Category Archives: Family Places

5th Annual Carnival of Genealogy Swimsuit Edition! Pictures from the 1930’s check out those suites!

The topic for the July edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is The 5th Annual Swimsuit Edition! 

 

 

Well I hunted and I hunted and I hunted for more recent swim suit pictures in my albums and these were the only ones I could find. Okay, I confess,  so I didn’t look all that hard! I am not so willing to share my flesh with ya all ! So I have decide to show you a few photos of folks unknown in bodies of water unknown.

These photos were in family photos, so I am guessing they are either cousins or aunts and uncles (my grandparents would NEVER, hee hee hee the more I look at it, it just might be Nana and Grandpa)! The family from which these photos came from lived by water in a few places. This could be one of the great lakes, especially likely would  be Lake Michigan or Lake Erie. There was family in California and Florida too. Could be the Atlantic or the Pacific Oceans or the Gulf.  Where ever it is looks like they are having fun and staying cool.

Lone bather (wader?) having fun can’t tell who it is, again probably in one of those places listed above.
Time period I am guessing is in the 1920’s or 1930’s .

Last but surely not least one last bather. Looks like it might be a young woman and the same one as in the previous photo.  I wish it was a bit clearer, but this one seems to have a double exposure.

Where is your favorite watering hole?  Here in Michigan you have your pick, never have to go to awful far to find water.  Have a safe and wonderful summer as you enjoy the water!

Happy Hunting!

 

 

A Week of Genealogy-A Goodbye, A New Beginning, and a Re-connect

This past week has been an adventure in life to say the least.

We received the phone call that none one wants to get on April 26, 2012 that one of my mothers younger brothers had passed from this life from a short illness. Although for those involved I am sure it was a very long and hard experience and my heart does go out to them with love.

 Chester Niles Terrill Sr. was born on 8 February 1943 in Cleveland Ohio. He is the second son of Walter I. and Arleen L. Beach Terrill. Chester grew up in Kirtland Ohio and attended Kirtland Sr. High School and graduated from there in 1961. He then joined the United States Navy. He served honorably from 1966 to 1971.

The stats are just part of this mans life. I am proud and blessed to call Chester my uncle. I can tell so many stories, but a few that really stand out in my memory. I remember the ride he took me on in his Vet………vrooooooommm, I think that was the only time (snicker) I ever went over 90! Half scared to death and yet so excited that I was going that fast and in a vet with my Uncle!

OH and there was time when we were living with Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Chester was still at home and I was small. The family had tried and tried to get me to tie my shoes, I think they knew I could do it, but just didn’t want to. Uncle Chester was working in the basement, one needed to wear shoes down there, and I had bugged him to let me come down stairs with him. He came up stairs and made a bargain with me. If I would tie my shoes before he got down stairs I could come down with him. I remember the challenge and I remember getting my shoes tied and I remember  getting to spend time with my uncle down stairs, but what I don’t recall is what my mother told me, I had my shoes tied before he even got to the landing going to the basement. I guess they were right I knew how to tie my shoes I just didn’t want to.

There are many more memories, that will keep me company when I think of Uncle Chester. He was laid to rest on May 1, 2012 in Kinsman Ohio. He will indeed be missed.

David and Jessica's WeddingOn May 5 finds us again in North East Ohio, this time in Geneva on the Lake, Ashtabula Co. For a much happier occasion.
The marriage of my cousin David M. Terrill  (second son of Chester and Sheila Terrill) and his lovely fiancé Jessica Thompson.  It was a wonderful time spent with family and friends. They picked a wonderful venue for a wedding. They ceremony was on the Lake Erie water front at the Geneva Lodge. It was a beautiful sunny spring day, although it was rather blustery, the white caps made it seem as if they were at the ocean front.

The reception was great and a good time was had by all.

I wish them a life full of joy, happiness and most of all the courage to stick to each other even when the times are hard and they don’t see a way out. There is always something better after the storm and to share it together makes them stronger as a couple.  Congratulations and God Bless you both!

With all of this traveling back and forth, living in SE Michigan as I do, and thinking about family we thought we needed to do a bit of genealogy too. So Mom and I decided we needed to get photos of her great grandfathers home in Geneva Ohio. We were told that it still stood, but no one knew were exactly it was in Geneva, just that it is rumored to still be standing. At the wedding we were thinking, that we probably would not find it and it would just be to daunting of a task to drive the streets of Geneva trying to find it. Mom does have a photo and remembered what it looked like, but things have changed in Geneva much in the last 100 yrs. So we kind of gave up and went to bed, figuring the only trip we would take was to the cemetery where her parents and my dads parents are buried to get photos of their stones.  I woke up about 5:30 am and thought well silly if you find them in the census it should have a street name! So that morning we checked out ancestry.com to find grandpa Wesley Beach. We found him in the 1900 Census, another road block, we couldn’t read the street it was all black :(. So we got directions to the street prior to theirs on the census. When we got to town, we turned on Main Street and then we were to turn on Chestnut Street, and guess what we found on Chestnut Street!

Carriage House
Wesley L. Beach Home Geneva, Ohio

Mom said STOP that is it! So we stopped and talked to a couple working on their yard across the street. Then the woman of this house came out to find out what was going on. She told us that her home was actually the Carriage House from the big house two doors down that was moved from the back of the property and converted into a house in 1929. I don’t know if it remained part of the property at that time or  as a new lot and home. So this is where grandpa kept his carriage(s) and horses. So now with new excitement we walked down the street to check out the larger house that was the homestead.  Mom checked it out and said it looked very much like the photo that she had with the family on the porch, but that this one now did not have the ginger bread on the eaves and it is side and the porch was now covered.Wesley Lake Beach Home

To the right is the picture of the front of the house, I have checked into the stats for this house. It is now a multi residential dwelling with four bedrooms and two baths and over 2,000 sq feet. It a beautiful home and it looks like it has been well-loved and taken care of.  How fun it would be to own an ancestral home such as this!  What a thrill it was to stand where family once lived and raised a family.  To sense the closeness of family one never knew.

This indeed was a week of family some sad and some very much fun!

Mom and I in front of Grandpa Wesley's Home Geneva Ohio

Happy Hunting!

Those Places Thursday/The Church at the Top of the Hill

Note: This has been posted before, but I can’t recall if I made it public or just shared it with Creative Gene. Here is my offering for Those Places Thursday/October 20, 2011.

Enjoy.

Tucked neatly on the shoulder of Gildersleeve Mountain is a beautiful white church with a back drop of lush green. If you walk to the end of the drive and take a peek down the road you just might see a huge body of water. Sure sounds like it is located in New England. Trust me when I say this spot is as beautiful as any in New England.

You ask, “then where is this lovely spot if not in New England?” This house can be found in an extension of New England, CT to be exact, it lies in the Western Reserve. You’ll find this house of God sharing the hill with another very important house of worship, that was built in 1836. Still have you guessing?

Our family home of worship is Old South Church in Kirtland, Ohio.  The second church is The Kirtland Temple, built by Joseph Smith Jr. and his followers. It is located a few miles down the road from Old South. There are many stories that abound about the Temple, Joseph and his followers. Many of which you can find on the internet or at your local library.

My story begins at the Old South Church. This is where my parents attended Sunday School, where my grandparents worshiped. Mom and Dad were married here, I was christened here and even though we moved away to Arizona then back to Michigan. I have spent many Easter and other Sundays sitting in a pew or in the a class room of Old South.

Old South Church Kirtland Ohio

As a child I remember  this congregation having a rich musical back ground. Wonderful organists (okay I admit Nana played organ at one time and that I might be a bit bias here) and vocalists with wonderful voices. Inspiring and encouraging. I can’t recall the sermons, but I do recall two of the pastors, Rev. Messner and Rev. Snider

I said my final goodbye’s to four grand parents and an uncle from this sanctuary. They are all buried up the road at the South Kirtland Cemetery.

As of this writing I don’t know if I will ever step foot in this chapel again, but in my memories I visit it often.

The next place of worship that I recall while growing up can be found in Wayne Michigan on the corner of Wayne Road and Michigan Ave (US 12). Nestled in a typical old mid-western city, The First Congregational Church of Wayne. When we first attend this church in the late 60’s the church house was very similar to the one in Kirtland, the bell tower and steeple were a bit different it didn’t come to a point, but was a square steeple that came to four points. In 1970 the sanctuary  was lost in a fire. The new building is beautiful, but it does not compare to the grace and majesty of the old sanctuary. Most of the religious training as a young person, that I recall, was gained here and of course from my parents.

I was member of the young choir for a season. I still remember the the organist/choir director Orpha Hutty. One of our classes did a film, in our “back yard” at the church about the Pilgrims which is something I have just recalled. Wonder whatever happened to that!

There is just one more house of worship that has been called home and to me it is my home church. Romulus Free Will Baptist Church is where I have been a member for twenty-eight years. My children grew up here. It is where I have been a teacher, treasurer, singer.

Several family marriages have occurred here. Our oldest son was married at home, by the pastor of the church at that time. Our Oldest daughter, Brother and Sister law were married at the church.

This church family is truly a family. We love and tend to  each others needs as best as we as humans can. God has seen us through many trials and walks with our congregation daily. This story has not ended, but will continue to grow as I and my fellow brothers and sisters continue to worship the Lord here as he adds on a takes away. Our lives will forever be touched by the places in which we have spent time with our Lord.