How can you love someone whom you've never met? Not only never met, but died 14 years before you were born.
For the past few months, I've been working on letters my grandparents wrote to each other. Actually there are dozens that my grandfather wrote to my grandmother before they were married, he destroyed her letters written to him during World War I, but there are five surviving letters that she wrote to him in May and June of 1927. At this point in time, my grandfather took a job with the city of Detroit in the water department and went on ahead to start his job and find a place for his young family to live. John and Mary had been married seven years by this time and they had two sons, John Jr., aged 6 and Frank who was not quite two, but in that "terrible twos" stage. Honestly from talks with my dad, I think he didn't grow out of his "terribles" until he was in his teens.
The reason I comment on her letters, is that figuring them out has been quite a chore. Grandma, bless her heart, at least took the trouble to number her pages. That's a good thing because on the back of page 1 is page 6; page 2 has page 5 written on the back; pages 3 and 4 are normal; then pages 7-12 are written on different paper, which is smaller, and which has been folded in half. On the front half is page 7 and page 8 is to the left of it. On the opposite side of the paper is page 9. Pages 10-12 are done the same as 7-9. But they are numbered and that makes it easier.
Grandpa, didn't always number the pages on his letters. So that with paper folded the same way as Grandma's, page 1 would be on the right side of the fold, page 2 on the left side of the fold; on the opposite side of the paper page 3 would be on the right side of the fold, but written from the bottom up and turned and page 4 would be written in a normal manner on the left side of the fold.
Normally this wouldn't matter, but as I am scanning and transcribing they are going in sheet protectors in binders and there is no way they can be placed in there in order. Not grandma's anyways.
I am really sorry I never got to meet her, because I am curious how her mind worked. I think we may have had something in common.
Copyright 2010, ACK for Gene Notes
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
World War I Travel Order
Once the Great War was over, and my grandfather's services in building bridges, shoring up bridges and repairing roads were no longer needed, he was the recipient of travel orders.
They read:
Company "D" 2rd Engineers
Betoncourt, Ht Saone
April 27th, 1919
TRAVEL ORDERS
The following men of this command are hereby authorized to proceed from this station (Betoncourt, Hte Saone) to Belfort, France, on Company business, leaving this station 12 M Sunday April 27th, 1919, and returning 12 M Thursday May 1st, 1919. They will travel in a light Ford touring car.
Sergeant Carroll, Samuel P #2503836.
Corporal Royse, Harry D. #2503988.
Corporal Percival, John S #2503963.
Wagoner, St Leger, Gaspard D. #2503808.
Pvt 1cl Packard, Marlborough #2503965.
HARRY L. STEBBINS
Captain Engineers U.S.A.
Commanding.
TFG
I know this because Grandpa P. sent the orders home to his bride-to-be in a letter dated May 1st, 1919. He got to do the driving and drove the Ford Touring Car. Grandpa's name appears below the struck-out name.
It amazes me what survived. I only wish that he had sent her letters back to her so that we would have had a record of all their correspondence.
The men were headed to Belfort, France, and my grandfather describes it this way:
"There is a big fort on the edge of the city, builton a high hill and most of it cut out of solid rock. Just outside of the fort and on the side of the hill toward the city, a big lion has been carved out of solid rock. The man that carved the lion is the same man that built or carved the Statue of Liberty."
I couldn't picture it, until I checked out Belfort, France on Wikipedia. Which is where I found out that it was indeed carved by Bartholdi, the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
Copyright 2010, ACK for Gene Notes
They read:
Betoncourt, Ht Saone
April 27th, 1919
TRAVEL ORDERS
The following men of this command are hereby authorized to proceed from this station (Betoncourt, Hte Saone) to Belfort, France, on Company business, leaving this station 12 M Sunday April 27th, 1919, and returning 12 M Thursday May 1st, 1919. They will travel in a light Ford touring car.
Sergeant Carroll, Samuel P #2503836.
Corporal Percival, John S #2503963.
Wagoner, St Leger, Gaspard D. #2503808.
Pvt 1cl Packard, Marlborough #2503965.
HARRY L. STEBBINS
Captain Engineers U.S.A.
Commanding.
TFG
I know this because Grandpa P. sent the orders home to his bride-to-be in a letter dated May 1st, 1919. He got to do the driving and drove the Ford Touring Car. Grandpa's name appears below the struck-out name.
It amazes me what survived. I only wish that he had sent her letters back to her so that we would have had a record of all their correspondence.
The men were headed to Belfort, France, and my grandfather describes it this way:
"There is a big fort on the edge of the city, builton a high hill and most of it cut out of solid rock. Just outside of the fort and on the side of the hill toward the city, a big lion has been carved out of solid rock. The man that carved the lion is the same man that built or carved the Statue of Liberty."
I couldn't picture it, until I checked out Belfort, France on Wikipedia. Which is where I found out that it was indeed carved by Bartholdi, the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
Copyright 2010, ACK for Gene Notes
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
I Keep Looking, Part Two
I've added the Massachusetts 1855 and 1865 State Census to one of those places I will automatically check for Massachusetts residents, and finding the 1855 for the William Allen Thayer family sent me back to the 1850 to search for this family yet again. Well I did find Allen Thayer and his wife Cornista and their children, Helen and William living in Hampshire county. Okay, so I didn't find them before because a) William is now Allen and b) Cornista? Interestingly enough I find Jerusha Percavil (their spelling not mine) living with them. Jerusha was a younger sister of Calista Percival Thayer. So now I have them in 1850, finally.
On the 1855 census, the Thayer family can be found with the addition of children Mary & George. Jerusha Percival is still living with them and has added her own little bundle, Eva M. Percival. The Massachusetts Vital Records show that Eva is the daughter of T. O. Morton. Interestingly enough, no illegitimate designation is given this child, but no marriage record is found for Jerusha and T. O., either. And the child is listed as Percival and not Morton in both the birth record and the census.
By 1860, her mother, Jerusha Percival aka as Rusha and Rusia has married Artemus Whitney and in the 1860 census, Eva is enumerated as Whitney. And that is the last I find her. If she has died, no Massachusetts death record has survived, and if she married, I don't know to whom or where.
Another Percival mystery.
Copyright 2010, ACK for Gene Notes
On the 1855 census, the Thayer family can be found with the addition of children Mary & George. Jerusha Percival is still living with them and has added her own little bundle, Eva M. Percival. The Massachusetts Vital Records show that Eva is the daughter of T. O. Morton. Interestingly enough, no illegitimate designation is given this child, but no marriage record is found for Jerusha and T. O., either. And the child is listed as Percival and not Morton in both the birth record and the census.
By 1860, her mother, Jerusha Percival aka as Rusha and Rusia has married Artemus Whitney and in the 1860 census, Eva is enumerated as Whitney. And that is the last I find her. If she has died, no Massachusetts death record has survived, and if she married, I don't know to whom or where.
Another Percival mystery.
Copyright 2010, ACK for Gene Notes
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