Sunday, February 26, 2017

Speak up before it's too late

Yesterday ancestry.com sent me a message that I had several new hints I needed to check out. So I did and I am very happy I made that move. The last time I visited the site was 2013 and I had compiled a family tree with my maiden name. A lot of new information has been added since then making me wonder if it's another lesson in patience. Yuck I do not like that word!

It may sound strange but until a few years ago I did not know the names of either of my grandfathers, who died before I was born. My family just didn't care to share information. I finally know the rest of their stories or at least part of it. I also picked up a few more relatives in the form of uncles and an aunt I didn't know even existed. Of course, they are no longer residents of earth. Oh well it's the thought that counts I guess.

I did know some things about my Swedish born paternal grandfather from a previous search. In addition, I found out he married my grandmother in 1903 in the Dillard Hotel in Seattle, Washington. He was 36 and my grandmother 19. That's a big age difference. They settled in Tolt, now called Carnation, Washington.The name was officially changed in the late 1990s to honor the Carnation Dairy. You know the home of the contented cows! For years it went back and forth and no one knew what to call their town. I always thought it was interesting that my grandfather died the year I was born, but nobody ever talked about him. It makes me happy to know that my grandparents are both buried in the Tolt (oops Carnation) cemetery.

The biggest find of my new search was information about my maternal grandfather. I didn't even have the right death date and was never able to find out where he was buried. Success!! I now know he died in 1918 while serving in the U.S. Army. Information from his sister said he died of influenza and he is buried in Bayview Cemetery in Bellingham, Washington. I already knew he was drafted in August 2017  but my previous search ended there. I imagined that he died fighting in another country and maybe was blown up or something. It was a relief to discover that I was wrong. I also found out he had four brothers and a sister that I knew nothing about. My grandmother remarried in 1921 and I guess that ended any further talk about my biological grandfather. This search did bring up a question I probably won't ever get an answer to. Apparently my grandparents had an "unnamed son" when my mother was two years old. I have no clue if the child was stillborn, died at birth or was given up for adoption. It would have been nice if my family had spoken up once in awhile!

Just before I accessed ancestry.com I pulled an oracle angel card just for the heck of it. The card was abundance. Just goes to show it doesn't always mean money. At least the angels aren't afraid to speak up!  

2 comments:

  1. We have the same family, Barbara! It kinda freaks me out a little just how much my family, and yours, did not share with me or my siblings as we were growing up. Freaky weird. I think I should get on ancestry.com and start trying to figure out my family tree, although I know that my dad's family only goes back to his grandfather because they came from Poland (German-speaking Poles) and there are no records before then due to the Communist country keeping the records sealed or even non-existent. Maybe some day in my spare time, right after I write a book :)

    Great post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had trouble finding out where my maternal grandfather was buried because the military records for that period were all burned in a fire. I was amazed that it finally popped up and oddly gave me closure, even though he died when my mother was 7. A one month membership to ancestry.com is only $19.99 and that's really all you need Lois.

      Delete