1822 :: Elisha Roberts in Texas

On this date in our family history . . . the 29th day of April . . . in the year 1822 . . . a letter of reference is drawn up in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana for our Elisha Roberts (c.1774-1844) in preparation for his planned trip into the area we now know as East Texas . . . this Elisha is a 4th great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history timeline . . . click > HERE < to view a scan of the three-page letter of reference which was shared by our cousin, Diane Baldwin . . .

St. George's Day

Great Hall at Kenilworth Castle
Originally uploaded by Damek

On the afternoon before St. George's Day, 1376, April bloomed in Warwickshire. The young lambs bleated from the pastures beyond the mere, while a hazy gold light turned the sandstone of the battlements to the color of a robin's breast. All Kenilworth Castle, cleansed & garlanded for the festivities, waited for the Duke to come again. Katherine sat on a sunny stone bench in the Inner Court near the old keep . . .

Katherine . . . that's the name of the historical novel the above excerpt is from . . . written by Anya Seton (1916-1990) . . . and published in 1954 . . . Katherine is still read and enjoyed and discussed by many . . . and according to current research, it does appear that this same Katherine is a 16th great-grandma to our Josephine . . . who is a 2nd great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .

• Death of Katherine Swynford
• Kenilworth Castle
• Order of the Garter established this date (benotforgot archives)
• St. George's Day (benotforgot archives)
• St. George's Day at theoldfoodie.blogspot.com

Begotten & never forgotten

 

On this date in our family history . . . the 22nd day of April . . . in the year 1857 . . . America James Davis nee Fears dies shortly before her 47th birthday in Madison, Morgan County, Georgia . . . this America is the mother of our Josephine Wingfield Henry nee Davis (1842-1899) . . . and a 3rd great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .

I hear the voices of my grandmas
Calling out from a distant past
"Please do not let us be forgot.
Record our stories that we may last."

Tell the children of our wanderings
Let the kinfolk hear the tales
How we braved the new horizons
How we blazed the olden trails.

How we buried too many babies
How we struggled to keep them fed
How we caressed the hands of our loved ones
As they lay dying on their beds.

How we endured many a hardship
With an eye to the future goal
To create a more promising future
And to keep our family whole.

They were as different from each other
As the scraps in a crazy quilt
Yet once the pieces were sewn together
Another generation they had built

I can sense them calling out to me
From the gloaming of my past
"Please do not let us be forgot.
Record our stories that we may last."

Begotten . . .
and may they never be forgotten . . .
Remembering . . .

Berta Mary Sharp, and her mother, Nellie Lemaire
Elizabeth Marilla Smith, and her mother, Eva May Brackett
Ima Lois Muston, and her mother, Emma Patience Nettles
Jerusha Marilla Barker, and her mother, Jerusha Lakin Hobbs
Josephine Wingfield Davis, and her mother, America James Fears
Mahala Lee Roberts, and her mother, Patsy Gill
Mary Alexandrien Lemaire, and her mother, Elizabeth Waring
Mary Annie West, and her mother, Sarah Mildred Carter
Mollie Olive, and her mother, Clementine Jordan
Nancy Virilla Quinn, and her mother, Sushannah
Phoebe Merrill, and her mother, Olive Jane Goodwin

The above family poem was composed back in 2009 in response to a challenge posted at Genea-Musings: Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Poetry and Genealogy . . . and the Wordle (name cloud) was created at wordle.net . . .

Wm. T. Merrill Hospitalized on 48th Birthday

On this date in our family history . . . the 16th day of April . . . in the year 1864 . . . an ailing William Thurston Merrill from Saco, Maine -- on the occasion of his 48th birthday -- checks in at New Orleans Barracks, U.S. Hospital . . . he had participated in the Battle at Sabine Crossroads (08 Apr 1864) as well as in the Battle of Pleasant Hill (09 Apr 1864) where "the bulits flue Around my head like Hale Stones" . . .

A Report on Barracks and Hospitals
with Descriptions of Military Posts
By United States Dept. of the Army
Office of the Surgeon General
United States Surgeon-General's Office
John Shaw Billings:

""

In loving memory . . .

We have this moment to hold in our hands
and to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand;
Yesterday's gone and tomorrow may never come,
But we have this moment today.

Remembering . . .
Bennie Everhart
20 March 1948 ~ 07 April 2010

Hold tight to the sound of the music of living,
Happy songs from the laughter of children at play;
Hold my hand as we run through the sweet fragrant meadows,
Making mem'ries of what was today.

Tender words, gentle touch and a good cup of coffee,
And someone who loves me and wants me to stay;
Hold them near while they're here and don't wait for tomorrow,
To look back and wish for today.

Take the blue of the sky and the green of the forest,
And the gold and the brown of the freshly mown hay;
Add the pale shades of spring and the circus of autumn,
And weave you a lovely today.

For we have this moment to hold in our hands
and to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand;
Yesterday's gone and tomorrow may never come,
But we have this moment today.

Lyrics by Gloria Gaither
Music by William J. Gaither
© 1975 William J. Gaither

Whales of August

On this date in our extended family history . . . the 5th day of April . . . in the year 1908 . . . future actress, Bette Davis, is born in Lowell, Massachusetts. Bette is said to be a 23rd great-granddaughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine . . . who is thought to be a 22nd great-grandma of our Josephine (1842-1899) . . . who is definitely a 2nd great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .

My favorite Bette Davis movies happens to be one of the last ones she was in -- The Whales of August -- which was filmed on location in Casco Bay off the shore of Portland, Maine. The film was shot a few miles down Casco Bay from the site of David Berry's family cottage on Peaks Island, from where, in fact, the characters and story were drawn when Berry wrote the original play that was the basis for this movie.

We have photos of my maternal grandma -- Elizabeth Marilla Henry nee Smith (1912-1932) -- on holiday on Peaks Island. Said Island was once owned by one of our Elizabeth's 8th great-grandpas -- Michael Mitton (c.1617 - c.1661) . . .

. . . Peak's Island in Casco Bay is just two miles from downtown Portland. It once was owned by Michael Mitton, son-in-law of Portland's first settler, George Cleeve. According to legend, Michael was out alone fishing in his dory when a triton swam up to his boat. Michael tried to fend off the monster with an oar, but the triton grasped hold of the side of the dory. Afraid that the triton could capsize the little boat, Michael seized a hatchet and, with one mighty blow, severed bothhands of this son of Poseidon. To his horrow, Michael Mitton saw that the monster's hands remained fastened to his boat. He could not pry them loose. It was then that Mike heard the haunting sound of the triton's conch, and at the sound, the severed hands gave one mighty effort at rocking his boat, finally flipping him into the water and swamping the dory. Michael drowned that day. . . . from Haunted Maine by Charles A. Stansfield, Jr.

Truth or fiction?!?

The ancestry part, apparently true . . . the death scene?!?

1857 :: Death of James Fears

On this date in our family history . . . the 5th day of April . . . in the year 1857 . . . James Fears dies in Morgan County, Georgia . . . this James is the father of America James Davis nee Fears (1810-1857) . . . who is the mother of Josephine Wingfield Henry nee Davis (1842-1899) . . . who is a 2nd great-grandma to the Keeper of this blog . . .

A History of Texas and Texans
By Francis White Johnson, Ernest William Winkler: