Documenting Your Dwelling

 

Here on the blog, we've done several spotlights on where our ancestors lived. Before pictures were so easy to come by in today's technology, finding photos that show the houses from years past are few and far between. Mom/Margie as commented that she wishes she had more pictures of the house she grew up in, and while we do have some photos of the Hermitage House, it would have been nice to have more. Pictures of the outside, the yard, the various rooms. Often we can see parts or portions behind a person, who is the subject of the shot ... but what about taking pictures OF your house, just for the sake of documenting your dwelling?

Derek and Danielle have done a great job decorating their home. They are always adding new projects and clever creations. As a little side-hustle (one of many) D&D have an Instagram and Website to showcase their home and their projects, often with step-by-step instructions. They had Alicia come and capture their home on camera ... both for social media sharing and because it's great to have these things preserved in pictures.  I know it's probably a photography faux pas  to crop/collage these pictures ... but they are all are included in their entirety in Dropbox (D&D/2021). 

Here's a little look at Derek's wallpapering project ... 

Quite the camouflage. 

Consider this a challenge, to make sure you document your dwelling and decor!

Take pictures and write up what you remember, what makes your house a home.

Check out all the Home Sweet Home posts here on the blog.

Biblical Brothers

 Peter, James and John ... they may be more well known from the bible, but they were also brothers of one of our ancestors (Archibald, great-grandfather to Dad/LaMar). 

The trio would have been brothers to Lucille's grandfather. So Lucille's "grand-uncles". 

It's her handwriting, and her album where we found the photo. 

Here's a couple snags from Family Search ... tracing back the relationship.

For the Westra Six Siblings - the men would be "2nd Great-GrandUncles"

"2nd Great" is the same thing as "Great-Great" ... two "Greats"

Boy, the word "Great" looks weird when I see it so often!

For the grandkid generation - they would be "3rd Great-GrandUncles"

And LaMar's Great-Grand Uncles.

Interesting that Peter's middle name is ... Peters.

John's middle name is MacFarlane ... which is also Archibald's middle name.

McFarlane was their mother's maiden name. 

10 siblings. Archibald was third, the first son.

Peter, John and James were 7th, 8th and 9th.

About 10 years between Archibald and Peter.

And just 2-3 years between the births of the three biblical boys.

Easter 2021

Covid continued, and there wasn't really any talk of resuming the annual Westra Easter gathering, which is not to say there wasn't some family get-together. The Jensen family welcomed Shane and Alicia's family for the Easter holiday, which took place on April 4 in 2021. It coincided with Conference weekend.

Here's a little picture peek at some of the fun they had ...

From a candy tasting, to coloring eggs, to overflowing Easter baskets ...

Wendy has more on her blog. Easter 2021.

Chris's crew had a hunt ...

He shared pictures in dropbox.

I'm assuming there will be pictures next year from Scott's family, as it will be little Lettie's first Easter in 2022. Surprisingly, Derek didn't seem to have any photos of their Easter celebration. The Blackham's pulled out the fluffy ears, filled up the Easter buckets, and made some yummy food for their celebration.

Happy Easter!

Tiny Dancers

 Mini Margie

Mom/Margie's memories from these photos ... I was maybe around age 7–9, just a guess.  In front of our house on 4568 Boxelder St.  Nelva and I both took dance lessons for a few years.  I took tap dancing, ballet, and toe dancing (now they call it "Pointe").  

Naughty Nelva

This would have been in 1949/1950.

Dancing Sisters!

In the News ...

... and here's a picture of Margie's group. 

A little older than in first few pictures. 

Mom/Margie is on the back row, second from the left.

Here's a few of Mom/Margie's memories inspired by these photos ...

Mother didn't sew, so my Aunt Neva made all our costumes. It seems like Mother was at one of our dance recitals in an auditorium somewhere when Mother was called out and told that her sister, my aunt Neva Dye, had been accidentally shot in the leg by her young son, my cousin Kelly.

I still remember how I would take the bus alone on State Street from our Murray home to the dance studio in Midvale or Sandy, past that cement bridge thing over the road. In those days, you would drop the fare/coins into a little clear plastic thing by the driver. When I went to get off, the driver said I owed ____ cents more. I told him I had put all my money in when I got on. I guess you paid so much for a certain distance and then paid the rest if you went further (kind of like the commuter lanes now). Funny how you can remember those scary times as a child, for 60+ years!

While Wendy and Jeni were heavily involved in singing and musical theater, neither was really a "dancer" per se. The girls would choreograph some numbers to Xanadu which they would roller-skate to in the unfinished basement. The Wonderful Westra Sisters! Both girls would be part of a baton brigade, marching in parades (Twirly Girls). Jen would be in a little song and dance group called Carousel Kids, and both Wendy and Jen would be in song/dance groups in college (Jen - LD Singers). There were roadshows and other performances too - but no "just dance" (although Jen would learn to tap for her senior year production of 42nd Street ... even though she was the ONE character in the show that didn't dance.)

... a second set of sisters!

There are some dancers among the grandgirls ...

Aniston in 2013 and 2016. Rella in 2016 and 2020. 

Jenna in 2016 and 2018. Jaiden in 2016 and 2018.

... and Janika in 2003.

I'd already created the grandgirl collage above when I did a "dance" search in Dropbox and found these additional photos of little Janny.  

Little girls in dance costumes ...

The years may change, but the costumes are always cute.

... and today (2021).

 

A Plethora of Poetry

There have been quite a few poems featured here on the blog (check out the Poetry label for more) but no one has been as prolific with poems as Chris! He's written 100+ poems for his ProsperityPoems website. Check it out! Here's just a peek ...

Poem Images created using "Stencil"  

and you can also check out Unsplash for more royalty free pictures. 

Indian Ancestry?

The Family History challenge for March 14, 2021 was this ...

Every family needs an Indian Princess, right? Well, we have one! Her English name is Sarah Hughes, born 1740, married to Henry McGee. One of Grandma's Grandmother's is Louella McGee, so you can go back from that line in your Scavenger Hunt. OK, maybe she wasn't a princess, but it's still fun to find out more. Find Sarah on Family Search, and see if you can answer all these questions and send them to me:

1. What was Sarah's Indian name?
2. What tribe was she from?
3. What was her clan name?
4. How many generations is she from you?
5. It looks like Sarah was half Native American by blood. Her children would be 1/4. What percentage are you?
6. What is her death date?

There are many more details in her life sketch that are fun to learn about. This Native American tribe, and others, encouraged some of their women to marry European traders that had come to America. This helped the trading go better since there was a connection.

~Chris

P.S. This probably isn't an actual photo of Sarah, but this is what you are looking for on Family Search. There is an extra reward for the fastest reply

Tracing back to Sarah ... we follow Mom/Margie's, and Grandpa Rex's line. You can follow the links back on your family tree, or here's a direct link to the page about Sarah Hughes on Family Search.  

Chris commented that all the grandkids who participated found the correct information.

Here are Cooper's answers ...

1. Tsi-ya ga-to-ga
2. Cherokee
3. Wild Potato Clan or Blind Savannah
4. 8 generations
5. 1/512 Native American, if I’m only considering Sarah, and no one else.
6. September 28, 1828

The Jensen kids would need to consider other Indian influence. 

They have a Chief in Rick's family line!

Hannah's House Haiku & History

Just kidding - the poem featured here is NOT a haiku,

I just liked the alliteration ;)

Hannah and Sylvanus when they were married, and their home in Fairview.

All seven children were born and raised in this house.

Print/Word version at the bottom of the post for easier reading/cut&paste options.

Hannah (Margie's mom's Zada's mom) wrote this poem and had this frame made up for each of her children, so they would remember the house they grew up in. "Up the creek" in Fairview---it was one of the last houses as you head up Fairview Canyon. 

Mom/Margie said "I remember I was a young girl when the house finally got a real bathroom and you didn't have to use the outhouse out back!

You can read more about Hannah HERE. In addition to this poem, she wrote a complete autobiography telling all about her life, the birth of all the babies, the house, the bees. A few excerpts are included below. The wedding was June 4,  1913. After a short honeymoon trip ...

We went up the creek to our new home. Sylvanus had bought this place three years before and had it mostly paid for. The house just consisted of two rooms. They had just been wall papered and painted. We bought a new stove and cupboard and put new linoleum in both rooms. Everything was new and looked neat and I kept things shining. Everything was beautiful up the creek. He had planed a nice garden and radishes, green onions, etc. were ready. He had garden sage, rhubarb and asparagus. He also had a large strawberry patch and several raspberry bushes. The whole place (or the better half of it) was in a young orchard. almost every kind of fruit you would want was on the place. He had a large bee yard which consisted of over one hundred stands of bees. It was truly a garden of Eden.  I got all the water I used out of a well, or carried it across the highway from the ditch. The following summer we bought our first cow. 

From the history of Sylvanus Howell, two excerpts ...

After Sylvanus finished high school, he attended Snow College. He then went on to serve a 27-month mission in Colorado from (June 1901 to Jan 1904). After his return, he lived in Salt Lake City, where he worked on the trolly system for several years. He saved his money and was able to purchase his own farm "up the creek" East of Fairview. There was a two-room house with acres of land where he planted and cultivated all kinds of fruit trees, livestock and bees.

Before they knew it, the couple had four little girls with hardly any place to put them. One slept in a trunk, one in a drawer, and one at the foot of the bed. Sylvanus purchased another house and moved it with a team of horses to attach to the original house with a stairway in between. This more than doubled the space they had, and after that, the children slept upstairs in the addition. Three boys were added to the four girls and the family was complete.

Mom/Margie added some additional memories: I remember there was an addition being built on. I vaguely remember the stairs, but I must have hardly ever gone up there. I remember the kitchen, with a kitchen table and a coal stove, and taking baths in a round metal tub as a child----everyone taking turns in the same water. Seems like you'd end up dirtier than you started, if you were the last to bathe! I remember a pendulum wall clock in the kitchen, and the sound it made-----funny how certain sounds and smells bring back certain memories. I remember the living room and the player piano that was there and we would like to pump the foot peddles to make it play. I vaguely remember a creek out back and greenish yellow apples (seems like they were called "transparent apples." I was scared of the bees and afraid I would get stung. There was a little ditch out in front of the house, by the road. We would pick the yellow dandelions with long stems. We would take a bobby pin with a sharp end and make slices down the long stem. Then we would dunk the the stem in the cold ditch and the 3 or stem slits would curl up to the yellow flower. In my other grandma's house in Mt. Pleasant, they had an upstairs too, with a bedroom. I went up there more. When I went back to that house as an adult and went up the homemade stairs, the staircase seemed so tight, I thought a really large person would maybe not even fit to go up and the ceiling of the stairs was so close. Upstairs, the roof of the bedroom was very slanted on the side (from the roof) and if you would sit up in bed and forgot to be careful, you would bump your head. They raised their 5 children in that house. I remember one bedroom on the main floor, and kitchen, living room, and bathroom. There must have been at least one more bedroom, but I don't remember it. They had a little ditch to the side of their house and we used to play there.

The Home Where I Was Born

By Hannah Howell

Feb. 10, 1892 - Dec. 13, 1986

I remember, I remember

This home where I was born,

The attic window where the sun

Came Peeping through each morn.

The never ending lesson was

To live the golden rule,

And we heard the call each morning

“Come now, it’s time for school.”

I remember, I remember

The groves along the creek

Where we had our childhood parties

Roasting wieners on a stick.

How I loved the joy of freedom

With the pals I’d always known.

And the bright light in the window

Guided me so safely home.

Oh, yes, I do remember

The bee yard in the spring

Where we’d watch for new-formed swarms

And we’d hear the robins sing.

We loved the golden honey

As it rolled from out the comb;

And the blossoms in the orchard

Made a much more “home sweet home”.

Oh well I do remember 

(Now I’m bowed with family cares)

Of this humble home of childhood

And my parents' fervent prayers.

They gave us gentle words of counsel.

(Now they rest beneath the sod)

But they strived to make impressions

That would turn our hearts to God.

Check out more POETRY by family members too!