Sometimes "Crazy" Works

 

















What's In A Name?
Just between you, me, and the gatepost, just how many ancestors have you tried to find that have the name "Mary"?  I don't think that I have enough fingers and toes to count how many Mary's are in my family tree.  Mary is such a common name, then couple that with the fact that a Mary usually marries, changing her last name.  All of which makes finding the correct Mary extremely difficult.

One of My Mary's

This is the exact problem that I had when I tried to find what exactly happened to my grandfather's younger sister Mary Marschall.  In the 1910 census, she and my grandfather were living with their older sister Antonetta "Nettie" Marschall Legatos, Nettie's husband Nick Legatos and their children in Galveston, Galveston County, Texas.  My grandfather Joseph [17 yrs old at the time] was fishing with Nick for a living, while Mary [15 yrs old at the time] was keeping house for a private family.  By 1920, my grandfather had married and moved to San Antonio, and Mary had done the obligatory "disappearing act".  [Big Sigh.]  How was I going to find my Mary?  Where and what was Mary's story?

Playing Hide-and-Seek With Mary

The first thing that I ruled out was her death before marriage.  She wasn't to be found with her maiden name in the Texas Death Index and a Texas death certificate didn't "pop-up" for her either.  Therefore, I knew she probably hadn't died between 1910 and 1920 before getting married, if she, indeed, married.  I tried "looking" for her in her other sibling's households to no avail as well.

Come Out. Come Out, Wherever You Are

I was thinking that she probably married, and my major stumbling block was that I needed to find out to whom she married.  How does one go about finding in the great big state of Texas [if she married in Texas] possibly between 1910 & 1920 a Mary who married?  Well, I took a look at what might make my Mary stand out from all the rest.  I knew some important facts about Mary's parents, and I knew where all of her siblings were living.  Using Ancestry.com, I decided to search in the 1920 census of Galveston, Galveston County, Texas for a Mary born in Galveston, Texas in 1895 [exact birth year verified from Baptismal records].  I printed the 3 pages of Mary's out, and I began to look each one up looking for a Mary with a father born in Prussia, Germany, Poland or Posen [all of which he had listed in previous and future census records] and a mother born in Texas. Pretty crazy, huh?

Tag!  Your It.

It might be crazy, but on page 2 just past half-way, I found a Mary Espersen married to a man by the name of Harry Espersen.  This Mary had a father born in Poland and mother born in Texas.  Would you believe me if I said that out of all the Mary's living in Galveston in 1920 born in Galveston in/around 1895, she's the only one that had parents with these birthplaces and not living with her parents?  With the German population at the time, it's unbelievable.

So, was this the correct Mary? Was she mine? 

With this last name to go by, I looked for a death certificate for a Mary Espersen, and was able to find one for her and her husband pretty easily [with last name spelled Esperson]. With the death certificate, I was able to verify that this Mary was indeed "my Mary".  It listed my great-grandparents [John and Emma (Schleicher) Marschall] as her parents, and Jane's [her older sister] husband, Otto Rosin, was listed as the informant.  In piecing together her short life, I found that Mary Marschall married Harry Esperson sometime between 1910-1920.  They lived in Galveston, Texas in 1920, where Harry was the owner of a dairy.  By coinicidence [probably not, though], her brother, John Marschall was a dairyman in Galveston at the time as well as her brother-in-law Otto Rosin in San Antonio.  By 1921, Harry and Mary moved to San Antonio and bought a house.  [Though not from my grandfather, Joseph Marshall, who hadn't yet begun his real estate development there.]  Tragically by 12 Mar 1922, Harry died from complications due to diabetes and Mary followed in her death just over 2 months later on 25 May 1922 of septicemia.  Mary and Harry were both buried and rest today in Lakeview Cemetery, Galveston, Texas.

So, go find your Mary's!

Wordless Wednesday: Laughing Eyes & Bouncing Curls

My Mom ~ Carolyn Marie Blacketer, ca. 1943
"Laughing Eyes & Bouncing Curls"

Good Genealogy Luck

Randy Seaver over at Genea-Musings has sent out his Saturday Night Genealogy Fun Challenge.  The directions for tonight are:

1) When have you had a dose of good genealogy luck? What document or resource did you find just by happenstance or chance? By being in the right place at the right time? By finding a family history treasure in your family's attic or basement? By finding a helpful document or reference without even looking for it?

2) Tell us about it in Comments to this post, in Comments on Facebook, or in a blog post of your own.

O.K., I have to admit that this is an easy and pleasurable task for me.  Please see my post entitled "Can You Say Genealogical Jackpot?" and read all about my "chance happening of a fortunate event."  I'm still identifying, documenting, investigating, and photographing these items, and I've even posted the stories of some of them.  Thanks Randy!  What a great idea.  It's like finding them all over again [almost].

Letter to Mom

Postcard Friendship Friday: Letter to Mom

Here is a collage that I made of my husband's grandfather, Forrest Pointer.  The postcard is a photo postcard taken of Forrest when he was in the U.S. Navy in World War II.  The letter is one that he wrote when he was at the Alameda Air Base in California dated 2 Jul 1942.  He writes of the goings-on without being too specific, and he indicates that he's "in hopes" of seeing his brother Donald before he has to leave Alameda.  And who his mother?  Well, the beautiful Pearl Williams Pointer, of course!

[This is a submission for the Postcard Friendship Friday McKlinky sponsored by Marie at her blog Vintage Postcards~Cpaphil.  Go take a look at all the vintage postcards.  It's a virtual walk through time!  Have vintage postcards? Join the Postcard Friendly Postcard fun!]

What's In A Name?: Big Paw Paw

What's In A Name? ~ Big Paw Paw

Today's "What's In A Name?" is short and sweet.  Growing up I had always heard stories of my Big Paw Paw.  He always seemed bigger than life.  He had died before I was born and since I only knew my Paw Paw [my grandma], I was always more than a little curious as to how my grandfather had become known as "Big Paw Paw."  [Well, other than the fact that everyone needed some type of designation between my grandmother and my grandfather.]  So, the other day as I was going through some old photographs, I found the one below of my Big Paw Paw from 1951, and I snickered.  [Yes, I said snickered!]  He looks like a used car salesman, doesn't he?  Immediately I thought, "Ah.  This is why he was called 'Big Paw Paw'."  He kind of reminds me of what I always thought "Big Daddy" from Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" should look like.  Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

Gal Pals

[For those of you who don't know: Blogher'09, the single biggest girl blog fest, kicked off in Chicago today. However, some of us unable to attend the festivities are having our own party Blog Hop '09 hosted by Robin at Pensieve. So here's a short introduction of myself and my blog.]

First and foremost, I'm a wife and a mom [and everything else that goes along with those titles ;)]. My family is at the center of my passion...genealogy. I love to research and find all those family stories and secrets that are hidden just waiting to be found. From a pirate in Philadelphia, Pa., to a Civil War veteran in Johnson Co., IL, to a farmer on Galveston Island, Texas, to my husband, to my children - they are all my family. Learning all that I can about them and sharing their stories with others is my passion and the main interest of my blog. So, come and take a look around at my Family Stories.

Wordless Wednesday: John & Belle

Wedding Day

I Just Needed A Sign

I Just Needed A Sign

As I looked through my meager collection of postcards, I wondered if I'd find one with a sign that also included a family story.  I mean, really, what are the odds?  At first, I didn't find any, but then I remembered that I had a few more.  They weren't with the rest of my postcards because they're a part of the "Genealogical Jackpot."  I quickly located them, and I found that one, indeed, had a sign.  Albeit, a minuscule one, but a sign nonetheless.  As I read the back of the postcard, I realized that the whole postcard was a sign.

You see, the postcard is one that was sent by Annie Ritter to Harvey "Harve" Pointer [the beautiful Pearl's husband].  I had done some preliminary research on Annie, but I'd lost her trail.  Anna Elizabeth Pointer was born to Daniel & Emeline (Belcher) Pointer Jul 1869.  She was more than likely named after her Aunt Anna Pointer who married Alfred McHone.  Annie married Charles Padelford/Paddleford 25 Apr 1885 in Story County, Iowa.  She gave birth to 2 children with only one surviving by the 1900 Census.  The surviving child was Maud born abt 1887.  In addition, according to another researcher, she married a second man by the last name Ritter.  However, this information was not sourced.  So, what had happened to Annie?  Well, I hadn't known until now.  This little postcard, or sign, was a very nice clue.

The front of the postcard is a picture of the C.M. & St. P. Depot, in Groton, South Dakota.  Hard to see with the naked eye, is a sign that reads "Groton" on the Depot.  On the back, she writes to her brother, "Harvie Pointer."  She indicates that she's going to Canada in 3 weeks [postcard dated by Annie 30 Aug 1913].  She also says she'd like to see him again one more time, but that she doesn't have the money to do so.  She signs the postcard "loving sister Anna Ritter."  Aahh.  So many clues in such a small space kept by my husband's great-grandfather, Harvey Lewis "Harve" Pointer.

With this postcard, my cold trail for Annie has just become warm, if not hot.  Here's a quick run-down of what I learned from it and what I need to do next:

• This postcard from Annie to Harvey confirms that she probably married a man by the name "Ritter" because she signs her last name with "Ritter."  Since she's in Groton, South Dakota, I can now look there and the surrounding area for marriage records.
• Annie and Harvey had a brother and uncle named George Washington Pointer.  The uncle and his wife moved to Dahinda, Saskatchewan, Canada, and had 6 children there.  [They had 8 in total but the 1st two children that were born in Iowa perished there.]  Had Annie and her husband moved to live near her Uncle George?
  
• I will be searching border crossing records for Annie and her husband.
• Also, where was her daughter, Maude?  By 1913, Maude would've been about 26 years old.  Where did she end up?  Did she marry?
• I located a map of this particular railway's line.  If she took a direct route from Iowa to South Dakota, then I have everywhere she may have stopped and possibly left records along the way.
  

This is all I can think of right now, but I'm sure there is more that will be apparent later.  As is usual with genealogical clues, it answers some questions and raises more.  I'm sure thankful, though, that Annie wrote her brother Harvey a "goodbye" note on a postcard and sent it to him.  Likewise, I'm thankful that it meant so much to Harvey that he kept it and that his descendants kept it, as well.  Something so simple as a postcard of a train depot in South Dakota has given me more signs of Annie's story.

Caroline
 Festival of Postcards, 3rd Edition - "Signs"
Sponsored by Evelyn Yvonne Theriault
 

Moon Walk Through Time

Americans on the Moon, 20 Jul 1969

Apollo 11 Crew: Armstrong, Collins, Aldrin

Diagram of Apollo 11 Moon Landing

Moon Walk, Step-By-Step Account

Armstrong's Famous First Words on Moon

Aldrin's Lunar View

Armstrong and Aldrin on Moon

Lofty 2000 Predictions of Space Exploration Made in 1969

American Flag on Moon from Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas

Apollo Space Mission Banners at Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas

Caroline

Credits:

[Photos 1-8 Above]:

The Light. Newspaper. San Antonio, Texas, 21 Jul 1969.  Privately held by Caroline Pointer, [Address for private use], Conroe, Texas.  This newspaper edition was passed from Rettie Maye Martin Marshall (1913-2003) to her son Joseph Kent Marshall, Jr. (1936-2004), from whom the current owner (his daughter) inherited it in 2008.

[Photos 9 & 10]:

"American Flag on Moon."  Photograph. Digital image ca. 2008, privately held by Caroline Pointer, [Address for private use,] Conroe, Texas. 2009.

"Apollo Space Mission Banners from Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas." Photograph. Digital image ca. 2008, privately held by Caroline Pointer, [Address for private use,] Conroe, Texas. 2009.

What's In A Name: Turnagain

Take A Left, Then A Right, Then Turnagain...
Yes, you read correctly, Turnagain.  That is, Turnagain, Alaska.  Admittedly, it's not as creative as Dead Horse, Alaska, but it does make one think.  At least, it made me think about how it became known as Turnagain.  [I just couldn't pass it up.]

Mutiny on the Bounty
Ever heard of "Mutiny on the Bounty"?  Well, a William Bligh was the commanding officer of the British Royal Navy ship, "Bounty" on that mutinous day 28 Apr 1789.  However before this time, he served as James Cook's Sailing Master on Cook's third exploration for the Northwest Passageway in 1776.  They entered into what is now known as Cook's Inlet [so named after Cook by George Vancouver in 1794].  There were two bodies of water there that Bligh felt were probably just headwaters of rivers and not the much sought-after Northwest Passageway.  However, Cook sent Bligh and some men to check it out.  The first one [now known as Knik Arm] was indeed just the mouth of a river, which frustrated the explorers.  Cook then sent Bligh and some more men back out to check the second one.  Again, this body of water turned out to be the mouth of a second river.  In his frustration, Bligh named the river...Turnagain.  I would suppose that Bligh had a wee bit of a sense of humor.  Older maps have it listed as Turnagain River, but it eventually became Turnagain Arm [from the shape, maybe?].  Also the area on the mainland near Anchorage became known as Turnagain as well.



View Larger Map

Making People Want To Turnagain
Could Bligh have ever guessed that almost 200 years later that the river that he and his men named so haphazzardly and the surrounding area named after the river would be so devastatingly changed forever?  Something so horrific that it would make the survivors feel like turning 'round again and heading for safer ground?  Probably not.  How could he possibly predict that on Good Friday, 27 Mar 1964 at 5:36 P.M. the largest earthquake in U.S. and North American history would occur in the Anchorage Area, forever changing the landscape?  It registered between 8.4 & 8.6 on the Richter Scale, but was later upgraded to a 9.2, but no matter what the category, 131 people lost their lives due to the earthquake and the following tsunamis.  The hardest hit in the Anchorage area, by far, was Turnagain.  A portion of the community simply fell off the face of the earth.  Well, it seemed that way.  It actually slid into the inlet.

Roles In History
My Uncle Harry is Retired Air Force, and he and my Aunt Carole [my Dad's sister] were stationed in Anchorage, Alaska at the time of the Good Friday Earthquake.  Lucky for me, she's a stickler for documenting events.  Not only did she save a copy of the Anchorage Daily Times, Special Edition, "The Quake Story" dated Tuesday, 14 Apr 1964, but she took photos of the earthquake's aftermath, labelled each photograph, and sent them all to my Paw Paw in San Antonio, Texas.  When she passed away, my father ended up with them, and now they're mine.  Below are some designs I made for the photos.  My aunt and uncle had lived on Govt. Hill just north of downtown, and the Turnagain area is located just south of downtown along the coast.


View Larger Map
















This just goes to show you how our family stories really do fit into history.  Sometimes our family members are the main players, and sometimes they are the spectators recording events as they happen.  No matter what role they have, though, the important thing to remember is that they had one.  They were there participating in history...

...participating in their family story...

...in our family story.

Caroline

Sources/Credits:
Wikipedia
The Mariner's Museum
www.anchorage.net
Photos are part of the private collection of Caroline Pointer.
Photo Background Designs: "Northern Lights" by Caroline Pointer
"Northern Lights" Design Credits:
Photoshop Elements 7
"Beyond the Mist" Brush by Midnightstouch

Wordless Wednesday: My Grandparents

Big Paw Paw and Paw Paw



Caroline

With Both My Hearts

Chinese Food and Yellow Roses
In the middle of my sophomore year in high school my dad bought my mom a house for her birthday.  [Yes, a real house.]  He surprised her with the key to the house, and we celebrated with take-out Chinese food at the built-in kitchen table in our new house.  My dad had also given my mom what he always gave her on special occasions: 2 dozen yellow roses.  As we were eating, I was looking at the beautiful roses, and I also read the card.  It read: "To Carolyn, I love you with both my hearts.  Love, Joe."  For the life of me I couldn't figure out what that meant so I asked them.  My dad explained that when they met and were first married, they used to play a game.  Mom would say she loved him, and he'd say I love you more.  They'd go back and forth with each one proclaiming the depth of their love for each other.  Dad would always end it with, "I have 2 hearts so I love you the most."  [Definite Aaahh moment for us women...]



Mom's Rose Bushes
My mom loves roses.  In fact, my dad would always give her rose bushes [he gave me one, too] as gifts [sometimes for "just because"].  We had quite a rose bush garden, but when we moved we had to leave them behind.  About year ago [for some odd reason] I got to thinking about those rose bushes and my mom's rose garden, and, at the time, I wished that I had had a picture of it [again, for some odd reason].  When looking for the picture of Oscar the Donkey just the other day, I found a Polaroid picture of mom's rose garden [that from the looks of it, needs a little cleaning]!  After my "family picture happy dance", I'd thought it'd be perfect to share this story of my parents with you today.



Happy 54th Anniversary!
Today is the 54th Anniversary of my parents' wedding, though dad is no longer with us.  So, I thought I'd share some pictures of their life together.  Also, I have a message that I can't give my mom in person [because I think it would be too upsetting for her].  Mom, I wish you and dad a happy anniversary, and I know that dad loves you with both his hearts!









Caroline

Wordless Wednesday: Texas Sunsets

My Dad's & My Version of a Texas Sunset - 54 Yrs Apart





Caroline

What's in A Name?: Oscar

Who/What Do You Think of When 
You Hear the Name, "Oscar?"



For some of you, you might conjure up the illustrious...

Then others might think of the messy...

I, on the other hand, have another totally different picture.  Remember when I told you about interviewing my Gran when I was a senior in high school?  Well, after the story she told me about war rations and hard times, my mom volunteered some very interesting [and unknown to me before this time] news that my mom and dad had had a hog farm.  I was surprised and a little upset that I hadn't known before about this, and I told her so.  I asked her why I hadn't known about this farm, and she replied, "Where else did you think we kept Oscar?"  She had a point.  You see, I had heard many times about Oscar...the donkey.  [Yeah, you heard right - a donkey.]  The story goes that Oscar the donkey was the beloved pet of my 2 older siblings and my parents after my dad graduated from Texas A&M University [with a degree in animal husbandry, now more aptly named animal science].  Because they didn't have air conditioning, they would sleep with the windows open every night.  However, Oscar the donkey did not understand why he couldn't come in the house.  [When I said he was their pet, I meant it!]  So, every night, feeling the rejection of the family, and possibly thinking that they may have forgotten him once again, Oscar the donkey would stick his head through the screen in the window above the head of my parents' bed and would announce his presence with a loving "bray."  [I mean, how could they forget him, right?] 

Every time I heard this story as a little girl, I would always ask for a donkey.  Secretly though, I didn't want just a donkey.  I wanted NEEDED Oscar the donkey.  In my "Oscar the donkey obsession", I'm sure in each retelling of the story that I conveniently tuned-out the part about the hog farm [which is a funny story in and of itself for another time].  Of course, my dreams of Oscar the donkey didn't include the feeding and cleaning and mucking and whatever else there is in taking care of a donkey [not to mention all the other farm animals...]. I was just thinking of all the love I could give him.

To this day, I still think it'd be cool to have Oscar the donkey, but alas, I don't live on a farm, and I'm pretty sure that Oscar the donkey is "braying" in much greener and heavenly pastures.  However, the other day when I was going through pictures to find suitable ones to use for my Father's Day post, I found a picture of [you guessed it] Oscar the donkey...





The lucky kids on him are my older brother Joe and my sister Susan.  While I can't have Oscar, I have a picture of him!  [I hope he knows, though, I would've let him in the house, or rather, the farmhouse...]

Caroline

Wordless Wednesday: What's Holding It Up?

Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, Colorado






Caroline