Funeral Friday #1 ~ Westin Funeral Card

Since I have scanned so many funeral cards and obituary's lately I have decided to post these items on Fridays, hence the title Funeral Friday. Some of these may not actually pertain to my family, however I wish to share what I have as they may be helpful to someone. Unfortunately, most of the newspaper obits do not list a date of print nor the title of the newspaper. I will try to give location and dates that may be helpful as I can.

In Memory Of

Jonas August Westin

December 3, 1884 --July 9, 1959

Services July 11, 1959

11:00 A.M.

Salas Brothers

Funeral Chapel

Rev. R.E. Segerhammar, Officiating

Richard Ryder, Vocalist

Bernice Smith, Organist

Pallbearers

Eric Bystrom           Henry Perkins 

H.E. Bystrom        Birger Wickstrom 

Burt Ravizza        Ted Linden

Interment : Masonic Cemetery 

The 23rd Psalm is printed on the left side of this card. As far as I know at this point and time, Jonas was not related to my family in anyway, but maybe a relation will one day find this useful.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts! 

 Copyright © 2010 By Cheryl Palmer

Those Places Thursday ~ Jordahl Residence

Here is a "new to me" picture. I have recently been scanning a pile of documents, pictures and such that I borrowed from my aunt and uncle. I knew there was a box of items at their home that belonged to my great grandparents. I had been waiting patiently for my aunts to go through and separate the items between them. Upon doing this, I was hoping to be a part of exploring the boxes contents with them. I knew there were items I would want to scan.

I was aware of this box for about a year to a year and a half. I finally got a bug in me and called my aunts to ask if I could scan the items. It was a prompt for them to get together and go through the box as well. I got the show on the road and we finally spent a day looking through the boxes goodies. (Yes, there actually is more than one box!) By the end of the day my aunts hadn't accomplished much, they were so intrigued they spent all of their time just looking at everything. I scanned as quickly as I could in order to get as many copies of things as possible, not knowing when I would be returning to do any more.

I was fortunate, my aunts decided at the end of the day to allow me to bring home a pile of items and a scrapbook to scan. I think they realized how interested I really was with these, and there was just so much to scan. I scanned at home until my scanner (and my back) started squealing. Thankfully, I finished all items, a total of about 800 scans in about a week and a half. This included the scanning I had done at my aunts house also.

I wanted the family to know I would be honest and speedy scanning and returning each item just as soon as possible. Certainly I didn't want them worrying that they may never see those items again. I wanted them to trust me. Two weeks to the day, I returned the first batch, and now I have a second batch to scan. I did explain I will probably be a little longer with this batch, as summer was coming and I was getting busier. The only request, was that I make sure in case something were to happen to me, someone would know where these items needed to be returned to. This was a very reasonable request because in the last couple years or so there have been a couple unexpected deaths in this family. Today, I plan to label the bag showing who owns the items, along with a phone number. 

This brings me to this photo, one of the many that I scanned. I know... finally, you say. I was very pleased to have this scan of the house with all of the flowers! But...I had no idea who the house belonged to! I needed assistance uncovering this information as neither of my aunts had a clue whose house it was. Luckily, I was in contact with someone who did know! A cousin, Betty, who I found and met online, knew this was the home of Olga and Herman Jordahl. She informed me that Olga loved flowers and she (Betty) had a picture of her grandmother, my great grandmother, sitting in front of this house. I must remember to ask Betty for a copy of that picture with my great grandma! Betty, if you are reading this, I thank you so very much for all of your assistance, support and help you have given me! You have shared so much! I can only hope that now I can share more with you!

Olga (Westby) Jordahl is my grand aunt, my grandmother's sister. Perhaps one day I will be able to make a journey to Minnesota to explore the areas where my family settled and even see Olga's home. Olga and her sister, my grandmother, were very close even though they lived miles apart.

I am very grateful I started this scanning process while I am fortunate enough to have a few people I can ask information from regarding those photos that are not labeled. With that, there still could be photos that many never be identified. At this point, there are only eighteen photos that I am trying to identify, not bad out of 800 scans!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts! 

Copyright © 2010 By Cheryl Palmer

Wordless Wednesday ~ Sea World

Whale Tank. Sea World, California. Scanned image, original held by me, taken by me, 1968. [Address for private use] California. 2010

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Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Copyright © 2010 By Cheryl Palmer

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Westby

This is the Westby plot which is located in Blue Grass, Wadena, Minnesota. This picture is currently in possession of my aunt and uncle. I scanned a copy of the picture this past week. Buried here in this plot are my great grandparents Halvor and Carrie (Jonson) Westby. Halvor was born on Dec 6, 1861 and Carrie was born on July 25, 1864. Both were born in Trysil, Hedmark, Norway. They married in 1883 and came to America in 1891. Twelve children came of this union although two of the children died as infants. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts! 

Copyright © 2010 By Cheryl Palmer

The Civil War… in Oklahoma? ~ Part 3

Well, it looks as if the exact site of this battle still hasn't been confirmed. What new details can be uncovered?

The question was, what did the Union Indians want? The answer may lead to where and why they moved along as they did. Actually, the answer to this was simple. There was overwhelming evidence that all they wanted was to remain neutral. They wanted to leave the fighting between the whites, it wasn't any business of theirs.

In the agricultural area of Talasi, a trading post was set up where a white man married an Indian woman. A mixed blood Cherokee scout, Jesse Chisholm, married their daughter. He had a post set up north and traded with all of "the wild tribes of the southwest." There were several different tribes which had settled all around these two trading posts. Further up the river a group of Delawares settled under a great scout named Black Beaver.

In 1861 a couple of Shawnees made way to Kansas carrying a letter with them. The message from the council of the tribes asked the government in Kansas to give them the protection they were promised with the Indian treaty. The complaint was of men coming through their grounds scaring the children and mothers. They asked the government what to do.

The answer came stating troops would soon be sent. Those Indians who were true to the government would be treated as friends. Before long a second plea had to be made to drive out the confederates. It was requested to send the Union people down the Black Beaver Road where he would guide them to his people who would then all be for the Union.

The reference to Black Beaver Road makes things clear. When the Union abandoned the Indian Territory at the beginning of the war they had counted on Delaware to get them to Kansas. This was the trail followed by the "Loyals" to avoid interception.

In the 1930's there was a man who researched Jesse Chisholm. His name was Thomas Ulvan Taylor. He spoke with Jesse's descendants and found the famous scout gathered a group of Union Indians from surrounding areas. Word was sent to all settlements and Indians flocked from all around to an area by Jesse's trading post. They loaded their things onto horses or "travois" (a platform on trailing posts) and made their exodus. There were at least seven members of Chisholm's family in this group. They stopped at what is now Wichita, Kansas where there is a creek still with the name "Chisholm."

The question was now, where did they travel? Did they travel straight north towards Arkansas? Or, did they turn west to the Black River Road?

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!




Copyright © 2010 By Cheryl Palmer

Those Places Thursday ~ Where I Have Lived

Here is another place where I have lived. This home is located in San Ramon, California. Of course when I lived here, the house didn't look like this. It has recently been re-done, the yard, fence, driveway, front door, mail box, windows, garage door, roof and siding placed on the house?

I drove past this house a couple years ago and took a few pictures. When I lived in the house, it had been purchased brand new, which meant it didn't have yards, front or back. It was a very nice house, three bedroom, two bath.

One of my favorite memories of this home is the back yard. It was big, and I mean big! We, my ex and I, landscaped the front and back yard ourselves. I loved the backyard! I felt like I had my own paradise in my backyard.

From the family room, you walked out to a patio and beyond that was a pee gravel play yard complete with large swing set and children's play things. Along the left side of the fence was a planter box, the complete length of the fence. To the right of the play yard was a section of grass, so the kids could do somersaults etc. Across the walkway from there was a sunken hot tub turned into a fish pond with a waterfall. All around the pond was my own bonsai type yard, with stepping stones to the pond.

Ok, pretty nice, wouldn't you say? Yes, but that is not all! Across the lawn and pond area the yard was fenced off with a rod iron fence and gate. You could see what laid ahead through and or above the fence. It was a protection fence, because we put a pool on the other side of that fence. The pool was beautiful! We designed it ourselves, it was in the shape of a keyhole. A large shallow end (3 ft) with steps going into it. The rest was the deep end (8 ft) which had a "love seat" area to rest if need be. We did a dark plaster inside the pool and it looked like a hugh pond! All around the pool we did a cool deck and sitting area. Plants around the outer edges with large park like lamp posts here and there. Beautiful at night!

We also happened to have a bathroom at the other end of the house by this pool area, and decided to put a door to that bathroom, which worked out perfect. Oh, the swim parties we had there!

I sure miss that backyard. It should have been in "Yard Beautiful." I never felt I needed to go away anywhere, just to my backyard.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Copyright © 2010 By Cheryl Palmer

Wordless Wednesday ~ Viewer

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Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Copyright © 2010 By Cheryl Palmer

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Tebaldi

Edward J. Tebaldi was the first born child to Angelo and Eva (Santini) Tebaldi on August 11, 1910. Edward, and his parents were all born in California. He had four brothers and two sisters. Edward is my daughter's grand uncle.


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Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Copyright © 2010 By Cheryl Palmer

More on the Miner Packet

In the packet I received from Mountain View cemetery last week was information on how to go about purchasing headstones for my great grandparents, which I haven't shared yet. My last post shared the genealogical information I received from the cemetery.

Several years ago when I bought a headstone for my father in law (who did not have a marker) it was a fairly easy task. I went to a monument company and chose what I wanted them to make. I paid for it and waited until they called letting me know it was completed. I picked it up and eventually my husband and I went and placed it on the grave. We were fortunate because the grave is located in a little country town of about 300 people. It was not an issue for us to cement the headstone in.

This purchase will however be very different. Of course the prices have escalated and my great grandparents are not buried side by side, which means I need to buy two separate stones. This cemetery is not located in a little tiny town, it is in a major city and it has rules and regulations. This means that all of the other paperwork in the packet I received from the cemetery involves buying and placing a headstone, or two in my case.

Most of the paperwork includes the different types, styles, sizes and prices of headstones that can be purchased through their company. They were kind enough to highlight the size I should purchase (which is the smallest single grave size) along with the costs. Upon first look, I thought this price was for the headstone, which I didn't think was to bad of a price. Upon further examination I realized this price was for the placement, and endowment care for the size headstone I should purchase.

The final two pieces of paperwork in this packet are Memorial Permit Applications, two of them. I will need to fill out the applications before commencing any memorial work and agree to the Association's rules and regulations. The Association needs to make written approval of the markers chosen.

The cost just to place one headstone with the endowment fee is more than I spent on the headstone I bought for my father in law. The price of a headstone through the cemetery is almost 10 times what I paid for my father in laws headstone. I need to do this times two. My next step will be to get some pricing from another monument company!

The real kicker is, after I do these two headstones, I need to place another one, at a different cemetery.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!


Copyright © 2010 By Cheryl Palmer

Miner Packet

The day after I called Mountain View Cemetery last week regarding my great grandparents grave sites, I received a packet in the mail from them. Inside was filled with information to purchase and place headstones. The first paper I read was the one on top which stated "Genealogy Research Reply."

I asked if they could inform me who signed for my great grandparents burials and if I was privy to any paperwork regarding them. The paperwork they sent stated their records only contain information for the internment. Information covering this includes date of birth, date of death and the location inside the cemetery. It doesn't include maiden names, information on next of kin, copies of death certificates or obits.

This is what was noted for my request:

Name of Deceased  ~  John C. Miner
Birthdate ~ Lined out, none listed
Death Date ~ 9/28/1939 (age 63, 10 mo, 19 days)
Place of Birth ~ Rome, N.Y.
Place of Death ~ Oakland, California
Location at MVCA ~ Plot 65 Grave 1278

Name of Deceased ~ Gladys A. Miner
Birthdate ~ Lined out, none listed
Death Date ~ 1/11/1944 (Age 58, 6 mo, 10 days)
Place of Birth ~ New York
Place of Death ~ Oakland, California
Location at MVCA ~ Plot 65 Grave 1249

None of this information was new to me. In fact I can fill in their blanks.

John C. Miner was John Clayton Miner and he was born November 10, 1875.
Gladys A. Miner was Gladys Amy (Richmond) Miner and she was born July 1, 1885.

What was new to me information though, and highlighted on this paper, was the fact that their son, Glen B. Miner signed for both interments. It does make sense, as he was the first born. I expected their only daughter to have handled this for some reason, and yet I am not really sure why I felt that way.

Now, I know there are no headstones for them and my grand uncle signed for each of the internments. WWll was considered to officially break out on September 1, 1939 and end in 1945. My great grandparents just so happened to have passed between these dates. I have no idea what affects this may have had regarding head stones for them, maybe it wasn't even a factor, I don't know. The times and lives of their children will be studied more which may help with a final conclusion.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Copyright © 2010 By Cheryl Palmer

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Miner Headstones

In my heart I had come to the conclusion that my great grandparents headstones had been covered in mud and that was why I couldn't find them. My ggrandfather John Clayton Miner passed on September 23, 1939. My ggrandmother Gladys A. Miner (Richmond) passed on January 11, 1944. After spending a day at Mountain View Cemetery last August unable to find markers for either of them, I left feeling quite sad.

If you remember, I spoke with my father and informed him that there wasn't a headstone for either of them. He found it very hard to believe that one had never been placed, which is what I told him probably was the case. Then, several months later after reading a fellow genealogists blog post, I hoped I was wrong that my ggrandparents didn't have a headstone. I hoped the grade of the hill and the weather had eventually covered the markers. It was time to call the cemetery to find out the truth.

Today I did just that. I called the cemetery. I wanted and expected them to tell me there had been markers placed for each of them. I was wrong. My heart sank when I was informed there have never been markers.

I asked what was required for me to have one placed for them. An information packet will be mailed to me. I also asked for copies of other information, which will be mailed to me with this packet.

I am quite saddened to know the truth, yet I am determined to rectify this.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Copyright © 2010 By Cheryl Palmer

The Civil War … in Oklahoma? ~ Part 2

Sharing my understanding of the this article which was emailed to from a new found cousin. The article is

"The Site of the Battle of Round Hill, 1861 by Angie Debo." I understand this excerpt was taken from "The Chronicles of Oklahoma." 

Annie Heloise Abel published what has been labeled as "the first of her three great volumes" on the Civil War in the Indian Territory. The information she used in this book which was published in 1915, came from Government Archives. This volume also contained a map she reproduced which was drawn by John T. Cox. John was a Special Indian Agent. He made an excellent map which shared how familiar he was with the territory. Opothle Yahola's specific route was detailed on this map, along with where the camps were located. The specific route went across the country and the Cimarron River. The route then partially goes through and around Yale, Cushing, Pawnee and of course the Cimarron River, my families old stomping grounds.(My father told be a story about the Cimarron and his family which I will share at another time.)

The map seemed to settle the location as to where the battlefield (The Battle of Round Mountain) was actually located. The sites had been unmarked and unregarded to this point because there really wasn't any proof as to where they were located. At this stage, Joseph B. Thorburn, the states first historian accepted it and many later historians accepted it also. This included Muriel H. Wright, Grant Foreman and the writer of this article I am going through, Angie Debo. The battle site probably would have stayed at this location except for the researches of a real estate agent, and a young one at that, in Stillwater.

His name was John H. Melton. He was a dealer in farms and a leader of the boy scouts. As a leader of the boy scouts he had traipsed all over the terrain. As a dealer in farms he was aware of the battlefield tradition. He was unaware of the Cox map and the conclusions of the historians, but he began to get affidavits from some of the old settlers. He shared these affidavits with the Payne County Historical Society. The Historical Society felt all avenues should be explored after Melton persisted to they look at the evidence again. The society realized that there still wasn't enough evidence to state exactly where the battle field was. It could be at the Yale site, or it could be at the Keystone site. Finally, a photo copy of a statement by the Confederate Creek Leaders, which had been sitting in files in Washington, came to surface. This was thanks to Angie Debo who made the initial request. Turns out, this document yielded that the Yale site was more than likely where the battlefield was located.

A meeting at the Payne County Historical Society on March 6, 1949 occurred. This meeting was actually a panel discussion which included a couple of Tulsa historians, Mr. Melton, Angie Debo and Miss Wright. No final agreement was reached from discussion. Ola J. Rogers had presented the first evidence that the battlefield was on the Keystone site.

The Society decided upon an extensive search to find additional information. This was announced publicly. Part of the new policy developed by the society included that Angie Debo sum up all of the evidence acquired to that point. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Copyright © 2010 By Cheryl Palmer

Those Places Thursday ~ My Grandfather's Home

This photo is a picture of where my grandfather and his wife lived for as long as I can remember. I took this picture but am not sure exactly when. I lost the date when changing computers unfortunately. I would venture to guess it was taken somewhere between 2002 and 2007.

Two years after the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1989, northern Oakland and southeastern Berkeley suffered from the Oakland Hills Firestorm. Sunday, October 20, 1991 was the day the fire broke out. It just so happened that my parents and family were at my house celebrating my mother's birthday when we heard about the fire on the news.

Immediately when we heard of the fire, my father was on the phone calling his father to see if the fire was in his vicinity. My grandfather was being evacuated from this home at that very moment! Thankfully, he his wife and his home all escaped the horrors of the fire. We were all extremely concerned because this home IS in the Oakland hills.

This fire killed 50 people and injured another 150. The destruction in the hills looked as if a bomb had blown up the whole area. Several weeks after the fact I was given a tour. My husband worked for the power company and was sent there for a week to work the fire damage. He knew exactly where to take me. It was very surreal. I vividly remember miles and miles of burnt homes, trees and property. I have never seen anything like that before or since.

There were 3,354 homes and 1,520 acres that were destroyed. Additionally, 437 apartments and condos were destroyed. The total loss was estimated at about 1.5 million dollars.

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Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Copyright © 2010 By Cheryl Palmer

Wordless Wednesday ~ Lundberg

Scanned copy of original taken August 1957.

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Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Copyright © 2010 By Cheryl Palmer

Ancestor Approved Award

Imagine my surprise when I found notifications that I had been awarded the "Ancestor Approved Award!" I was awarded this twice actually, once from Mary at Mary's Musings, and then again from Kim at Ancestors of Mine from Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Beyond. Such a "doublely" wonderful surprise! I am honored Mary and Kim that you thought of me and my blog! Thank you!

As recipient of this Ancestor Approved Award I must list ten things learned about my ancestors that have surprised, humbled, or enlightened me. The recipient then passes the award to ten other bloggers that are doing their Ancestors proud!

Here are ten things I have learned:

1. I was surprised to learn Madie Jessie Miner was married at least one more time than I was aware of.

2. I was surprised to learn that Hjalmer Lundberg told his children he was born a bastard, no one knew who his father was.

3. I was humbled to hear James Hal Fleming gave up baseball career to support his family.

4. I was enlightened to learn Dagny Dulin came to the US by herself, not with a sister as previously thought.

5. I was enlightened to learn George Clarence Harding lived with one of his sisters after his mother died.

6. I was enlightened learning Paul Harding was really Paul Hardin Johanssen, not Paul Hardin Gustafson.

7. I was surprised to learn John Clayton and Gladys Amy Miner do not have headstones.

8. Catherine Ann Pizzotti died at sea.

9. I was humbled to know Hallgier Brenden was in the Olympics.

10. I was surprised learning that Frank Little was tortured and murdered.

Now to pass this award onto only 10 other bloggers who do their ancestors proud ~

1. Diana @ Random Relatives

2. Siri @ My Genealogy Blog

3. Mary @ Me and My Ancestors

4. Debra @ The Sum of All of My Research

5. Michelle @ The Turning of Generations

6. JM @ Tracing My Roots

7. Lisa @ The Faces of My Family

8. Tcasteel @ Tangeled Trees

9. Irish @ Portals to the Past

10. Sue @ Remembering the Past

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Update: 9:28- Remembering the past does not allow comments except for team members, maybe they will see the award here.

Copyright © 2010 By Cheryl Palmer

It's All Relative's Post Means The Most!

I love reading other's blog posts! I love reading magazines, books and anything relating to genealogy. I have a pile of all of this to read. Slow but sure I am catching up a bit which is always good. If I get to far behind I may end up missing something of great importance!

I had the opportunity to have lunch with some fellow GeneaBloggers today, one of which is visiting and I have never met. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend because I had already committed to watching the prince and princess. For those who don't know, these are my grandchildren. Good thing I love them as much as I do, because this grandma would have really liked to go hook up with these GeneaBloggers. Wasn't meant to be though...so what was in store for me?

Between naps, feedings and playing I was able to read some blog posts. One in particular really caught my attention. It was a post at It's All Relative by Laura, entitled Gravely Disappointing. This was a great post in my opinion. So much about it hit home for me.

The photo Laura shared was very "disappointing" just as she stated. However, I am very grateful she shared this picture and this post. It got me thinking about my great grandparents (MINER) grave sites that I couldn't find last year. I found where they were buried but when I went to see their graves, neither grave was marked. I wrote about it in a post here. After not locating a headstone for either of them, I sadly went home. I have vowed to get them headstones.

I just looked at the photos I took last year again. I remembered an incline of a slight hill in the section where my great grandparents are buried and wanted to see if I could tell from the picture how much of an incline there was. I also remember trying to figure out the rows and they were all jumbled. Finally, I remember thinking the hill had slid and that was why the rows didn't make sense. Looking at the photos, it is about as I remembered it, but the grade is more dramatic than it looks I think in the picture.

When I informed my father I found their grave sites, but neither had a headstone, he was very surprised. We discussed my grandmother and where in her life she was at the time of these deaths, as we felt she would have been the one to handle the services, she was the only daughter. Again, my father was in real shock there were no headstones.

Now, I am thinking there must have been headstones placed for them. My father can't believe their wasn't. I do think the hill slid over the years after rains. This is why none of the rows made sense. I am also thinking their headstones may have been covered and overgrown as Laura was talking about with the picture she shared. I am not sure who would have ever gone and visited their graves. My grandmother became legally blind fairly young and had to give up her drivers license. Because of this especially, I do not feel she had been there for many years, and I don't imagine anyone else visiting either. Very sad. My next plan is to make a phone call to the cemetery and see what they can tell me regarding headstones. If they had one, can we go about finding them at all? Inquiring minds want to know!

Laura also talked about how to dress when going to a cemetery and having a cemetery kit. Sometimes it is the simple things. Why have I always thrown everything together at the last minute when I planned to go to the cemetery? Why haven't I taken the time to prepare a kit to have ready at any given time? How many posts do I have to read before I realize I really need to do this, and do it? Well, Laura, your post has hit home so strongly for me that I have added this to my to do list! I am going to make a cemetery kit to carry in my car, always.

One final thing Laura briefly hit upon, Find A Grave. I joined this fabulous site probably a year ago with the intention of adding grave information. I have not added one yet. This has actually been on my mind for the past couple of weeks, I feel so awful that I haven't contributed. I think once I get the first one done and know what I need to do, it will be easy. I haven't made this a priority, but it is now also on my to do list. So much to do, so little time. It is still beyond me how so many of you get so much accomplished, consistently. I really would love to figure out how to clone myself.

Laura, I really want to thank you for your great post. As you can see, it meant so much to me!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Copyright © 2010 By Cheryl Palmer

HAPPY EASTER!

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

I will be spending my day with the prince, princess and their parents too. Family time!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Clipart provided by Dover Publications

Copyright © 2010 By Cheryl Palmer

The Civil War... in Oklahoma? ~ Part One

Just a short few months into this blog, a cousin found me from a photo I posted of our mutual relative, William Elias Hohimer. We shared information through email for quite some time. I was recently looking at some of the information my cousin J.H. shared with me and knew I was long overdo organizing and posting some of this information. My father, not biological but the man who raised me and I call dad, was born in Yale, Payne, Oklahoma. I grew up believing there is "Cherokee Blood" in the family, and that the family lived on Indian Territory there in Oklahoma.

One of attachments which was sent to me was "The Site of the Battle of Round Hill, 1861 by Angie Debo." I understand this excerpt was taken from "The Chronicles of Oklahoma." My cousin said he found this on the internet. Upon reading the first page of twenty pages, I realized this was where my father was born and spent a good portion of his childhood. The article speaks of Indian Territory in Oklahoma, and the Civil War.

I may have mentioned before that history was not one of my favorite subjects in school. Along with a lot of other people dates, names and places didn't matter much to me. That was unfortunate because now I have so much to learn. I am sure there are many of us in the same boat. Names and dates just weren't exciting. I am not sure if even a story back then would have meant much to me. Back in those days I was only interested in the here and now.

The Civil War, as far as I remembered, happened in the eastern part of the U.S., the North verses the South, the Union verses the Confederacy. Never in my wildest dreams did I have even an inkling that any part of this war was fought in Oklahoma. According to this article Oklahoma was not only in the Civil War, but suffered the most as far as human tragedy. I am going to relate the story from this article in several posts, to help me better understand and to share with those who may be interested.

The US relinquished Indian Territory in Oklahoma as soon as the war broke out and the Confederacy ended up taking this area over. Most of the Indian tribes went with the new government but you know that there are always rebels, right? Opothle Yahola became the leader of those Indian rebels who didn't want to follow suit. They developed a camp site and then were attacked by Texas confederates and Indians. The rebel group fled to the protection of the Kansas Union where they were held with "indescribable privations until Federal troops recaptured the Indian Territory.

Three battles were fought in this area, the first in 1861. It was called "The Battle of Round Hill" or "The Battle of Red Fork." The third battle is when the rebels fled to Kansas. Years later these battles were also known as "The Engagement at Round Mountain."

What is now Yale, Oklahoma had a land rush in 1893. The white settlers of that time developed a tradition that these battles had been fought on their land. The Twin Mountains were just west of Yale, and just north of the Pawnee County line was where a plow overturned and left what could have been debris of a battlefield and an Indian camp. The state's first historian, Joseph B. Thoburn stated "this battlefield was probably within the present limits of Pawnee or Payne Counties."

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Copyright © 2010 By Cheryl Palmer

Back Up Reminder!

Most genealogy bloggers are aware that GeneaBloggers gives us a gentle reminder each and every month to backup our genealogy work and computer systems. I appreciate those reminders as time slips away from me. Being retired (as my husband says) I don't tend to follow the days of the week as closely as I once did, let alone when it is the beginning or end of a month.

I have found I need more than one calendar in my house, and several reminders to keep me in tune with real life. One calendar I keep by my laptop and one I keep in the kitchen. The one in the kitchen is for my daughter to fill in with all of her family events along with when I have the honor of keeping my grandchildren, the prince and princess. My husband also enters our vacations or trips away on this calendar... sometimes.

The calendar I keep by my laptop is a monthly printout from the computer in which I enter my personal events. Occasionally, I cross reference the calendars and everyone knows what is going on in everyone else's life. Like I said though that is occasionally. I don't want anyone thinking I am really totally organized all of the time, because that just isn't the case.

Anyway, the purpose of this post that I was getting to relates to our backups. Yesterday in between playing with the prince and princess I noticed it was backup day once again. I was so proud of myself, I ran an extra backup on my laptop, covering everything stored on it. Later during the day I went and backed up my blogs also. Whew, I felt so proud of myself that I was able to at least accomplish this much while I had the two little ones each vying for my attention.

This morning after I caught myself up on the news of the genealogy world, I went to my blog with the intention of writing a post. Upon entering the "new post" screen it dawned on me. I have done this back up all wrong! Do you realize what I did, or didn't do?

What I should have done was back up my blogs prior to backing up my laptop! Sure everything that was on my laptop was backed up, but NOT the latest backup of my blogs! In my case, it is actually ok because I have a couple of back up methods in place, what one didn't catch the other would. However, if this was my only backup process this would not have been a good back up for me. I should develop good habits to begin with in case this turns out to be my only backup method some day.

BEFORE you do any system backups, make sure you have everything on the system you want to back up first, it will save you from having to do it again. Your first step should be, if you have a blog or two, to back them up first and then go ahead and do a system back up. You will then have a back up of the back up of your blog. Make sense? The odds of your blog and your computer both going haywire at the same time are pretty slim. I however, do not wish to take that chance. I may be a little on the "over protective side," but I would rather be safe than sorry!

For the past week or two I have come to realize my brain hasn't been quite in tack, could it have anything to do with spending so much quality time with the grandchildren? That is the ONLY excuse I believe I will accept. If that is in fact the case, I don't foresee an improvement for many, many years...

Thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Copyright © 2010 By Cheryl Palmer