was going to write a year in review blog. Yesterday, I pulled up the post I wrote for 2015 and decided it would probably be a good idea after all. Looking back gave me some much needed reflection. What are my goals for 2016? I feel somewhat scattered as there are several projects that I want to undertake, but I am unfocused and a little unmotivated at present. I work best when I write stuff down in lists, but I seldom take the time to do so unless I have an imminent deadline and prioritizing is essential.

I had four main goals for 2015, and I accomplished 50-75% of them. The two 100% successful goals were publishing the second volume of World War II letters, Lots of Love, Daddy, and working on my skills as a genealogy lecturer. The book was finished in late September. At over 400 pages, it is almost twice as long as the first volume Dear Mother, Love Daddy. The project was a lot of work and I am going to step away from the letters for a little while. The second goal, to improve my skills as a genealogy lecturer, is also going well. I have spoken to three northern California genealogy societies this year as well as continued to give free lecturers at my local library. For 2017, I have already accepted speaking engagements for two northern California societies, for the main branch of the Sacramento library’s genealogy department, and for SCGS’s Jamboree (a national genealogy conference in Southern California).

The Second Volume of Letters

Goal number three was to publish an article in a national or state level periodical. Technically, I published an article in the Utah Genealogical Association’s magazine Crossroads in late 2015, but I wasn’t aware of it until 2016. Additionally, I wrote a guest blog (online) for the NextGen genealogy network. However, neither of these truly fulfill my intention of writing for a national or state level periodical. My goal was to write a family history or lineage so I give this goal a 50/50 completion rating.

Goal number four was to lay the groundwork for my BCG portfolio, anticipating that I would go on the clock sometime in 2017. I did do some work towards this. Finally seeing completed portfolio’s at the BCG table at Jamboree made some of the elements, like the KDP, finally click for me. I had to throw out the family I was going to use as I didn’t need to “prove” any of the relationships. I pretty much had direct evidence for everything. I have a new family chosen that fits the parameters of the KDP, but I haven’t had the time to focus on any research since last summer. Ultimately though, at this point, I am not ready to jump in and go on the clock so I don’t feel like I accomplished this goal.

What I accomplished in 2016…

Published Lots of Love, Daddy
Attended SCGS’s Jamboree
Submitted speaking proposals to SCGS’s Jamboree and was accepted to speak in 2017
Gave first paid lecture to the Roots Cellar Sacramento Genealogy Society, followed by lectures to the Solano County Genealogical Society and the Placer County Genealogical Society
Gave three additional lectures at the Franklin Branch of the Sacramento library
Continued to volunteer once a month at the library, dispensing genealogy advice and assistance
Finished transcribing and posting over 1,300 letters written during WWII (the end of a 3½ year project!)
Began organizing, transcribing, and posting the 1960s letters from the Yegerlehner family archive
Scanned hundreds of Yegerlehner family slides, including some photographs from Roscoe’s & Gladys’ 1964 world tour
Recruited two maternal family members to DNA test. Sadly, I had several people turn me down on both sides of the family. 😦
Inspired by the three sibling DNA chromosome mapping technique that has been very popular this year, I began chromosome mapping the DNA of two sibling pairs (my brother & myself, as well as my two children)
Wrote four brief family lineages which are posted on this blog under the “lineages” tab (this makes some nice cousin bait!) and I wrote some of my research down!
Completed my application for the Mayflower Society based on the lineage of my ancestor Myles Standish and was approved
Began migrating some of the WWII letters and some family documents to archival safe Hollinger boxes and folders
Attended the Sacramento African American Family History Seminar with keynote speaker Kenyatta Berry
Organized the Kerschner/Scofield collection of letters with the intent to start transcribing them in 2017
Continued to post daily on the blog (4th year in a row) with over 2,078 posts since November 2012
Wrote the new framework for an update of my 1998 book The Descendants of Jacob Troxell 1787-1885 of Fayette County, Indiana
Laid some basic framework for my BCG portfolio, viewed several portfolios at Jamboree, and rethought my KDP and other elements…

First page from the original Troxell book

Goals for 2017 – Speaking and Writing

Write a new addition of Jacob Troxell of Fayette County, fully sourced and using a reasonable exhaustive search. The new volume will be similar in scope to the silver Mayflower books. All descendants from generations 1-3 will be fully discussed, and the fourth generation will be named. Eventually I plan to write a second volume starting with the fourth generation. There is only one living person from the fourth generation (that I am aware of) and he is in his nineties.
Continue to transcribe and organize my incredibly huge family archive. I feel very blessed by this collection but I am continually overwhelmed by all the information I have to process and preserve.
Broaden the scope of my speaking opportunities as well as develop more presentations

Odds and Ends…other stuff I might like to do

Submit additional Mayflower lineage(s)
Write a finding aid and complete inventory for the WWII letters
Work on the third volume of WWII letters
Scan more slides
Map more DNA chromosomes and find more maternal relatives to test
Have fun and make more amazing genealogy related discoveries!

Uncle Earl is Ill

1 Reply

Letter transcription:

8-10-64

Dear David and Bonnie:

Glad to receive yours, posted the 6^th. We will send the picnick basket to you and you send the jacket back to us. I don’t remember of having sent a package on to you that came from Hong Kong, but if you received one, it has to be Dad’s coat – the one we have been looking for, for months, in fact the one we were hoping would come in time for Dad to wear to the wedding. John stopped in H.K. and had some clothes made at the same tailor shop and asked about Dad’s suit coat and was told it had been mailed in May. I was just wondering last week if we would ever receive it. Aunt Ruth just called, and from Silver Cross Hospital in Joilet. Uncle Earl is very ill and since he reacts unfavorable to sedation, it has been hard to find something to make him sleep. Aunt Ruth said they couldn’t tell what his trouble was, whether a kidney stone, or what. Just wish we were close enough to help out a little. We did stop there two weeks ago when we went to see Mark. I am glad we did. I will get another print for you to send to David Watson. Dad said (in his usual RSY manner) where did Doctor McGraw get her information about the tablets? He hasn’t had any such information so didn’t think you needed to be too concerned. Will let you know if any such information comes and you should know how much come thru this office all the time – besides the drug salesmen keep Dad posted on all the new drugs, etc.

[page 2] John is in Bloomington, Indiana today. He went to Urbana last week and in addition to attending a meeting, was able to secure an apartment. His lease begins Sept. 1. All furnished, except for linens, curtains, and such. John had to go to Lafayette one day last week to have his VW serviced and while he waited he went shopping. He bought me an opera – Mozart’s Seraglio. He said that was a commission for his broker. – I have been working for Arvella today – she had to see a throat specialist in Lafayette and she just returned, so I am back at home. John is going to register so he can vote against you know who. He thinks about as much of him as you do. The more I see him (his picture) on TV and in the papers the more I dislike him. I think he is about the worst thing the R party has had for a long, long time. When we were watching the convention on TV, Dad said he thought he acted like he was mad about something. John has his opinions about him from having lived in Arizona three years. He says he represents a group of people who are not concerned about the welfare of anyone but their own small group. I rather think he won’t win anything in the fall. I hope that isn’t just wishful thinking. My new Interpreters Bible and Dictionary came. I ordered from Bookshelf and it cost me about $103.00 including postage for the 16 volumes. I ran into a little difficulty Sunday. Two who have had too much fundamental teaching were questioning the book we are studying. The mother (who goes to Remington church and

[page 3] thinks one has to believe literally every word – which proves she hasn’t read too extensively on the matter – ) had a fit – in the words of her son when they took the study book home for her to read. My class members, Pat and Keith Alberts, were a little upset about the reaction of his mother and I think she has had some influence on their thinking. The sad part is, it is such a good book and has a message so timely, but I think she has bogged down because she has been impressed about the parts she doesn’t agree with and can’t see what the book is trying to say. However, I haven’t detected the same feeling from any of the rest of the class. If I thought you would have time to read the book, I would send you a copy. Genesis, Beginnings of the Biblical Drama by Charles F. Kraft. Fields are on vacation this week and next and the minister from Raub, Rev. Rahn was in our pulpit Sunday. I think the Raub people are very lucky to have him, and when he gets his degree, they won’t be able to keep him very long I am sure. He sounds like the kind who will make progress. From what Marge tells me, he is not a fundamentalist. I stopped to see Mrs. Myers and she had received your gift. She was quite pleased. It was thru her letter that I learned you plan to come home for Christmas. We are going to keep Kirk the last week in August. He is quite a character. I am sure we will have a lot of fun with him. Time is getting away from me, so I had better wind this up and get to the P.O. Excuse fancy writing paper.