With Gratitude...I honor them all

And So It Is Told….

2012-01-08T17:09:00.001-08:00

My great grandfather Jesse O Burgess

The Chosen

We are the chosen. In each family there is one who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again. To tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know and approve. Doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who have gone before. We are the story tellers of our tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called, as it were, by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us: Tell our story. So, we do. In finding them, we somehow find ourselves. How many graves have I stood before and cried? I have lost count. Hoe many times have I told my ancestors, “You have a wonderful family; you would be proud of us”. How many times have I walked up to a grave and felt somehow there was love there for me? I cannot say. It goes beyond documenting facts. It goes to who I am, and why I do the things I do. It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference and saying – I can’t let this happen! The bones are bones of my bones and flesh of my flesh. It goes to doing something about it. It goes to our pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish. How they contributed to what we are today. It goes to respecting their hardships and losses, their never giving in or up, their resoluteness to go on and build a life fort heir family. It goes to deep pride that the fathers fought and some died to make and keep us a nation. It goes to a deep and immense understanding that they were doing it for us. It is of equal pride and love that our mothers struggled to give us birth, without them we could not exist, and so w love each one, as far back as we can reach. That we might be born who we are. So, as a scribe called, I tell the story of my family. It is up to that one called in the next generation to answer the call and take my place in the long line of family storytellers. That is why I do family genealogy, and that is what calls those young and old to step up and restore memory or greet those who we had never known before…

by Della M. Cummings Wright; rewritten by her granddaughter Dell Jo Ann McGinnis Johnson; edited and reworded by Ton Dunn, 1943."

A Long Time Ago….

2011-12-31T16:23:00.001-08:00

My cousin was looking thru some old things of her mom’s and found this receipt from my great grand uncle. He was a home decorator and contractor. This is a receipt from a home he remolded in 1922…

Can you imagine???? Working for 85 cents an hour????? Look at the phone number! Work was hard then just like it is now.

My Aunt Goldie, the woman who kept this never threw anything away, and I am so thankful that she didn’t! She also wanted future generations to know the connection and so she wrote this on the back;;;

Charles Reinhard was William’s brother and my great grandfather. And she tried to put a little something like this on all of the items she kept. Thank you Aunt Goldie, for thinking of all of us!

I am going to see if this family has descendants in Eau Claire or elsewhere so I can share it with them!

Happy New Year!

A Victorian Christmas

2011-12-17T19:42:00.001-08:00

I have no photos of my parents as children at Christmas, in fact I have no baby photos of my Mom at all….my grandparents were too poor to have any real photos of any of their children as babies. It makes me sad as the maternal grandparents were very well off….but such is life.

My Dad’s Dad was a Barber…enough said about their income….but I do own a few of him as a baby, just not at the holidays.

This is a photo of Severin “Socky” Westlund at Christmas in 1915. This was taken at my great grandparents hose. They were Zachrias and Mary Severson. Socky is just 7 years old…. I wish I could see more of these!

I just love the walls and that photo on the wall….wonder where that ended up? His toys are behind him and he looks way too serious for a boy of 7.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to still have these great vintage toys?

I remember Socky very well and with a lot of love, he was a wonderful, kind, soft spoken man with a great sense of humor! I just wish I had been interested in the family before he passed….again, if you have family members that you can talk to…do it!!!!! You only get that chance for those wonderful stories and tidbits while they are with us…

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight…as Santa would say…:)

Sandy

The Meaning of Memorial Day

2011-05-28T12:29:00.001-07:00

I have always know that Memorial Day is a day to remember those who died during an American war, but I did some checking and found out how it started…..

The day was originally know as “Decoration Day” because the day was dedicated to the Civil War dead, when mourners would decorate the gravesites.

The holiday was first widely observed May 30, 1868, when 5000 people helped decorate the gravesites of 20,000 Union and Confederate solders buried at Arlington National Cemetery. After World War 1, the observance was widened to honor the fallen from all American wars- and in 1971 Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday.

Please try to remember the real meaning of this day when you are with your loved ones and take a moment this weekend to really be thankful to all those who have died for our way of life!

Images all courtesy of Google

Jessie Emilia Emma Reinhard

2011-05-02T18:18:00.001-07:00

I would like to introduce you to a very special lady….Her name was “Aunt Jesse”, I only knew her as that as I was just a child….Aunt Jessie was my maternal grandmother’s sister. There were three Reinhard sisters:

The baby in the middle is my grandmother Josephine ( born in 1891) , the child on the left is Mae Lillian “Mamie” and the oldest on the right is Jessie.

The family story is that Jesse got Scarlet Fever as a child and her fever went too high and she came out of it mentally “different”. She lived with her parents Charles and Amelia Reinhard her whole life, and when they both passed within 48 hours of each other she came to live at my grandparents house. She never got past about 10 years of age….so to me a 8 or 9 year old she seemed perfectly normal! She loved puzzles, she did hundreds of them and they were all in my grandparents attic. . My grandmother was rough on her sometimes or so it seemed to me as a youngster, and I would get cross at Grandma, I hated it when I thought she was being mean. Now as an adult I understand what a sacrifice my grandparents made in taking her in, and how it was like having a forever child.

In the few photos I have of Jesse as a child, she has a somewhat different look on her face, but she was never excluded from anything! That was not the normal for mentally challenged children in the early 1900’s and I applaud my great grandparents for not putting her away, like so many children were that were afflicted mentally in some form or another in that time era.

Above photo, L to R, Jessie, Mamie and Josephine.

This wonderful photo is at a Halloween Party, Jessie is the beautiful women in the white right in the middle, The woman sitting down on the far right is my grandmother.

Jessie is in the far right.

The photo that means the most to me is this one……

This is how I remember my sweet Aunt Jessie….always with one of those very worn, very soft aprons on and that sweet smile…..

Jessie outlived both of my grandparents and ended up in a nursing home in Eau Claire, she lived to the ripe old age of 82. Having very little of life’s stresses, Jessie was able to outlive all of her family. I don’t know if that was a good thing or not, but it was how it happened. As long as Jessie had her coloring books, crayons and puzzles her world was good…. I miss her a great deal some days…..

My Storeroom surprise

2011-03-14T16:04:00.001-07:00

My husband and I decided it was time to clean out out storeroom once more! I am such a little hoarder, and sometimes I just have to get rid some of it!

One of the last items we got to find, under all sorts of bins and boxes was My Dad’s World War Two storage locker, in the top were the original stuffed Care Bears of my youngest sons nursery from 16 years ago ( see what I mean about being a bit of a hoarder?) but I was taken aback some when I lifted the tray…..

I was so shocked to see my Dad’s uniform and jacket!

This was most likely his dress uniform for the National Guard, he was in the Guard before WWII for a short time ( The Horse Calvary) and once the war was over up into the 1960’s until he got a medical discharge for Diabetes. I am sure that was a very hard day for my Dad.

I would like to know what the patch is, perhaps artillery???? I will have to ask some of the vets in my park here. There were tiny holes all through the pants and jacket…

There were no insects in my storage room, but I am sure somewhere along the line from Ohio to here, there was something munching on them!

This is my Dad on the left and his friend from Eau Claire, Laurnie Miles on the right, they were buddies forever!

Check out this rifle, my brother still has it….we think this is in Alaska….

What just really touched me though, was the items in the white bag…..

A wonderful pillow sham that My dad must have got my Mom, …. it is silky and the fringe is beautiful, what a wonderful souvenir from that time in their lives!

I have to figure out how to get out the wrinkles, I want to put in a pillow form and have it on my guest bed….it was my folks bedroom suite.

He started basic in Louisiana at this Camp Beauregard and ended up towards the end of the war in Alaska….. and of course you have to get a souvenir from there!!!!

Now the issue is…..what do I do with this uniform????? I have no where to put it, I thought I would take come good photos, take all of the patches and buttons and such off and dispose of it properly…..it’s hard to think of doing that, but it is the logical thing to do. Does anyone know of the proper way to dispose of old uniforms, can you just thrown them away???? That really feels wrong!

I could see my Dad watching me opening that army chest, arms crossed over his chest, with a grin on his face, and my Mom standing behind him with that sweet smile of hers….forever young…..:):)

Thanks for coming by….:)

On this Veterans Day I honor my Dad

2010-11-10T16:04:00.000-08:00

On this very special day I want to honor my Dad….

Charles Robert Burgess was born July 23, 1922 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. It was a small town and he always lived in the same home on the same street.

My Dad was a very Proud American. My Aunt Rosemary told me he stretched the truth a little bit about his age to get into the Army National Guard before the war. He had told me that at some point he was a member of the Horse Calvary. I wish I had listened a little better as he would often talk about those days in the Guard. Not so much about WWII. Even though he was very lucky and never had to go overseas, it was still a hard time for him.

When it came time, he enlisted, they did not have to ask him twice to serve in World War II. He wanted to become an Army pilot, and went thru a lot of testing and waiting until he could try out. They found out as they were doing his physical that his depth perception was very poor. That was the end of that dream. My Mom told me even though it was hard for him to accept, she was pretty happy he wasn’t going to be a pilot! He was in Louisiana for his basic training and then was in Colorado, California, Alaska and ended up at Ft. Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma at the end of the war.

When my folks passed I found more than one box of letters my Dad had written his family during the war…he tried to write so often, but found he had little he could share. So much was considered confidential info back then! The letters spoke of his love of his family home and country and of course my Mom Loie, also the incredible loneliness a 19 year old boy felt being away from home for the first time ever. I remember more than reading about once my Grandma sending him cakes thru the mail, how they ever got there and were edible is beyond me!

I have gone thru them and put them in chronological order. He would sign each and everyone of them the same way….

( Your loving son, Charles Love to you all. Don’t worry.)

After the war, my Dad continued his service with the National Guard until he was medically discharged in the 60’s due to being diagnosed with Diabetes. I have vivid memories of the Armory in Lakewood, Ohio and when he would go to Summer Camp a Jeep would come to pick him up, to a little girl that was so exciting!

I miss you Dad, and I am so proud to have you be my father!

ANYWAY

2010-11-06T19:05:00.001-07:00

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you. Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight. Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow. Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give the world your best anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

Till we meet again brother…..

Could this be the same woman?????

2010-09-03T11:51:00.001-07:00

I am doing this post on both of my blogs as I would appreciate anyone’s feedback on this question….So please tell me what you think. If you have anyone who does do genealogy I would very much appreciate their input too!

The first photo was taken in La Porte City, Iowa, where this family lived. Lura and her husband ended up in Washington, but was originally in La Porte City. I recently hit the mother lode on a big box of Burgess photos! A woman that is one generation younger than me had all kinds of them from her mother( Doris Burgess Kepler) , who had her brother’s ( Arza Burgess son of James Burgess) items as Arza never had children. It was a wealth of info! But most of all there were two photographs I need some help with….I am 99% sure that this photo is my great grandmother Mary Louise Dibble Burgess and her daughter Lura Burgess Woodard and the baby is her daughter Grace Woodard.

Here is a close up of Lura and a for sure photo of Lura years later:

Sorry the second one is so poor, it was from a goofy postcard:

I am no expert on dating photo, but I know the postcard is dated like 1907, so the other photo would have had to been around 1887. Grace was born in 1886, so in that year time period. The photographer who took the portrait photo was in business at that time. Lura was the only living daughter of Jesse and Mary Burgess at this time. The other daughter died as an infant. ANY help would be great! Thanks for stopping by!

A Mother’s Day to remember them with a smile

2010-05-08T15:37:00.001-07:00

Mother’s Day is a hard day for me….has been since I lost my Mom all those years ago, so my guys celebrated it with me on Friday and took me out to Dinner and gave me two gift cards….Hobby Lobby and Michaels! How much better can it be???? It seems it is better if we do my Mother’s Day celebration on a different day.

So I am going to show you the women who were important Mom’s in my life:

My lovely Mom Lois Jane Harstad Burgess. I just love this photo!!!! She looks so young and sweet. We had such a short time together, but she is in my heart every single day! Happy Mother’s Mom!!!!!

Her mother, Josephine Gladys Reinhard Harstad. I just love this photo also, the dress she has on is so very pretty, and I only knew my grandma with white, not grey but white hair. She had to be in her 20’s here.

This is my Dad’s mom, Emma Severson Burgess. She was way ahead of her time….left her tiny town to work in the big city…Minneapolis. That is where she met my grandpa. They came back to Eau Claire to take care of her ailing father. Grandma Burgess could be harsh, but she loved us all.

Emma’s lovely daughter and my wonderful Aunt, Rosemary Burgess Wollum.

This is a special special lady to me! I just got to be with her on my vacation and I cherish any and all time we get to have together!

And a special Mom that was there for me all those years my Mom couldn’t be….

This is my husband Wayne’s Mom, Priscilla Dean Scribner McClay.

Our first year or so was really rocky, but thru the years she was my support, my mentor and more than that my dear friend, She died 11 years ago this May….I miss her still.

Please, if you have your Mom with you still, be sure to let her know how much she means to you! I hope all of you have a wonderful Mother’s Day!

Jesse O. Burgess

2010-04-15T13:21:00.001-07:00

My journey started with my paternal great grandfather. Jesse was born in Stewartstown, Eastern District, Monongolia, Virgina on December 3, 1835.

He was the second child of Edward Burgess and Catherine Pixler. He had an older sister name Louisa born in 1831 and a younger brother named James born in 1835.

Edward and Catherine were enumerated as being born in Pennsylvania. I have not been able to prove this with any written record as of yet. Catherine was quite a bit older than Edward having been born in about 1791. Edward was born about 1810. So when Jesse was born his parents were 25 and 44.

Jesse was enumerated in the 1850 Census in Virginia, I have not been able to locate him in a 1860 Census, but he was married to Mary Louise Dibble in 1862 in Iowa. He again is in Black Hawk County, Iowa for the 1870. 1880, 1900 and 1910 Censuses.

I learned about this man from his own words….my Burgess family was very lucky in that they had letters he had written to Mary, his wife during the Civil War.

She had gone to war with Jesse and was a nurse/cook for his group. And some how, I can’t imagine, got pregnant and went home to Pennsylvania to be with her Mom to have the baby.

He wrote of where he was, how far they marched and what battles they had found on their way. His unit was part of Sherman’s March to the Sea, but most of all he wrote about how much he missed her, and how we couldn't’t wait to see his precious “Ruby”. His son Reuben Arza Burgess was born in Conneautville, Crawford, Pennsylvania on September 5th, 1864. He also told her how much the men missed her cooking and help along the way.

He wrote her poetry, this is from one of the letters:

Spring

The swollen buds apon the trees
Seems bursting forth with every breeze
A sweetness fills those spring days
And warmer shines the suns soft rays
Her silver thread the spider weaves
Apon many trees there are green leaves

With every step come around the years
In spite our smiles or bitter tears.
Our yearning hearts awaits the day
When this cloud of war shall pass away
Then shall this might of sorrow cease,
And freedom dawn with lasting peace

J.O. Burgess

He was a very young man, newly married and missing his wife horribly as I am sure thousands did also.

The back round on this blog is one of his letters.

He would sign his letter to her:

“J O Burgess to Mary L Burgess the heroine of the Great Rebellion”.

His handwriting was amazing considering what kind of education people received back then.

He was very fortunate to come home to his little family, so many didn't…..

U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles
about Jesse O Burgess
Name: Jesse O Burgess
Residence: Rossville, Iowa
Age at Enlistment: 26
Enlistment Date: 15 Aug 1862
Rank at enlistment: 5th Corpl
State Served: Iowa
Survived the War?: Yes
Service Record: Enlisted in Company I, Iowa 27th Infantry Regiment on 05 Sep 1862.
Promoted to Full 4th Corporal.
Promoted to Full 4th Sergeant on 01 Jul 1864.
Promoted to Full 5th Sergeant on 10 Mar 1864.
Mustered out on 08 Aug 1865 at Clinton, IA.
Birth Date: abt 1836
Sources: Roster & Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of Rebellion

There will be more on Jesse and Mary, but this was their start in life together.

My reason for this Blog

2010-04-11T23:13:00.000-07:00

Before I get into my Family tree and such, I wanted to let you know why I started looking for my family to begin with.
I lost my parents when I was in my late 20's...totally unexpected. They died within 14 months of each other. At the time I was trying to find out what it was like being a new wife and a new Mom. My world just exploded. It has taken years to find my way.
About 5 years ago I wanted to start scrapbooking, and decided I needed to start with the only "photo" I had of my paternal greatgrandfather, Jesse O. Burgess. ( The gentleman in the banner on the left)
My Dad was really into history and very proud of his heritage. I had listened to him talk about his grandfather and the Civil War and had seen the letters from Jesse, but that was about it. My Dad has one sister and God Bless her she is still with us. Her name is Rosemary, and we have spent a lot of hours in the last 4 years talking about the family. I would ask questions and it would spark a memory and away we would go!
One my Mom's side, everyone except some of my cousins are gone. There is no one to ask questions....no one. So that side of the family was a real puzzle and finding out about this side has lead me on some great journeys! I have more family than I ever knew!
So, the scrapbooking took a backseat and the genealogy became my passion. As with all of us, I love the hunt! I still haven't done that scrapbook page. :)
So, I will be sharing my stories, and what I learned about genealogy this last 5 years. I hope that what I write might help someone else on their journey too!