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I cannot choose a single favorite thing that I have found in my search for my ancestors and their stories. I absolutely love coinkydinks and one find is almost an unbelievable coinkydink. I have written about it before but will include it here again.
I am not a very social person. I have never been one to want to go out on the town, or party, or shop… I have always been content to be at home with my family. Now, my husband is more social than I am. When he wants to hang out with friends, I encourage him to go, but I usually stay at home. My husband has claimed for years that he could buy me a coffin and I would be content to stay at home in my coffin and never come out.
So, I had heard this coffin story for years when one night I was sitting in bed, researching 5XG Grandpa David Chadwell on Ancestry. My husband was asleep beside me as I came across a story that had been passed down from David’s adopted grandson Jack.
David Chadwell likeness
It seems that Jack had gotten into trouble at school and the schoolteacher had kept him after school as punishment. Furthermore, Jack lollygagged on his way home, plotting revenge on his teacher. As he approached home, he heard someone working on something in the woodshop.
Winter was approaching and Jack had been asking his dad to have a sled built for him. When he heard the sounds of work in the shop, he ran excitedly into the shop, expecting to see his new sled being made. Instead, he saw that a coffin was being made. Jack asked the carpenter who the coffin was for and he responded that it was for Jack’s dad.
Jack ran into the house and was shocked to see his dad alive and well and ready to give him a switching for being late from school.
David Chadwell was a tall man and about ninety years old when he had his coffin made. Back in that day, you could not choose a ready-made casket at the funeral parlor to be buried in; at least not where they lived. Being up in age, David must have felt that it was possible that he would need his coffin any day. He wanted to make sure that it was ready and a good fit when he needed it.
Now, David didn’t die until he was over one hundred years old. Jack told of his dad lying in his coffin for hours on Sunday afternoons reading his Bible.
When I read this story, I laughed out loud, waking my husband from his slumber. When he asked me what was so funny, I told him about 5XG Grandpa David Chadwell lying in his coffin reading his Bible and told him that I come by it naturally! LOL!!
Another favorite find involves my Great-grandfather Calvin Middleton who was a circuit-riding Baptist preacher. The only living person who has many memories of him is my older cousin Ms. Leola. She lived right next door to him and Great-grandma Rhoda and she has many memories of them both.
She has told me that Calvin would be deputized by the law in Harlan County Kentucky and would be sent to round up fugitives. Sometimes these fugitives had to be brought in dead. Wild tales were recounted about Calvin’s adventures as a deputy bringing in desperados, dead or alive. Ms. Leola thinks the world of Calvin and Rhoda, and I thought that there might be a bit of exaggeration of Calvin’s exploits due to hero worship on Ms. Leola’s part.
Well, a cousin shared a transcript of a court case in which Grandpa Calvin was being charged for murder. It read like a movie script for a Hollywood Western. I found out that Ms. Leola had not been exaggerating at all! It was deemed that Calvin was justified in killing the fugitive and charges were dropped!
Now, another favorite find was a cousin who nobody knew about. I saw that she was a fairly close match to me but her name was not familiar. She had info for her mother on her tree, but none for her father. I contacted her and found out that she had been born in the Philippines and she did not know who her father was; just that he was an American serviceman. We were able to figure out who her dad was by looking at her closest matches. I had grown up around her dad and he had been a cousin who was more like an uncle.
She has told me that Calvin would be deputized by the law in Harlan County Kentucky and would be sent to round up fugitives. Sometimes these fugitives had to be brought in dead. Wild tales were recounted about Calvin’s adventures as a deputy bringing in desperados, dead or alive. Ms. Leola thinks the world of Calvin and Rhoda, and I thought that there might be a bit of exaggeration of Calvin’s exploits due to hero worship on Ms. Leola’s part.
Well, a cousin shared a transcript of a court case in which Grandpa Calvin was being charged for murder. It read like a movie script for a Hollywood Western. I found out that Ms. Leola had not been exaggerating at all! It was deemed that Calvin was justified in killing the fugitive and charges were dropped!
Calvin in his later years
Now, another favorite find was a cousin who nobody knew about. I saw that she was a fairly close match to me but her name was not familiar. She had info for her mother on her tree, but none for her father. I contacted her and found out that she had been born in the Philippines and she did not know who her father was; just that he was an American serviceman. We were able to figure out who her dad was by looking at her closest matches. I had grown up around her dad and he had been a cousin who was more like an uncle.
Unfortunately, her father had passed away, but she had two half-sisters, an uncle and aunt, nieces and nephews, and boocoodles of cousins. Thanks to a DNA match, she now knows her father’s family; her family. That is, for certain, a favorite result of my research.
I have found other cousins through DNA matches also. I have been able to share photos of family they never knew and they have shared with me also. Finding family is always a favorite find.
Another favorite find came from the 1900 census. My great-grandmother had one brother and one sister that we knew about, but there was a vague story that had passed down through the family. The story went that Granny’s sister Molly had had a twin sister. Supposedly, a lady was visiting the family and a knife had been dropped on the floor. Molly had ignored the knife, but her sister had reached for it. The visitor predicted that the twin who had reached for the knife would have her life cut short. According to the family story, this twin died as a young child, and some might believe this lent credence to the prediction.
I had not been able to find any record of this child but the 1900 census shows Granny’s mother Nancy Jane living with her parents with her three children. Granny’s dad had died sometime prior to 1900. This census indicated that Nancy Jane had had four children, with only three of them living. Perhaps, or perhaps not, that fourth baby that had died was the twin told of in that vague family story?
Another favorite find came from the 1900 census. My great-grandmother had one brother and one sister that we knew about, but there was a vague story that had passed down through the family. The story went that Granny’s sister Molly had had a twin sister. Supposedly, a lady was visiting the family and a knife had been dropped on the floor. Molly had ignored the knife, but her sister had reached for it. The visitor predicted that the twin who had reached for the knife would have her life cut short. According to the family story, this twin died as a young child, and some might believe this lent credence to the prediction.
I had not been able to find any record of this child but the 1900 census shows Granny’s mother Nancy Jane living with her parents with her three children. Granny’s dad had died sometime prior to 1900. This census indicated that Nancy Jane had had four children, with only three of them living. Perhaps, or perhaps not, that fourth baby that had died was the twin told of in that vague family story?
Another very interesting find is concerning my maternal grandmother Rachel, who died when my mother was only nine. The 1940 census shows her living on Upper Teges Road with her widowed mother and her two living sisters. Her older brother is in the Army stationed in Colorado at this time. This census indicates that 23-year-old Rachel worked 34 hours during the week of March 24-30, 1940 in some kind of emergency public works capacity such as the CCC or WPA. Rachel’s brother John had worked for the CCC building roads prior to entering the army but we had never heard of Rachel working in such a capacity. There were packhorse librarians nearby. I would love to think that perhaps Rachel was carrying books to folks who had little access to books but were hungry to read and learn. I have found no record of that but we have a strong love for books and this is what I would like to believe.
John kneeling, Granny sitting; Alta in the center and Rachel and Esther in back
Rachel Allen Nolen and Alta Allen Cantrell
Other interesting info that I found out about came from talking with a lady who had been the neighbor of my great-grandmother Granny and her family, including children; Esther, John, Rachel, and Alta.
Esther had died at the age of thirty-nine from tuberculosis. My mother was twelve when her Aunt Esther died, but she had no real memories of her except for visiting Esther at the Stillwater Sanatorium. Mom remembers waiting in the car for her Aunt Alta, who raised Mom from the age of ten, to return from visiting with her sister Esther. Esther would sit next to her second-floor window and wave down to my mom as she waited in the car. Esther spent her last few years in the sanatorium and Mom’s memories of her are limited to these waves.
Esther had died at the age of thirty-nine from tuberculosis. My mother was twelve when her Aunt Esther died, but she had no real memories of her except for visiting Esther at the Stillwater Sanatorium. Mom remembers waiting in the car for her Aunt Alta, who raised Mom from the age of ten, to return from visiting with her sister Esther. Esther would sit next to her second-floor window and wave down to my mom as she waited in the car. Esther spent her last few years in the sanatorium and Mom’s memories of her are limited to these waves.
Esther Allen
I wanted to write a little story about Esther so that she would not be forgotten. I thought that talking to an old neighbor could provide some information to include in the story and so I called Ms. Vivian who is actually my 2C1XR. She remembered Esther and even sent me a photo of a letter written to her by Esther.
So, I was happy to collect enough information to write a little story about Great-aunt Esther. For what it is worth, I have recorded a bit of her story.
While speaking with Ms. Vivian, she shared other memories of my Granny. She says that once her older brother Robert had gone over to Granny’s place but he couldn’t find her. He went to the barn, thinking she might be there, Sure enough, she was. Granny had been milking the cow. She had leaned over a half wall that separated the stall she was in and the next stall to grab a bucket that held some feed for the cow to eat while she milked. Granny had gotten stuck on the wall just as Robert arrived to help her down.
Granny with grandsons Olen and Denny
I laughed so hard when Ms. Vivian told me this story as it brought to mind a similar story and I had to share that story with her.
Years after Ms. Vivian’s brother Robert had ‘saved’ Granny as she teetered over that half wall of the barn stall, my aunt and uncle would save Granny’s daughter Alta from a similar situation. Great-aunt Alta had accidentally locked herself out of her house. No one around had a key and only one window in her house was open. That window was the high, shallow window over her kitchen sink. So Aunt Alta pulled a hay bale up to the outside of the house next to this window. She climbed up on the bale, pushed the screen out of the window, and proceeded to attempt to crawl through the window. She got partway in and got stuck. She couldn’t push in any further and she could not get her feet back onto the bale of hay below her. Fortunately, my Uncle Johnnie and Aunt Donna visited at the right moment! They “saved” Aunt Alta and got her safely back into the house.
I laughed so hard when Ms. Vivian told me this story as it brought to mind a similar story and I had to share that story with her.
Years after Ms. Vivian’s brother Robert had ‘saved’ Granny as she teetered over that half wall of the barn stall, my aunt and uncle would save Granny’s daughter Alta from a similar situation. Great-aunt Alta had accidentally locked herself out of her house. No one around had a key and only one window in her house was open. That window was the high, shallow window over her kitchen sink. So Aunt Alta pulled a hay bale up to the outside of the house next to this window. She climbed up on the bale, pushed the screen out of the window, and proceeded to attempt to crawl through the window. She got partway in and got stuck. She couldn’t push in any further and she could not get her feet back onto the bale of hay below her. Fortunately, my Uncle Johnnie and Aunt Donna visited at the right moment! They “saved” Aunt Alta and got her safely back into the house.
A much younger Aunt Alta and the kitchen window
Like I have already said, I love coinkydinks and the similarity between Aunt Alta’s adventure and her mother Granny’s adventure had me grinning ear to ear. It seems that the nuts in my family don’t fall far from the tree!
I don’t consider any find to be a bad find, but these are a few of the finds that I have particularly enjoyed. Here’s to finding many more!
Those are fantastic finds! Thanks for sharing/ And, thanks for teaching me a new word: coinkydink
ReplyDeleteThank you and you are welcome! 🙂✌🏻
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