2011 SunRiver Scenery

2011 Thanksgiving

THE NORCAL SEVEN











L to R:
Ellis Toole
Claire Breckenridge
Jenna Ingram
Grammy
Grace Breckenridge
Carly Toole
Juliette Ingram
and in Front:
Aidan and "Boppa" Toole

Our early Thanksgiving this year began with a stop in the Salt Lake City area for the annual Marine Corps Birthday Ball. After a stop in Winnemucca, Nevada, we arrived in Northern California for a week of visits and doctor appointments, sightseeing and client business visits for Bill. On the 19th, we had an early Thanksgiving dinner with our three children who live in NoCalifornia (Mark from Mill Valley, Jay from Alameda and Shannon from Auburn) at the Auburn house. Fun, fun, fun! Aren't the girls adorable here in the shirts Grammy and Boppa brought along. And Aidan (he holds his own with all those girls) with his Utah "Beehive" cap!

For more photos, visit Grammy's blog at: http://thanksgiving2881.shutterfly.com/

The Fessenden Connection

Another maternal line cousin that I’ve met while doing genealogy research is a descendant of my 3rd great grandparents, James E. and Emma (Elden Chase) Libby (who had 14 children, by the way!). My line descends from their son, Samuel Appleton Libby (1826-1901) who married Angeline Riley. Bill’s line descends from James and Emma's daughter, Harriet (1810-1904), who married Josiah Bacon (and had 11 children). One of those sons, Charles H., and his wife gave birth to Alice Eliza Bacon (pictured upper right) who married James Henry Fessenden. Two more generations produced Bill, who is my 4th cousin! Early Fessendens who came from England were located in Maine – same as the Libbys. Bill's line stayed on the east coast.

In May of 1853, my 2nd great grandparents migrated to Dubuque, Iowa where two brothers were involved in building houses throughout the Mid-west. Samuel (grand uncle of the woman pictured above) worked with those brothers, returned to Maine in June of 1856, married Angeline in October 1856, and then settled permanently in Iowa where he farmed and worked at his carpentry trade. Samuel and Angeline had nine children, one of them my great grandmother, Mabel Libby. Mabel married Adelbert Anson Phelps and their daughter, Bessie Mae, became my maternal grandmother.

Bill’s sense of humor is very endearing and I’ve enjoyed getting to know him. Bill’s retired Navy and my hubby is a retired Marine. With their proclivity to jokes and military background, I don’t know that we should ever put the two together!!! We also have similar philosophies as to housecleaning, we’ve discovered. His comment goes like this: “In this house, dusting is reserved for those people who visit for the first or second time. After that, they are expected to take the place for its “lived in” appearance. Family knows better than to expect extra cleaning on their behalf.” I’m there!!

I love a story that Bill tells about a family member: “My mother’s (older) sister was born at home and the duty of registering the birth at city hall was given to my grandfather. His wife wanted their daughter to be named Josephine, while he favored the name Hannah. Being the good husband, Michael agreed to the name Josephine and recorded it at city hall. My aunt went through life believing her name to be Josephine. Well, Aunt Jo never married, nor did she ever learn to drive, so she never had an occasion to procure a copy of her birth certificate, until the mid-1960’s, when long after her parents had died, she decided that she wanted to travel abroad, and as such, needed a passport. There was a problem though, when she tried to get a copy of her birth certificate, city hall couldn’t find one to give her. The clerk asked her if she perhaps had a twin sister, born on the same day, named Hannah, because that was the only Delaney on record having been born on that day. It seems my grandfather got his way, after all, and gave his daughter the name he wanted. In the end, my aunt had her name changed legally to Josephine Hannah; that way she could use the name she grew up with, and there would be attachment to the birth record.”

As my “family” expands, I am blessed with an array of really great cousins. It’s also great fun to touch base genealogically with these cousins, learning where the family has migrated and why. Bill lives on the New Hampshire seacoast, while my family’s ancestor braved the wilds of Iowa in the mid-1800’s. I migrated to California in the early 1960’s, so we’ve covered both coasts. Bill states that they do have a short summer – and the rest of the year is early winter, winter, and late winter. I’ll take California (and now Southern Utah), thank you!!

The James Parks Mystery

I am still on the hunt for James Parks, my maternal great great grandfather. We’ve found just about everyone surrounding his immediate family, but we can’t pin down his mother, where his father died and is buried, and why he was born in Virginia (info he or someone close to him gave for the 1850 and 1860 Indiana censuses) but is found in Indiana after 1850 with my great great grandmother, my great grandfather and Lydia, my great grand aunt. He had a first wife and children. Can’t find them, either.

What I do have are the two Indiana censuses, land records indicating the land the family lived on belonged to great great grandmother from her first marriage and went to her children of that first marriage, and DNA results that indicate he was the very close relative, almost certainly son of, James Parks born 18 Jul 1761 in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. The unknown mother of my James apparently died soon after his birth and his father remarried to Barbara Steer about 1803 producing seven children. Through Carol, who lives in Pennsylvania and is a descendant of the Barbara Steer marriage, we may be able to find records in the counties where the Parks family lived. She is methodically visiting courthouses and historical societies in an attempt to solve this mystery, partially unfolded by DNA results.

Fullerton

William Fullerton [1802-1875]

Through my Parks genealogy research, I have e-met a sixth cousin (once removed) from New Hampshire. Phelps and I have been trying to find the ancestors of Ann Clark who married Humphrey Fullerton about 1755 most likely in Pennsylvania. Ann was the sister of Rebecca Clark who married Joseph Parks, who is believed to be the grandfather of my great great grandfather, James Parks. Cousin Carol in Lancaster, Pennsylvania has also been working with me on this research. In some places on Ancestry Ann’s middle name is seen as “Dawson.” Possibly Dawson was her mother’s maiden name. We believe her parents to be Thomas Clark and Ann [Unknown, possibly Dawson?]. There is also a possibility of a surname of Davidson.

Phelps’ line was so very interesting. Many of the Fullerton line were leaders in their communities, judges, merchants, railroad men, bankers, etc. and branches off his line run into the Pierponts and Morgans, several settling in Ohio and becoming captains of industry and banking in that area. One branch started the Carnation Company. We have yet to definitely determine Ann and Rebecca’s heritage, but Carol will be visiting various counties in Pennsylvania in an effort to locate more records.

Breckenridge

We are back from our week in Breckenridge and glad of it! We actually left early, disappointment in the entire experience. Actually we enjoyed the Georgetown Loop tour, but at nearly 10,000 feet above sea level, we battled altitude sickness - headaches, lack of sleep, shortness of breath - until we finally packed up and left two days early - on our anniversary day. We were extremely disappointed in the Marriott Mountain Valley Resort - a very old building, nicely decorated but extremely small, cramped and unclean. The underground parking was a constant challenge, too. On our way home, we stopped in Moab - the beautiful room at the Moab Best Western was a breath of fresh air - and the next morning toured Arches National Park. What a beautiful place that is with its incredible arches and unbelievable stone structures. Moab was still at 4000+ feet above sea level, so we were not totally comfortable until we got home to good old St. George, 2500+ feet.

Our Desert Home