Author Archive
While it is true that Ferris Wheels are still in many amusement parks, they are not as exciting as they used to be. That is because the amusement park rides of today are designed to rattle your brains and scare you almost to death. Somehow, the simple movement of the Ferris Wheel seems quite tame. […]
We took trimmers and brooms and cans for water. We cut flowers from the garden. We explained why we were here and what we were going to do. When we finished trimming and sweeping our ancestral graves, the grandchildren began to roam around. They found other grave stones to clean. Some had dirt. Some cobwebs. […]
To the young child, just learning to read, the cemetery can be an interesting place. Aside from all of the unusual surnames, there are some words which are repeated over and over in a cemetery. They are mother, father, papa, mama, brother, sister, daughter, friend, wife, husband. Coming face-to-face with a stone with papa carved […]
Cemeteries are strange places. Adults understand cemeteries but children are wary. On this Memorial Day we took Talmage and Holden with us to meet their ancestors. Well, at least to see their ancestors’ burial places. Walking through cemeteries gives grown-ups a chance to talk about things. About life and death. About beliefs. About why we […]
During our search for ancestral faces, we received a copy of this photograph which was taken in the 1800s. We hoped it was a photograph of ancestors Jerome and Mary Watrous from Terre Haute in Henderson County, Illinois. However, we have not been able to identify those in the photograph. Having never seen the face […]
During our quest to find ancestral faces in the counties of Henderson and Hancock in Illinois, we received this copy of a photograph. We cannot match it to the face of our ancestor Jerome Timothy Watrous 1818-1904. It is on file at the Historical Society in LaHarpe, Hancock County, Illinois. I really don’t like faces […]
This is the death certificate for Justin Pugmire. He married Hannah Elizabeth Winterbottom. Their son Justin Gerald Pugmire is our direct ancestor. Justin had been ill for many years before his death. He was bed-ridden according to those who knew him. He died at the home of his daughter in Midvale, Salt Lake County, Utah.
This is the obituary for direct ancestor Henry Reynolds which was carried in the Nauvoo Independent as a reprint in 1973. Henry married Sarah Painter. They became the parents of direct ancestor Mary June Reynolds who married Jerome Timothy Watrous. A summary of the life of Henry Reynolds is on this site.