Not Quite Wordless Wednesday

I’ve been scrounging through photos lately and I keep coming back to this set. I don’t know who everyone in the pictures is but these were taken around my Great Aunt Rachel (York) Elliot’s funeral in 1971 and the majority of the men are York brothers and in-laws.

Can any Yorks/Trotters or other Bradley County folk recognize any of my unknowns? Or, for that matter, correct our identifications?

Happy hunting,

Jess

Between Dad & I, we think we have identified…

Picture 1 (L to R): Oscar York, Levie Trotter, Arverse York, Preston York, UNKNOWN, and Herman York

Picture 2 (L to R): Arverse York, Preston York, UNKNOWN, Herman York, Ernest York, UNKNOWN, and UNKNOWN

Picture 3 (L to R):  Herman York, Ernest York, UNKNOWN, UNKNOWN, and UNKNOWN

 

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday

Their first Christmas. These were the firstborn grandchildren for their generation. That’s Mom on the right and her cousin Susie on the left. This is taken in Kent County, MI, circa 1952.

Happy hunting and happy holidays,

Jess

 

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday

Here’s one that comes up in conversation more often than it should. But this year was significant because it was the first and last time I was the tallest of this shady lot of cousins. You can’t even really tell in this picture but it was a really big deal at the time. Needless to say every last one of them shot past me not too long after that. The photo was taken at the apartment of my Grandma Ethel and eventual Step-Grandfather Don in Grand Rapids, MI.

Happy holidays and happy hunting!

Jess

 

Tombstone Tuesday

This is the plot of the family of Harvey K. Bailey in Rockford Cemetery, in Rockford, MI. The stone in the foreground is that of his wife Rachel C. Deer. Today is the 101st anniversary of her death in Algoma Township, MI. She was born in May of 1830 to George and Sara (Labere) Deer and she is the sister of my 5^th Great Aunt, Sarah (Deer) Helsel. She married Harvey in Dec of 1864 in Kent County, MI. The couple had at least two children: Austen and Ella May Bailey. I detailed the Deer family back in May.

Happy hunting,

Jessica

 

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday

I’m the product of a two child household so the concept of a Christmas for a family of 10 (8 kids) is a bit foreign. Check out this tree… to my eyes the presents go on forever. This is taken in my grandparents home in Detroit, Michigan during Christmas of 1971.

Happy hunting and happy holidays!

Jess

 

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday

As we head into the holidays I have a collection of Christmas related pics for Wordless Wednesday.

This is a favorite of mine. This was taken in December of ‘77 or ’78. I’m the baby being held my Grandpa Bill. The others are my mom, my aunt, and my older cousin. We’re at my grandparents’ home on Main St. in Rockford, MI for the holidays doing dishes and just being together.

What you can’t see and I only vaguely remember is the risqué wallpaper print.

Happy hunting,

Jess

 

Tombstone Tuesday

This is the final resting site of my Great Grandmother, Crystal May Porter and my Step-Great-Grandfather Harold Bailey at Blythefield Memory Gardens in Kent County, MI. Grandma Crystal died 44 years ago today, at the age of 55. She was the third child of Charles and Lula (Holden) Porter. She married my Great Grandfather Robert Eugene Johnson on April 13, 1927 and they had four children including my Grandfather, William Eugene Johnson. Crystal and Robert divorced and in 1934 Grandma Crystal married Grandpa Bailey with whom she had one more son.

Happy hunting!

Jess

 

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday

I’m currently working on an article about researching African American roots and spending a lot of time working on that half of my line. And this week’s picture goes along with that. I believe this is a gathering of Yorks and right in the middle on the couch is the baby of the family my grandmother, Elnora (York) Trotter. I’m pretty sure that’s GrandpaLevie to the right of her too. Grandma Trotter is gorgeous! The photo is ca. 1949 and probably taken in Bradley County, Arkansas.

Happy hunting,

Jess

 

Tombstone Tuesday

These are the headstones of Margaret and Arthur Shea. Maggie was the daughter of Henry and Anna Stormer. She was born in Hanover, Germany. The family moved to America in 1857. She married Daniel Shea in 1876 in New York and their union produced three children—only her son, Charles Arthur, survived her. I suspect she and Daniel divorced. Both she and Charles are laid to rest here in Maple Grove Cemetery in Empire, MI.

Happy hunting,

Jess

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Given all my technical difficulties (read: user errors) between Monday and Tuesday, I’ll keep this short and try (fingers crossed) to post it on the right day.

Thank you again to all my readers and fellow researchers, as well as the fabulous speakers I’ve been able to learn from this year. I hope everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Photo: Gourd and maize decorations from Bowers Harbor Vineyards, Old Mission Peninsula, Traverse City, Michigan, October 2009