Invite to Dinner

My Grandpas - Roger & Ken

I've been thinking all week about who I would like to invite to dinner.  I miss my Grandmas both like crazy and oh, what I wouldn't give for another day with either of them.  But I was fortunate to have had forty some years with both of them,  So instead I decided on my grandpas - Roger and Ken.  My grandpa Roger died only a month after my second birthday.  My grandpa Ken died only six months later.  I've often wondered how my life would have been different if my grandpas had been a part of it longer than those two years.

My grandpa Roger was an only child.  I would ask him about his parents.  His dad was not really a part of his life but I'd ask what he did know about him and what memories he had of him.  I'd ask about his time in WWII where he was a pilot.  I'd ask how he met my grandma and how he knew she was the one.  I'd ask about my dad and uncles as children.

I'd ask my grandpa Ken about his childhood.  He grew up working on his brother's farm and money was always tight.  At some point he moved away to Texas.  I'd ask him how he met my grandma and what made them move back to Minnesota.

Mostly I would just listen.  To anything and everything they had to say.  I have been to visit their graves and felt a little sad when I did...I know I missed out on having them in my life.  So I would just soak it all in!!

Dad's Birthday

Happy 70th birthday Dad!!  You have taught me how to work hard for what I want and the importance of family.  I am so lucky you have always been there for me!!

Longevity

Eliza Jane (Bartley) Haynes

When I saw that this week's prompt for #52ancestors was Longevity, I knew who I would be writing about.  While I have several ancestors who lived well into their 90s, I have only found one who lived into her 100s.

Eliza Jane Bartley was born in August 1830 in Lee County, Virginia.  She was the first of ten children born to James and Sarah (Speak) Bartley.  A newspaper article found in the scrapbook of a distant cousin, Gladys Bartley, talks about how there was "very little opportunity for an education or social training, but in her character was woven the warp and woof of industry, honesty, truth and the highest respect for Christian living".

Homeplace of Eliza Bartley Haynes.  Photo taken by Charles Thomas sometime between 1915-1920.

In 1850, she married Jonathan Haynes.  They moved just a mile and a half from the home she was born in and established a home of their own.  According to the newspaper article, their first home was built on top of a hill, but they later moved their home into the hollow where there was plenty of good water.  She lived in this home till the day she died.  The 1910 census shows she had 13 children and only seven were living at that time.  I know of only nine children and I am unsure of the other four, if they died as infants or between census reports or where exactly they fit in.  In May of 1898, her husband, Jonathan, was killed in a tragic sawmill accident while helping to construct a church.  I have been unable to find a newspaper article about the accident, nor have I found an obituary.

Eliza Bartley Haynes' 100th birthday celebration

 
In 1930, the family got together to celebrate Eliza's 100th birthday.  It was decided at that time that a family reunion would be held every August.  This year will be the 88th Bartley family reunion!!  I only just heard of the reunion seven years ago, when I started looking into my family history.  Oh how I wish I had known about it when my grandmother was still here.  I would have loved to have gone with her!!  I will make it one of these years.

The last 10 years or so of her life, Eliza was confined to the home.  Her youngest daughter, Amanda, cared for her during these years.  On December 24, 1932, Eliza passed away.  She was survived by six of her children, many grand children and great grandchildren.  I have been unable to find an obituary for Eliza.

Thank you to cousin, Dolores Ham, for these wonderful photos!!

Favorite Photo

My great grandfather, Walter, in white, Albert standing, Charles seated.

I have always loved photos.  Especially old photos of my parents and grandparents and those who went before me.  And over the past year I have received even more photos from distant cousins that I had never seen before.  There is just something about putting a face with the name of your ancestor.  Do I choose my grandparents wedding photo?  Or my great grandparents?  A baby picture of one of my grandmas?  The only photo I have of my great grandfather with my grandpa as a child?

When digging through my Grandma's trunk of photos as a little girl, there was one that was always my favorite.  This photo of my great grandfather, Walter Bartley, and his brothers, Albert and Charles, taken in Virginia when all three brothers were on leave during WWI.

I loved this photo!!  First of all, how handsome are these men?  And the fact that all three were fortunate enough to meet up on leave together and have this photo taken was always so cool to me.  The photo was printed on a post card, whichI found fascinating (as a kid I didn't realize how common that was).  But I especially loved the story behind the photo.  My Grandma told me the photo was taken and a newspaper article was printed about the Bartley brothers being on leave together, walking down Main Street to have this photo taken and that they were printed in the Taylors Falls (Minnesota) newspaper.  

After Grandma passed, and I started looking into my family history, I went looking for that newspaper article.  Not really sure where to start looking, I emailed the Taylors Falls Library.  After a few days I received an email from a man named Jack.  He told me that the Taylors Falls newspaper actually stopped printing from May 1916 through June 1918.  He checked the neighboring St Croix Falls local paper and didn't find anything.  He said it was possible an article like this could have run in one of the four papers printed in the Twin Cities but I would have to start looking through microfilm at the Minnesota Historical Society.  In other words, no luck with the newspaper article, although he did send me some obituaries and information on my great uncle, Albert, who lived in Taylors Falls until his death (and he has helped me many times with other questions that have popped up over the last three years).

Last year I received a transcript of a scrapbook kept by a distant cousin, Gladys Bartley, from the around 1910 into the 1930s.  I was flipping through the pages and the title jumped out at me.  BARTLEY BROTHERS IN NAVY - MET AT NORFOLK.  I almost started crying...the article!! 

"Mrs. EJ Litle has three brothers in the service, AL, WJ, and CA Bartley.  They have written an interesting letter to The World telling of their work.  In their letter was enclosed the photo of the three brothers for Mrs. Litle.  The Bartley boys' mother died when they were children, since which time Mrs. Litle has reared them.  She is justly proud of the fine looking trio."  Included with the photo printed in the Hiawatha Daily News was a letter from the brothers, talking about their enlistments, their duties on their ships, and their leaves in New York City.

So after many years, I finally had the story.  My Grandma had it half right.  The photo was printed in the newspaper with a short article.  But she combined their story with that of my 3x great grandfather and his four brothers, who met up in Kansas and had their photo taken while in their 60s and 70s.  I'll share that story another time...

Start

I have been considering starting a blog for the last couple months.  A place to share the stories and findings I have come across while digging into my family history.  Yesterday I stumbled across Amy Johnson Crow’s Facebook page and her 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge and figured now is as good a time as ever.  Week one’s prompt is “Start”...how appropriate for my first post, but also the backstory as to how I became interested in my family history.

When I was a little girl, I would get one week at my grandparents’ cabin by myself with just Grandma and Grandpa (my brother and cousins each got their own weeks as well).  Fishing, gardening, swimming, tagging along to the neighboring cabins while the adults played cards.  But my favorite part of the week was when my Grandma would drag the blue trunk full of photos out of the front closet and share stories of her childhood, her teenage years, her parents and grandparents and other relatives.

Oh, how I wish I had written those stories down!!  Oh, how I wish I had known to pay closer attention and ask more questions about her life.  And the life of my Grandpa, who died when I was just two years old.  And the life of her parents.  Her dad fought in WWI, lost his mother at the age of six, had 20 siblings (5 full and 15 half) and was basically raised by an older half-sister.  Her mom emigrated from Germany at the age of three with her parents and five siblings.  Oh, to know what her grandparents went through!!

I lost my Grandma in 2010, and with her all those stories and her memories.  I was fortunate that she had given me a book for my high school graduation called Grandmother Remembers, where she filled in the blanks, added photos, and shared some stories.  I am a scrapbooker at heart for the last 20+ years so I started putting together a memorial album of her life and that’s when I realized I didn’t have photos of her dad’s parents.  And so my quest began…

My dad has all of my grandparents’ photos scanned.  When I couldn’t find any photos of her paternal grandparents I asked him about them.  He had no idea if any existed and ended up putting me in touch with a distant cousin of my grandmother’s who hosted a family reunion in Kansas every year.  How did I not know about these reunions before??  She started sharing info with me and put me in touch with her sister, who has shared tons of photos and stories.  I received a photo of my great great grandfather, Samuel Bartley, but still no photo of my great great grandmother, Hannah May (Catuska) Bartley.  I became frustrated and impatient not being able to find the info I was looking for and my family history search didn’t last long.

Until 2017!!  Early in the year I found an article on Facebook regarding free classes at the Minnesota Historical Society.  I knew one of my best friends was also interested in learning her family history so we made plans to go and we quickly found ourselves obsessed!!  I joined a ton of Facebook genealogy groups.  Restarted my tree on Ancestry.  I started finding distant cousins I hadn’t known before via Facebook and Ancestry - we have exchanged stories and photos and I have learned a lot about my family.  I am so happy to have met them all.

I was very fortunate to have had my Grandmas in my life as long as I did.  I was almost 40 when I lost my Dad’s mom and was lucky enough to have my Mom’s mom in my life for another three and a half years.  While my Grandma Phyllis was an open book and loved to share her stories, my Grandma Iris did not like to talk about the past.  I am finding that was actually quite common with people from her generation.  Both of my Grandpas died when I was just two years old.  I don’t know a lot about them but I am learning.  My Grandpa Roger was an only child whose parents divorced when he was young.  His father was not really a part of his life and the Lewis line is my brick wall.  My Grandpa Ken came from a large farming family with nine siblings.  I have connected with three distant Dorf cousins and have started getting to know the family. Both of my grandmothers married again and I will eventually start working on the lines of the only men I ever knew as Grandpas, Stan and Harry.

So that’s how I got my start.  My goal is to put together a family album full of photos and stories, hopefully for each branch of our tree.  My 2018 genealogy goals include: receiving my parents’ DNA results and finding more distant cousins to share info/photos with; finding my great grandfather’s military medical records; finding more info on my great great grandparents on the Lewis side, even if it means paying someone at the Kentucky Historical Society to pull records; roadtripping with Stacey to Hiawatha and Powhattan, Kansas to learn more about the Bartley clan; day tripping to Taylors Falls to visit the Kahbakong Cemetery and Coffee Talk coffee shop (which used to be the home my great-uncle and great-aunt lived in); many visits to the Minnesota Historical Society.  I’d love to meet some of the distant cousins I talk with via email and Facebook in real life.  And I guess I can already cross “Start a blog” off my genealogy checklist for 2018.

By the way, after seven years I did finally receive a photo of my great great grandmother, Hannah, but that’s a story for another day...