Z is for Zebra

These are zebras. One day someone will find this picture in a stash left by me. Maybe a grandchild will find it but more likely a great grandchild. It will not be a yellowed copy but one that is found online. I don't know how it will work then but I assume anything that is out on the Internet will be retrievable.

If you are like me, there are tons of pictures you have saved that are not identified. Just like all the old photos I have, some will never be named. The same could happen with the zebra picture.

What does this picture tell you? The zebra's are enclosed in a large paddock. Some are under the tree so we assume it's cooler there. There are trees in the background and it looks like a savanna. It looks like it might have been on a safari somewhere. Without knowing where this is, assumptions can be wrong.

The picture is full color and has been changed to make it look older. The zebra's are in Riverside County, California. They are owned by one of our neighbors who has a horse ranch where he raises thoroughbreds. I don't know why he has the zebras but when we first saw them, we were surprised. We pass them twice a day on the way to baseball practice and games and we can't afford to leave town much less go on a safari.

I am guilty of not identifying my photos. Thinking about it, I don't want to leave a mess behind for someone else. Today's genealogists and family historians are making inroads into the past left for us to find. We can make it easier for future historians so when they find my zebra picture, they will know it was taken in Riverside County, California in 2014.

Family history has many facets. Not only are we on the hunt for facts, we are totally delighted when we find pictures. One of the most amazing moments are when we find unexpected treasure in the way of photographs. 

My grandfather was a photographer and took lots of pictures. My mother was never without a camera. In fact, her Master Degree was in Audio/Visual and it was an exciting time in 1967 when technology was blooming. 

My cousin in Tennessee found a treasure trove of photos he didn't know he had. It was an exciting week as he sent the scanned photos to me and when I went to Tennessee, he handed me a CD with them as well. 

Cousins I find online also share photos and yesterday another one found me. We are now sharing photos of my Aunt Ruth, her grandmother. 

One of the problems with all these photos is the way they are organized. I read a post by James Tanner who had a useful suggestion. Here is the link to his article "Let the computer do its work of organizing your genealogy". Taking his advise, I started organizing my pictures. It is AMAZING. They don't appear to be in order but all of them are searchable. It is going to take a long time to go back and rename my photos and documents but in the end, what a time saver!

His way of handling documents is simple. Create one searchable file with documents named so they can be found by person, place, date or event. The computer does the work, why reinvent the wheel?  

The A to Z challenge ends today. It has been fun and a challenge but now, I'm looking at tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day that I start of the real challenge of cleaning up and identifying my own photos so when my grandson does the A to Z challenge years from now and adds pictures, he won't have to wonder who these people are or where they were taken.

Thanks you for reading and commenting on my posts. It has made the challenge a joy and I have had a very good time reading and learning about others. Big Smile!

Y is for Anneliese Yuenger (Pulvermann)

Big Anneliese is what she was called even after I surpassed her in height and weight. As I mentioned in my first post on the A to Z, my name is Ann Eliese. My mom named me after Anneliese Pulvermann, her best friend. They met in college and the friendship continued until their deaths. Everyone should have a Big Anneliese in their lives. I was blessed to have her and I loved her so much.

Anneliese was born in Hamburg, Germany on July 12, 1915. Her parents were Paul and Anna Pulvermann. I heard stories of the reasons she left Germany and her arrival in America but I don't know how true they are. I do know she applied for Naturalization on June 14, 1948. She entered the United States in 1943, coming from Canada to Vermont and was living in Colorado when she applied for the Naturalization. That is where she met my mother.  

Big Anneliese was a brilliant woman who raised three remarkable children. She did it without the help of her husband (Warren Yuenger) who may have been present physically but had no time for his family and often didn't even acknowledge their presence. My brother and I always thought he was a spy. In Santa Ana, he lived in the lowest level of the split level house and only came up to eat. I don't think that he ever spoke to me and only remember him talking to my dad once. He was a very strange man and a bit scary. 

Our families spent a lot of time together. Big Anneliese was a teacher and even our playtime was also a time for learning. I can say that much of my curiosity about things came from her. 

Her mother, Anna Pulvermann, (always called Mrs. Pulvermann), gave me a little blue plastic covered notebook when I was about six. It was my first diary and I still have it. Mrs. Pulvermann traveled between East Germany and America. It seemed to me that she spent more time in Germany but that may not be correct based on a notarized document she wrote in 1960. She was also an interesting woman and independent as well. 

Big Anneliese passed away on April 22, 1999 at the age of 82. She outlived my mom by 11 months. I think that in life, we are only given a few people who remain a part of our lives forever. Those relationships are precious. 

Anneliese's younger son named his first daughter Anneliese. He named his second daughter Ruby, my mom's name. How very sweet to know that Anneliese and Ruby are still together. 

52 Ancestors - Week 18 - Lydia Grubbs 1816 - 1881

Lydia Grubbs is the mother of James Madison Yeakley. I don't know much about her yet but two people have contacted me. One of them is a 2nd cousin on my Dad's side of the family. She wrote to me to share some letters and then informed me that we are related on my mom's side, specifically Lydia Grubbs. I am trying to figure out the relationship. Another person just contacted me and said we had Lydia Grubbs in common and is in the process of sending some info that she has.

It is probably not a stretch to see how we might be related on both sides. The Yeakley family was from Rheatown, Greene County, Tennessee. They migrated to Oklahoma and then to Texas. My dad's side of the family is Rhea and the story (still questionable) is that John Rhea founded the town. The problem is that almost all of the men were named John. None of my dad's family lived in Rheatown but it wasn't that far from Hancock County. Tennessee not only had a Rheatown in Greene County but a Rhea County. Rhea County was made famous by the Scopes Trial.

Lydia was born in Rheatown, Tennessee on May 31, 1816. She married George O Yeakley in 1832 and had six children. She died on November 18, 1881 in Gainesville, Texas at the age of 65. Find a Grave has a write-up on her life and death. Her grave wasn't found until 2010 and then they discovered her daughter-in-law, Margaret Shearer is buried next to her.

X is for Xerox - Hat's off to the early genealogists!

Xerox might be a strange topic for family history but my mom left me xerox'd copies of records and it does figure into genealogy.

From the "About" website, I have copied the first paragraph.

"In 1937, the process called Xerography was invented by American law student Chester Carlson. Carlson had invented a copying process based on electrostatic energy. Xerography became commercially available in 1950 by the Xerox Corporation. Xerography comes for the Greed for "dry writing"."

My mother loved the Xerox copier and as a true Renaissance Woman, embraced the technology with open arms. It made it easier for her to make copies when she traveled collecting family history. In fact, the first copy of my birth certificate is xeroxed.

Family historians and genealogists who have put the time in tracking our families have worked with all kinds of media. They tramped graveyards, hauled books off shelves and spent hours looking at reels of microfilm.

Hat's off to these people who did all the work so I can sit comfortably at my desk and find all the records they discovered. While I tramp graveyards, pull books off shelves and study microfilm, these people set us all on the right track so we know what graveyards to tramp, which books to pull and the roll numbers on the microfilm to ask for.

Technology changes and we adapt to new things. The early folks took notes, gathered information on giant computer printouts and xeroxed copies. Today, I just hit print and the information is at my fingertips. We are blessed to have the Internet but a big thank you goes to all of those who have come before. They not only did most of the work, they shared what they learned and made it available for us.

W is for Ruth Linda Wadley - my best friend

Not an ancestor but my best friend who died at age 15. I have written about her before so I will not cover it again other than to say she died much too young and I still miss her. If you want to read the story you can find it at Death of a Friend. 

We met in 1953 when we moved into the new neighborhood in La Puente, California. We were three and my brother was a year old. From the moment we met, we were best friends. We were never apart except for sleeping. Ruth was the adventurous one and if we got in trouble, it was probably something she instigated. We went to grade school together and Junior High. Her family moved to South Gate when we started high school. Our parents used to take us back and forth so we still spent time together. 

The houses were really new in this picture. There are no fences or grass. 

I suppose by this time her parents are gone but she had two sisters, Patty and Dorothy and two younger brothers. I don't know what happened to them after her death but I wanted to share these pictures in case they are out there to find them. 

Ruth Linda Wadley was born on February 3, 1949 in Los Angeles, California and died on April 24, 1965. She was buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, CA. 

V is for Viola Ruth Yeakley - Aunt Ruth

When I was 2 years old, Aunt Ruth came to visit. Of all my Texas relatives, she was the only one with a strong Texas accent. By the time she left, I could sing, "Jesus Loves Me" but I always sung "yay-yes, Jesus Loves Me". 

Viola Ruth Yeakley was born on May 28, 1911 in Archer City, Texas. She was the oldest daughter of Marvin and Ellen Yeakley and was seven years old when my mom (Ruby) was born. 

Aunt Ruth, photo taken by her father. Wasn't she adorable? 

Ruth and Ruby, taken by their father in 1921. My mom was three and Aunt Ruth was ten. 

She married Marcus Edward Edmonds on June 2, 1929 at the age of 18. They had four children, three girls and a boy. Marcus passed away on August 7, 1955 leaving Aunt Ruth a widow at the age 44. She never remarried but spent the rest of her life getting an education as a RN and traveling with her children and grandchildren. 

Not the best picture of Uncle Marcus but the only one I seem to have. Marcus is on the left, my dad is next to him and Dubbie (my cousin) is on the right. The adorable child (obviously not happy about something is me at about age 5). It would have been shortly after this that Marcus passed away. I am almost certain this picture was taken at Fern Dell Park at Griffith Park in Los Angeles. 

Aunt Ruth loved to travel and we made two trips with her to Washington State to visit my Aunt Lola but most of the time, she came and stayed with us. Sometimes she would bring her grandchildren and I just reconnected with one of them. We are sharing pictures and stories. 

Aunt Ruth could be really silly and so she makes it as a favorite all-time aunt. She would also sometimes side with me instead of my mother which was even better. None of my other aunts would buck my mother. 

Ernie (my dad), Ruby (my mom), Uncle Don, Aunt Vivian, Aunt Marie, Uncle Jay Dee, and Aunt Lola in the back row.
Aunt Ruth and Uncle Johnnie seated in front. 

This photo was taken in May 1991. Aunt Ruth wasn't feeling so well and was sometimes depressed. It is the last picture taken of the five remaining siblings. Aunt Ruth passed away on October 39, 1991, at the age of 80. She was a major presence in my life and her passing left an empty spot that only she could fill. 

U is for Unknown, Abigail

Unknown is a problem. Unknown is a challenge. Genealogists deal with unknown. What's interesting is that they are not really unknown. They do have family attached so generally it's the name that's missing.

Unknown, Abigail      1600 - Warwickshire, England     1627  - Jamestown, James City, Virginia, USA

She was born in 1600 in Warwickshire, England and died in 1627 in Jamestown. She is my 10th great grandmother and was married to Daniel Lucye. It says they both died in 1627. That's a clue.

Unlike those who came before me, I do have access to the Internet so it's the first place I went. Daniel Lucey, Lucy, Lucye comes up in a search. He immigrated to Jamestown, Virginia on the "Susan" in 1624. It is assumed that Abigail was with him since he married Abigail, "the tanner's daughter about 1617. He was the youngest son of Timothy Lucy. He died owing Richard Kingsmill 500 pounds of tobacco. The website I found has other details of the family in England. Today, I am not going to worry about the accuracy of the data, only that Abigail Unknown was a wife and mother and lived a tragically short life.

There are other unknown's in my tree. Unknown's are a challenge that can't be left alone. We may never know their last names but that doesn't stop any of us from trying to find the answers.

T is for Territory

Territory is an interesting concept. It can mean many things but in this post it means where my family settled.

The Yeakley's came from Pennsylvania and settled in Tennessee. Eventually, some of them migrated to Texas where they put down roots.

The Rhea's settled in Tennessee and put down roots.

The Yeakley's lived in Rheatown, Greene County, Tennessee and in Rhea County.

The Rhea's never lived in Rheatown or Greene County or Rhea County but settled in Hancock County.

So how is it my portion of the Rhea family never lived in area apparently settled by John Rhea, who might or might not have been the first Rhea in Tennessee and credited with the founding of Rhea County and Rheatown? We still can't prove our connection to John Rhea either but I know my family just didn't spring out of the soil in Hancock County. 

So now we look at Missouri. My grandmother on the Rhea side, Mellie (Farris) Rhea, was born in Eldon, MO, in Miller County. She married my grandfather in Carthage, MO, in Jasper County and they lived there until they moved to Montana.


http://geology.com/county-map/missouri.shtml

A portion of the Yeakley's landed in Greene County, Missouri, in the Springfield area.

The Rhea's and Yeakley's lived in Tennessee and Missouri. In 1900, there were 45 states. So how is it that the two very separate and distinct families all ended up in the same territory? There were 43 other states to choose from.