This one's for you Tracie...

I've been very errant about posting to this blog but since my friend checks faithfully this one's for you...

My grandpa and grandma, my father and mother, and I all attended the same university. As I was flipping through pictures tonight I ran across this one of my grandpa and a friend, taken in the mid 40's, sitting on a staircase on campus that I traversed many times during my college days...in the early 90's (my grandpa's on the left). Always fun to see.

Mary Thomas' Picnic Club

So I am still diligently scanning and restoring my grandparent's photo album. I had to share this charming shot, to me it looks like something from a movie with their 1930's fashion. According to the inscription with the photo my great grandmother, Mary Ricks Thomas, had a "picnic club" and this is a shot from one of their picnics, taken July 4, 1931. I'm not sure who is in the picture as it did not say and I do not recognize anyone but I love it.


This other shot is a picture of my grandma, Ruth Thomas Dowdle, taken in 1943 when she was about 18. I've always loved this picture because I think the dress is just divine, I only wish I could have seen it in color. I was told it was a shade of aqua ...

Pioneer Women

So I post the following not because she is one of my ancestors, but because she is someones, and she lived. I come from a long line of pioneer women, and as I was gathering information about my own ancestors from the book "Pioneer Women of Faith and Fortitude Vol IV" I read this womans story. It touched me, made me shed a tear or two, and I recognize that it was written somewhat sentimentally, but also I can not imagine living in a time when life was so hard. Lets face it, I love technology and the inventions that have eased our lives now. Oh how admire those who lived before us and had to struggle so much.

Surname Saturday ~ Mather

Ever since reading The Crucible in 9th grade I have had a fascination with the history of the Salem Witch Trials. I've read many books about it and finally in 2007 was able to take a trip to Salem, MA and visit the various sites there. Months and months ago when I ran across the name Mather in my family line I wondered if they were related Cotton Mather, a Puritan minister who was a prominent figure involved (albeit indirectly) with the witch hysteria due to his publications and preachings, declaring that the Devil was at work in Salem. He was the one who urged the use of "spectral evidence" which was one of the items used to convict the witches of Salem. Well after speculating I moved on in my history research and promptly forgot about this possible link, until tonight when I stumbled across the surname "Mather" again on my family tree. After a brief search on the Internet I was able to extend the Mather line in my tree and discovered that my 10th great grandfather, Richard Mather, was also the grandfather of Cotton Mather...so there is the link that I knew must be there. Although it is a very distant link, I now have my little piece of family attachment to the Salem Witch Trials.

Treasure Chest Thursday ~ Photographs

My favorite part of family history is the photographs (or I should just say I'm addicted to photos in general) but I love putting a face to a name. One of the reasons I became interested in blogging family history in the first place was my aquiring my grandparents photo album. My grandfather recently turned 90 and in honor of that we decided to have a special birthday party in which I put togeher a scrapbook of pictures for him, begining in his childhood. When my mother brought me the photo albums I had no idea what delightful surprises awaited me. One of the first photos in the album was the one below, in which there are 3 generations of my family, begining with my Great-Great-Grandma, Emma Ellen Ward, then her mother, Ann Bunting Ward, and finally Ann's mother, Ann Slater Bunting. So I was blessed with a picture of my 4th Great Grandmother, taken in 1869 at their cabin in Kaysville, UT. Does it get much better than that to a person fascinated with history and family I ask? I think I already know your answer...

Under Construction...

So just recently I got re-energized about family history and started randomly googling family names. What I was to discover was this wonderful blog where someone was listing out stories and memorabilia of their ancestors. Luckily for me some of our ancestors were the same and I found some fantastic stuff, anywhere from pictures, histories of their lives, to their obituary. It inspired me to do the same for my family history. Of course that was made easier with the arrival of a book about my great grandfather's life, thanks to my Great Aunt who took the time to compile it and generously provided a picture cd to go along. Also, I have commandeered my grandma's photo album and found all kinds of gems in there. It's all been very exciting to me this past month, and means I have gotten a lot less sleep and my house is filthy, but it makes me happy...stay tuned.