Share a Family Story at Thanksgiving

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Thursday is Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is, of course, a time where we take the time to express gratitude for the blessings in our lives. Thanksgiving is the holiday where families gather to celebrate family. Thanksgiving is a time where family stories need to be told. 

Author and minister Todd Stocker says, “Stories give color to black and white information.” Another author, Studs Terkel, is quoted as saying, “Storytelling is a form of history, of immortality too. It goes from one generation to another.”   

My mother, Florence Swinburne Newhouse, used to tell us stories of her parents; of her father, Richard Swinburne,  learning to drive his first car; and of the family traveling the length of Minnesota in that car, only to get stuck in the mud toward the end of the trip. Everyone had to get out, except her father, to push the car out of the mud.

My father, Frank Newhouse, told stories of his professional ice-skating career and when he and his brother, Fred Newhouse, made root beer in the basement of their house – only to have it explode: His mother, Camilla Elizabeth Swarthout Newhouse, was not happy. 

My brother Douglas Newhouse was a wonderful letter writer; when he wrote a letter, it was like he was sitting in the same room with you.  My son Patrick Oliver is a wonderful story teller – he has made us laugh on more than one occasion about his exploits (which were not funny at the time).

There are times I wished I had recorded the story of a family member. I did not get this done with my grandparents or parents. However, as I became interested in genealogy, I did get stories about my dad’s family from his sister, Elizabeth Newhouse Harman, before she died. Her stories about people I never met made me wish I had started collecting stories sooner.

When I do genealogy, I uncover mostly facts, but it is always fun to come across a story. For example, I recently found, as part of a biographical account, a story of a relative who said he cured his sciatica by rubbing bear grease daily onto his groin area.

So, this Thanksgiving, share a family story with your children, your spouse, your relatives, your friends.  Family stories casually shared across the dinner table are those we remember in the years to come. They become our best memories of people we know and of people we have never met. We need to share family stories

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A Grandmother Remembered

Sunday, September 10, 2017, is National Grandparents Day. We all have two sets of grandparents and memories of those grandparents. I saw my mother’s parents, Richard and Draxa Numbers Swinburne, yearly when we traveled to Bagley, Minnesota, for summer vacation. My parents would stay with Richard and Daraxra while my brother and I stayed with an aunt and uncle (Neal and Opal Swinburne Stave) and cousins on the Stave farm. So, I really saw very little of my maternal grandparents and have few memories. 

1890s

However, it is quite a different story with my paternal grandmother. Camilla Elizabeth “Libbie” Swarthout Newhouse was born 12 May 1883 in Pine Island, Minnesota, a small town about 17 miles northwest of Rochester, Minnesota (home to the Mayo Clinic). She married her husband, 

about 1905

Fritz Valentine Newhouse, a dentist, on June 15, 1905. He was also born in Pine Island on February 14, 1880. He died on February 13, 1923, in Rochester.

I grew up in Rochester and saw Elizabeth (her preferred name) on a weekly basis, if not more. We always had Sunday dinner at her house. We would be seated around her walnut dining room table that had matching chairs. I remember her furniture in the living, the bedrooms, and the front porch. I remember her peddle Singer sewing machine. I remember sitting at her dressing table and trying on her jewelry. (See previous blog about the Glove Box.) 

When my parents would take a trip during the school year, she would come to stay with my brother and me. Apparently, we were not too much work for her as she always came back. Our friends thought our grandmother was rich - she would give the two of us 50¢ each to spend at the corner grocery store about two blocks away. As it was the time of penny candy, we could buy enough candy for ourselves and our friends. 

1950s

When I reached the 7th grade, I started attending what was then junior high school. My grandmother lived within walking distance from the school, and it became a common practice for me to stay with her for a week at a time. She was an avid bridge player, and she was teaching me the game (but I never really learned). We also played lots of other card games with much laughter involved. When it was nice outside, we would sit in the backyard in lawn chairs and later compare our arms to see who had a better tan. 

Every time I think about my grandmother, I smile.

The Glove Box

While growing up, my paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Swarthout Newhouse, and I lived in the same town.  During the 1950s, we used to gather at her house every Sunday for the traditional noontime Sunday dinner.  During those Sundays, and on other days when I would visit, she would allow me to try on her jewelry.

To me, my grandmother’s jewelry box was a treasure trove.  The jewelry box was kept on her dressing table, and I was allowed to sit there and try on anything and everything.  However, there were two rules:  I had to stay at the dressing table and not traipse around the house adorned with the jewels I had found, and everything had to go back into the jewelry box.

Fast forward about 50 years.

My grandmother’s only daughter, Elizabeth Newhouse Harman, lived with her husband in Tampa, Florida.  They did not have any children.  I would travel to visit with them at least twice a year.  The first year I went for a visit, I discovered my grandmother’s jewelry box sitting on my aunt’s dresser.  I was thrilled to see it, and it brought back a rush of memories I forgot I had about sitting at fabric-skirted dressing table trying on jewelry from a unique jewelry box as only a little girl could do.

As my aunt aged, she would continually remark that I would get an inheritance from her; and, I would continually respond back by saying the only thing I wanted was the jewelry box—which I now knew to be a glove box.  A glove box is what ladies used to use to store their finest gloves when they were not being worn.

On one visit, when I stated that I wanted the glove box as my inheritance, my aunt decided to give it me.  As we were emptying out the box in which she, too, kept her jewelry, we discovered writing on the bottom of the box:  “Libby Swarthout, Pine Island, Minnesota, From, Fritz Newhouse.”  My aunt had not known the writing was on the bottom.  What a wonderful discovery!

This lovely, dark-green box was a gift from my grandfather to my grandmother before they were married in 1905.  The box is lined in silk, which no longer is in one piece as it has deteriorated;  the bronze clasp is no longer on the box (though the plates for the clasp are present); the sides are embossed with flowers which look like clover; and the top is exquisite:  a young lady sitting on the side of a boat.

 When I discovered the inscription on the bottom of the glove box, I understood the significance my grandmother placed on this treasure:  a gift from her husband, who died too young at 42 years of age.  When I look at this glove box, now on display in my home, it brings back wonderful memories of my grandmother and her jewelry and when I had such a marvelous time “dressing up” in beads, bangles, and baubles.

Civil War Relatives - Part 1

On April 12, 1861—150 years ago—the Civil War started at Ft. Sumter, South Carolina.  In thinking about that fact, I thought it would be interesting to see what members in the family tree served during the Civil War.  In going through my data, I found that during 1863, men who were not currently serving in the Union military had to “register” for the Civil War draft of 1863:  for the most part, all males who were born in the 1820s-1840s.

Here is a listing of some of the members from my family that served in the Civil War.

Duerre, Henry (1830—bef. 1880)—was born in Saxony, Germany, and immigrated to the United States before the 1860s.  On September 1, 1862, Henry enlisted as a corporal for Union side serving state of Minnesota.  On September 15, 1864, he was mustered out at Ft. Snelling with “distinguished service.”

Hayward, Ebenezer (1844-1864)—served on the Union side during the Civil War and died during the battle of Spotsylvania (Virginia) on May 12, 1864.

Hendricks, Eber Augustus (1846-1921)—was a cavalryman in the Union services and was wounded in North Carolina when a musketball went through his neck.

Huntsinger, Josiah B. (    -1862)—was a member of the 8th Iowa Volunteer Infantry which was organized in Dubuque, Iowa, and left for service September 24, 1861. Josiah died on December 4, 1862, in Tennessee (presumably from war injuries) and is buried at the Mississippi River National Cemetery near Memphis, Tennessee, which is now known as the Memphis National Cemetery.

Keener, Daniel (1820-1877)—Daniel enlisted on July 18, 1962, in Elmira, New York.  He was promoted to full corporal on June 30, 1963, and mustered out on June 5, 1965, Washington, D.C.

Keeney, Adlebert (1841-    )—was a member of the 11th N.Y. Cavalry Regiment which left the state on May 2, 1862, and mustered out on September 30, 1865.  Adlebert died from the injuries received during the War.

Keeney, Saleman (1845-1866)—Saleman is Adlebert’s brother and also served in the 11th N.Y. Cavalry Regiment.  As Saleman’s death was in 1866, right after the 11th N.Y. Cavalry Regiment was mustered out, one has to wonder if he, like his brother, also died from war injuries.

Metselder, George (1823-1896)—was born in Holland and immigrated to the United States before the 1860s. On January 5, 1862, George enlisted as a private in the 5th Regiment, Co. G, Minnesota Infantry, Ft. Snelling, Minnesota.  His regiment was originally organized to fight in the Indian Wars in the Dakota Territories, but they also took part in the Civil War during the Battles of Luka and Corinth in Mississippi in October 1862 and another battle during January 1863.  Henry received a disability discharge on March 18, 1863.

Shay, Francis “Frank” (1840-1923)—was born in Bohemia (today’s Czechoslovakia) and immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1853. Frank was a member of Co. H, 1st Regiment Minnesota Volunteer Infantry.  The 1st Regiment Minnesota Volunteers was mustered into service April 29, 1861, and it was the first one tendered to President Lincoln upon his calls for troops after the attack upon Fort Sumter, April 19, 1861, and this regiment is considered to be one of the outstanding regiments of the Civil War.

Shay, Martin Michael  (1845-1924)—is the brother of Francis and was also born in Bohemia.  He served with his brother in Co. H, 1st Regiment Minnesota Volunteer Infantry.

Smith, Charles Allen (1840-1912)—enlisted on August 26, 1861, in Fitchburg, Wisconsin, as a private in Company E, 8th Wisconsin Infantry Volunteers.  On September 5, 1865, Charles was honorably discharged as a 1st Lieutenant.  The Eighth Regiment (known as the “Old Abes” which was the name of an eagle that was carried with the regiment throughout their campaigns) was organized at Camp Randall, Madison, and its muster into the United States service completed on the 13th of September, 1861, and left for St. Louis on October 12, 1861.  They fought many battles in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

Charles Smith

Swarthout, Parfrey—served in the Civil War, presumably with a Minnesota Infantry.
Swarthout, William Harrison (1840-1926)—William enlisted as a private on August 15, 1862, in Co. C, 1st Cavalry Regiment Wisconsin; he mustered out on July 19, 1865, in Edgefield, Tennessee. The 1st Wisconsin Cavalry was organized at Ripon and Kenosha, Wisconsin. The regiment participated in the capture of Confederate President Jefferson Davis on May 10, 1865. The regiment was mustered out at Edgefield, Tennessee on July 19, 1865.Swartout, Napoleon B. (1829-1900)—served as a private in Co. 5, 6th Regiment Minnesota Infantry Volunteers from 1862-1865.  The 6th Regiment, Minnesota Infantry was organized at Camp Release and Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on September 29 to November 20, 1862.  It mustered out on August 19, 1865, at St. Paul, Minnesota.  His regiment was originally organized to fight in the Indian Wars in the Dakota Territories, but they also took part in the Civil War during battles in Louisiana and Alabama.

Part 2 of  Civil War Relatives will look at my husband’s family and my daughter-in-law, Melissa Oliver’s, family.

What's Your Family All About?

According to Webster’s Dictionary, “genealogy” is, among other things, “the study of family ancestries and histories.”  Most of us think of family as our mothers, fathers, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and so on.  Many of these family members have different last names from the last name we bear either through birth or marriage or through other relationships. This last name business, which defines us as members of a certain family, intrigues me; and, I am always interested in what does something mean in my ongoing search of that family ancestry and history. 

Most of us when we think of last names can associate it with what it probably means.  For example, my maiden name is Newhouse, and the history of the name referred to someone who lived either next to or in a new house.  And, of course, Pederson, the son of Peder (today’s Peter).

There are a lot of Olivers in the family:  Take off the letter r and what do you have?  Olive:  More specifically, olive tree.  Oliver is considered to be English, Scottish, German, French, and Catalaan. (Ancestry.com)

My grandmother’s maiden name is the Dutch Swarthout, (derivations are Swartwood, Swartout, Swartwout) which translated means dark wood.  The English form for this last name is Blackwood.  But what about those names that are not as obvious? 

Because I always find the hunt to be fun and exciting, I decided to start searching around for the meanings of some of the non-obvious last names that I find in my “Family Ties and Connections”; and, I want to share some of what I found. 

The Irish and Welsh surnames seem to have unique historical connotations. So, here are some common ones found in my “family”:

·         Bryant—is a Gaelic term for dignity, honor. (searchforancestors.com)

·         Llewellyn—Welsh or Celtic?  No one knows for sure.  On one hand, it is thought to be a Welsh form for the Celtic name Lugubelenus (for the gods Lugus and Belenus who are gods of commerce and light, respectively).  On the other hand, it is thought that this name derived from the Welsh word llyw which stands for “leader.”  

·         Murphy—who knew the Murphys were originally sea warriors?  The name “Murphy” comes from the Gaelic name Ó Murchadha, which means “descendent of Murchadh,” which is turn means “sea warrior.”

·         Walsh—I found it interesting that it comes from referring to someone who was originally from Wales. You can see how the name Walsh somehow derived from Welsh:  a simple vowel change. Also, the Middle English word walsche meant "foreigner.” 

Next time, I’ll take a look at some of the French, English, and German names in the family.

For those of you who are interested in pursuing this further, the information above comes from Ancestry.com, searchforancestors.com, thinkbabyname.com, and 4crests.com.

Finally, I want to include old family photos in each of my blogs; so, if any of my readers want to share and have me post them for you, please contact me.

I wanted to post a picture today, but for some reason the server kept rejecting the submission; ah, technology. 

Until next time.

© Linda Oliver, 2017