come to Kalaloch, we stop and visit the old tree stump where the trail meets the beach! Today we walked the mile and a half South from the cabins to pay our respects. What a beautiful March day. Thank you Lord!!!!! Life is beautiful.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
On The Beach!
Fifteen years ago we brought my folks cremains to the ocean. We waded down a little creekbed to Trail 2, one of their favorite spots. There they will be at the ocean forever. Now, when we
come to Kalaloch, we stop and visit the old tree stump where the trail meets the beach! Today we walked the mile and a half South from the cabins to pay our respects. What a beautiful March day. Thank you Lord!!!!! Life is beautiful.
come to Kalaloch, we stop and visit the old tree stump where the trail meets the beach! Today we walked the mile and a half South from the cabins to pay our respects. What a beautiful March day. Thank you Lord!!!!! Life is beautiful.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
A New Road with Family
Being on the road with family can mean a lot of things--heading to church, the grocery store, a movie; on vacation, taking a weekend to visit. Today, I had a chance to be on the road with family, and found a new road to take. It was a surprise, it was exciting, it was heart-warming, and most of all it was fulfillment of another wish, another dream.
From the Shaws and Kriegers, my paternal grandparents, if we learned nothing else, we learned the most important thing was family. I recall weekends were always spent at one of the twelve Shaw kid's homes with several of the brothers and sisters there, along with all their kids. The adults played cards most evenings, and we kids ran rampant through the yard during the afternoons, and found games to play inside at night. And, of course, we ate. There was always lots of food. It wasn't fancy, but it was staple, and it was plentiful--fried chicken was common, we always had lots of mashed potatoes, a treat was Aunt Annie's fried bread. Most evenings they played pinochle, but some nites they played Blackjack, but called it 21. Then the older kids got to play, and it was used to teach us to add quickly in our heads.
But, here I've digressed. It's just that family always brings back so many great memories--as it should. About thirty years ago my family put together a family history book. One of the cousins, Darlene, took the lead and got the majority of the family to write down dates and places of births, deaths, marriages, and other significant life events. She also asked everyone to write down a few pages of memories of the family. While not documented, most of the information was at least close if not accurate.
After I retired, I picked up the journey, and went through the book, put all the information online into a family tree. One of my cousins Chris, scanned the whole book, put it into a pdf file and we were able to upload it to the family tree site so coming generations would have access to it. It's been a marvelous journey, and one I feel fortunate to have traveled.
As with all travels, we occasionally run into deadends, or make wrong turns. I've found sufficient along the way, and while disappointing at the time, they can sometimes have the best of outcomes. Today was one of those days we squeaked through a narrow road and ended up in front of a beautiful destination.
Michael Krieger and Caroline Amanda Bush married in 1879 in Nebraska. The "Book" records show they had nine children, all born in Sutton, Clay County, Nebraska. The first born was John W. born January 28, 1880 and died in infancy on February 28, 1880. Despite several searches, I could find no documentation for John W., could not find burial information, nor a gravesite. Finally, I located a 1880 Census for Michael and Amanda, and it was enumerated in Farmers Valley, Hamilton County, Nebraska. I went to Find-a-Grave online and searched to see if there is a cemetery there, and if so if there might be a John W. Krieger interred there. I found a cemetery, but no John W. Krieger. However, there was a single tombstone for the unknown dead. On February 20th, I submitted a photo request, and asked if someone might be able to "...just look around".
Today, I had a note from Find-a-Grave, and opened it. A wonderful lady "Wendy" wrote back to me, "Well, it was a BEAUTIFUL day here in Nebraska so I headed out with my camera to fulfill some requests. Lucky you - yours was on my list! Wow! Farmer's Valley Cemetery is such a beautiful little pioneer cemetery! Anyway, I did find a "Krieger" marker - the only one there. I am pretty sure it is who you are looking for, but I wanted to pass a little information by you before I post the pictures. The marker was for a William Krieger. Could be your John W. was called William. He was born on Jan. 28, 1880 and died on Febr. 28, 1880. It says he was the son of A. and M. Krieger. Amanda and Michael? If you think this is him, let me know and I will post the pictures. As, I said, there were no other Krieger headstones that I found, so don't know where the parents are buried. Wendy"
It was a match to both Caroline Amanda and Michael Krieger, and the dates were exact. I wrote back, and within the hour, Wendy had posted the photos, established a memorial online, and sent me another note, "I am glad I could help you out. I so enjoyed my visit to this little cemetery. Someone obviously cares alot about the cemetery. I think this is the first cemetery I have ever been to that had outhouses! Yep - two of them nestled in the corner. It had a nice cement picnic table and other signs that it was not a forgotten place. EVERY grave had flowers on them so there was not a single forgotten person there. So, don't worry about little William. Someone is taking care of his gravesite. :) ...Again, fulfilling this request was truely a pleasure! Enjoy!! Wendy."
So now we have completed another journey and found another ancestor along the way. It's when you are up against a road block, at a deadend, when the research truck seems to be deeply mired in the muddy records of history, that someone like Wendy comes along and gives you the tug you need. And, these are the events that keep us researching, and hopefully helping others as Wendy has helped us. Thanks a million Lady. You've definitely made this a great ride. VR. Mags.
Photo taken by Wendy Redman Hudson, posted on Find-a-Grave 14 Mar 2012.
From the Shaws and Kriegers, my paternal grandparents, if we learned nothing else, we learned the most important thing was family. I recall weekends were always spent at one of the twelve Shaw kid's homes with several of the brothers and sisters there, along with all their kids. The adults played cards most evenings, and we kids ran rampant through the yard during the afternoons, and found games to play inside at night. And, of course, we ate. There was always lots of food. It wasn't fancy, but it was staple, and it was plentiful--fried chicken was common, we always had lots of mashed potatoes, a treat was Aunt Annie's fried bread. Most evenings they played pinochle, but some nites they played Blackjack, but called it 21. Then the older kids got to play, and it was used to teach us to add quickly in our heads.
But, here I've digressed. It's just that family always brings back so many great memories--as it should. About thirty years ago my family put together a family history book. One of the cousins, Darlene, took the lead and got the majority of the family to write down dates and places of births, deaths, marriages, and other significant life events. She also asked everyone to write down a few pages of memories of the family. While not documented, most of the information was at least close if not accurate.
After I retired, I picked up the journey, and went through the book, put all the information online into a family tree. One of my cousins Chris, scanned the whole book, put it into a pdf file and we were able to upload it to the family tree site so coming generations would have access to it. It's been a marvelous journey, and one I feel fortunate to have traveled.
As with all travels, we occasionally run into deadends, or make wrong turns. I've found sufficient along the way, and while disappointing at the time, they can sometimes have the best of outcomes. Today was one of those days we squeaked through a narrow road and ended up in front of a beautiful destination.
Michael Krieger and Caroline Amanda Bush married in 1879 in Nebraska. The "Book" records show they had nine children, all born in Sutton, Clay County, Nebraska. The first born was John W. born January 28, 1880 and died in infancy on February 28, 1880. Despite several searches, I could find no documentation for John W., could not find burial information, nor a gravesite. Finally, I located a 1880 Census for Michael and Amanda, and it was enumerated in Farmers Valley, Hamilton County, Nebraska. I went to Find-a-Grave online and searched to see if there is a cemetery there, and if so if there might be a John W. Krieger interred there. I found a cemetery, but no John W. Krieger. However, there was a single tombstone for the unknown dead. On February 20th, I submitted a photo request, and asked if someone might be able to "...just look around".
Today, I had a note from Find-a-Grave, and opened it. A wonderful lady "Wendy" wrote back to me, "Well, it was a BEAUTIFUL day here in Nebraska so I headed out with my camera to fulfill some requests. Lucky you - yours was on my list! Wow! Farmer's Valley Cemetery is such a beautiful little pioneer cemetery! Anyway, I did find a "Krieger" marker - the only one there. I am pretty sure it is who you are looking for, but I wanted to pass a little information by you before I post the pictures. The marker was for a William Krieger. Could be your John W. was called William. He was born on Jan. 28, 1880 and died on Febr. 28, 1880. It says he was the son of A. and M. Krieger. Amanda and Michael? If you think this is him, let me know and I will post the pictures. As, I said, there were no other Krieger headstones that I found, so don't know where the parents are buried. Wendy"
It was a match to both Caroline Amanda and Michael Krieger, and the dates were exact. I wrote back, and within the hour, Wendy had posted the photos, established a memorial online, and sent me another note, "I am glad I could help you out. I so enjoyed my visit to this little cemetery. Someone obviously cares alot about the cemetery. I think this is the first cemetery I have ever been to that had outhouses! Yep - two of them nestled in the corner. It had a nice cement picnic table and other signs that it was not a forgotten place. EVERY grave had flowers on them so there was not a single forgotten person there. So, don't worry about little William. Someone is taking care of his gravesite. :) ...Again, fulfilling this request was truely a pleasure! Enjoy!! Wendy."
So now we have completed another journey and found another ancestor along the way. It's when you are up against a road block, at a deadend, when the research truck seems to be deeply mired in the muddy records of history, that someone like Wendy comes along and gives you the tug you need. And, these are the events that keep us researching, and hopefully helping others as Wendy has helped us. Thanks a million Lady. You've definitely made this a great ride. VR. Mags.
Photo taken by Wendy Redman Hudson, posted on Find-a-Grave 14 Mar 2012.
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