Hot Off the Press

The latest issue of Shades of the Departed is hot off the press!!  There is a new feature debuting in this issue and I am thrilled to say that I had a small part in suggesting it.  As far as I am concerned, being mentioned in Shades is my 15 minutes of fame - and it's really made my day.

So, drop on over to fM's and pick up your copy today - while they last ;-)

Photographs in Politics

March/April 

Family Events ~ March 14 - 20

March 15th ~ On this day in 1881 in Apple Creek, Ohio my 2x great-grandparents, Rudolph GRABER and Emma ZAUGG were married. I've posted previously about the incredible coincidence of my becoming best friends with the great-granddaughter of the minister who married this couple, Edmund ERB.

March 17th ~ On this day in 1800 in Cape Girardaeu, Missour John ROSS, the 4x great-grandfather of my nieces and nephew, is born.

March 19th ~ On this day in 1852 my 3x great grandparents Jacob ZAUGG and Anna Barbara BARTCHEY are married in Berne, Switzerland. [pretty obviously NOT a wedding picture, but the only one I have of them.]

This day in 1892 is also marked by the death of my 3x great grandfather, Thomas SWINTON in St. Andrews, Scotland. I've previously posted a picture of his gravestone.

March 20th ~ On this day in 1795 in Bern, Switzerland Jacob ZAUGG, father of the above Jacob and my 4x great grandfather is born.

Also on this day in 1844 my 2x great grandmother, Caroline FLORY is born in Wayne County, Ohio .

Do You Play Favorites?

Marian Pierre-Louis over at Marian's Roots & Rambles asks, "So I want to ask you folks - Why do you have favorite ancestors? How did you select them?"  Several other bloggers have picked up on this question including a post from Randy Seaver and one from Ken Spangler.  This question fascinates me so I thought I'd play along.


I do have several "favorites" but I don't have as logical reasons for picking them as the others seem to.  I can't really even seem to explain how it happens.  One of my favorites is Emily Jane "Jennie" SAURER.  I have no pictures of her which makes it even more odd that she's a favorite. I remember my Grandma Ritchie (nee Saurer) telling me about Aunt Jennie - everyone loved Aunt Jennie she said.  This would have been something she heard, because Aunt Jennie died before my Grandma would have been old enough to even remember her.  She did have older siblings however so she might have heard it from them.

I have some china that was Jennies that my Grandmother left to me and I display a cup & saucer in a cabinet.  Oh, it's not very good china - but the story was that her husband, Harv Senff, sent away for it just because she wanted it.  I might need to get the rest of that china out of the attic and just used it for some occasion.

She died very young - only 36 - and they had no children.  I always found it rather sad that this funeral card only has her name as "Mrs Harvey Senff" - with no part of her name even included!  Even her gravestone is somehow just a little bit different than any of the surrounding stones - it always draws me to it when I go to the Apple Creek Cemetery.

Maybe one of the reasons that I've always considered her a favorite is that she is the daughter of Caroline FLORY.  I've written about Caroline before here and here.  I've always thought that her picture looked just a little bit sad.  Oh I know they were always solemn in pictures back then, but her eyes just look sad to me.  While I have a picture of her mother, I have no pictures of Jennie. I would think there was at least a wedding picture taken, but it's not something that's come down in my part of the family.

Fearless Females ~ Day 3 [a little bit late]

Fearless Females: 31 Blogging prompts to celebrate National Women’s History Month is brought to us by Lisa Alzo at The Accidental Genealogist. Be sure to take a look at her post showing the whole month’s worth of prompts and then jump in and play along!

March 3 — Do you share a first name with one of your female ancestors? Perhaps you were named for your great-grandmother, or your name follows a particular naming pattern. If not, then list the most unique or unusual female first name you’ve come across in your family tree.

Hildegarde M Ritchie

My name, Diana, is not one that is anywhere in my family tree. My Dad used to tease me, however that they ALMOST named me after his Aunt Hildegard!! My Mom always said that they never even considered that, but to this day my Dad will sometime says, “We really should have named you after Hildegarde and maybe she would have left you some money” or variations on that theme.

I do something very similar with my nieces. I tell them from time to time that I wanted their Mom to name one of them Magdalena. That is a name that appears on the Swiss-German side of my Dad’s family.  I rather like it myself, but my sister wouldn’t go for it. Like my Dad, however, that doesn’t keep me from bringing it up to them in a variety of ways.

Fearless Females ~ Day 2

Fearless Females: 31 Blogging prompts to celebrate National Women’s History Month is brought to us by Lisa Alzo at The Accidental Genealogist. Be sure to take a look at her post showing the whole month’s worth of prompts and then jump in and play along!

March 2 — Post a photo of one of your female ancestors. Who is in the photo? When was it taken? Why did you select this photo?

This is an easy choice for me.  I've chosen Nelle EICKELBERG, my great-grandmother and the original "Random Relative" of my first post.

I'm not sure when this photo was taken but it's always been one of my favorites of Nelle.  Her son, my Grandfather, Jack H QUICK used to tell this story about his mother.

On his very first day of school the teacher asked his name and he replied, "Jack H Quick."  She promptly told him that "Jack" was just a nickname and his real name must be John.  She also quizzed him on what the "H" stood for and refused to believe him when he said he didn't have a middle name, it was just Jack H Quick.  Throughout the whole first day the teacher called him "John."

Upon arriving home from school little Jack told his mother about his first day.  He wanted to know if his real name was indeed John and why his mother had never told him that.  Nelle did not think much of this story and the next day marched down to school with her son.  She told the teacher in no uncertain terms that she had named her son JACK and JACK was what she expected him to be called.  [She also straightened her out on the middle name issue.]

While I believe the picture above was taken prior to that time*, somehow whenever my Grandfather would relate this story I always saw Nelle sailing into that school wearing this hat!  She was not someone to be trifled with ~ truly as "fearless female"!



 *My Grandfather was born on July 3, 1911 and so would have started school about 1916/1917 and the style of dress seems to predate that.

 .