Redecorating, Reconnecting and Sunday Dinners

It has been a busy month!

We have been busy helping Clayton get settled into his new house. There was a lot of cleaning and painting but in the end it turned out great. He is settled in, working on his yard and getting Tori's room in order.

Clayton moving meant we can put our house 'back together'. We just have to figure out what that means. Two guest rooms? His and Her offices? One office and one guest room? So many choices and thank goodness no rush to decide.


Another Horton Mystery

During the last six months between promoting my calendar, Everyday Genealogy, the holidays, winter visitors, working with Pam on our four blogs and Clayton's new house I have not done much genealogy research. Then like kismet a brickwall came tumbling down.

Nancy Hanson Horton Smith Weber is my mother-in-law's grandmother. There are many stories and few answers about her life after she left her husband, John Walter Charles Horton, in Blackduck, MN in 1922. Her youngest son, James, was 10 years old and Nancy was 40 when she filed for divorce in her new home in Wisconsin Rapids, WI that same year.

Over the years I found various news articles about Nancy's life in Wisconsin Rapids along with her marriages to Mr. Smith and Mr. Weber but I never was able to put it all together. AND I never had a picture of Nancy. It seems like once I have a face to put to the name it helps me 'get into their skin' and figure out new angles to pursue.

The other night I was on the phone with my friend Pam cruising around Ancestry.com and there she was - NANCY! Another Horton researcher had created a tree on Ancestry and I recognized who it was. She and I had exchanged information years before and then lost contact. Happily we are now working together on the Horton family and I am motivated to uncover the last three years of Nancy's life.

Sunday Dinners with Tori and Clayton

Meanwhile I am busy finding recipes that Clayton and Tori can make for Sunday dinner. Their first was ribs and baked beans in the crockpot. Since they are both night owls I suggested they start the crockpot before they went to sleep. It worked like a charm! This week I am sending over a whole chicken with directions on how to bake it. Tori is doing great in the kitchen so I am sure she and Clayton will do just fine.


Take Care,
Pattie

Genealogy - The Perfect Hobby for this Pack Peddler

Grandma Pahlke always referred to me as a pack peddler. I was never sure what a pack peddler actually was but it sounded cool and I wore the nickname proudly. From Marilyn Monroe to F.Scott Fitzgerald once I become interested in a subject I have to become an expert. And, don't even get me started on my Kennedy and Beatles collection. The closets and bookcases are bursting not to mention my cd jukebox.

Fast forward 50 years and this pack peddler found the perfect hobby - Genealogy. I now have the perfect excuse for reseraching, reading and collecting everything I can get my hands on that relates to my Pahlke, Schwemm, Schultz and Maish families. The best part is each of those surnames have even more branchs, twigs and nuts to research.

When doing my genealogy research one of my favorite things to find are obituries and photographs. Last night I hit the jackpot! While surfing Ancestry.com to see if there were any new family trees I came across a fellow researcher I had exchanged information with years ago.

Jackie is researching my husband's maternal line, her grandmother and Chuck's grandmother were sisters. She has made great progress in researching the Horton family and has photos and obituaries I had not seen. I contacted her and we agreed to exchange photographs. She is also going to help identify some of the old photographs I scanned of the Horton and Maish family!

My weekend will now be busy sorting through and uploading photos to my Google's Picasa web albums to share with Jackie, hanging out with my favorite person in the world, my granddaughter Tori and doing my taxes.

I think Meatloaf said it best - two out of three ain't bad.

Take Care,

Pattie
Everyday Genealogy Desk Calendar


Ellen Harmon Marsh Dickerson Booth, Mable Maish Lukken, 'Little Mable' Martha Marsh Maish

Sherman Maish and Family (Sherman, Ellen, Grace, Nellie, William, Martha and Mable)