Monday, June 30, 2014

Glacier Star - Technique 1 - Progress Report

I went over to Sequim this weekend and sewed most of Saturday (except for a quick trip to the latte stand with Mick - he scored 4 doggy cookies!) Of course, Val and I stayed up past midnight watching Netflix. Mick stayed glued to my side the whole time I was there but at least this time he didn't break my heart by jumping up to get his leash so he could go home with me.

I got the first unit finished and then finished sections 1 through 9 on the next seven units - just four more sections on each to do.


Then I need to do the seven inner portions and sew the two pieces together for the eight blocks.  The block is called a New York Beauty. I think I have the fabric figured out for the next few techniques (aka months.)

I am having dental surgery tomorrow afternoon at 3 so that will mean no sewing probably for a few days. (No operating machinery for 24 hours!) I also have some genealogy posts that I have to get finished. So much to do and so little time! It probably didn't help that I was at work for eleven hours today trying to get Accounts Receivable corrections done for month end.

Sunday, June 29, 2014

52 Ancestors - #26 Edward Carter Dingle - He Went Into the Family Business


Edward Carter Dingle was the son of the Reverend Edward Dingle and Elizabeth Carter. The Reverend Edward Dingle was born in England and had immigrated to America. At the time of the Reverend Dingle’s death on July 1, 1763 he was the first Rector of the new church building for St. Martin’s Parish near Snow Hill, Worcester County, Maryland. This building is still in existence, and is now a museum which is staffed by volunteers. ”St. Martin’s Church is considered by many historians to be the finest preserved, most significant piece of American history on the Lower Eastern Shore.” Edward Dingle was a reverend for the Church of England (which was usually known as the Episcopal Church in America after the Revolutionary War.) He was buried under the floor of the new church as was the practice of the time of the Anglican Church.

Reverend Edward Dingle’s son, Edward Carter Dingle had been born on May 12, 1763 in Worcester County, Maryland (after the Revolutionary War it was Dagsboro Hundred, Sussex County, Delaware) and was just three months old when his father died. 

According to cousin Corinne, “At the time of the Rev. Dingle's final probate filing, it was mentioned that, at the time of his death, Rev. Dingle had 6 children. I believe that the Rev. Dingle had a wife prior to Elizabeth as there is proof that he actually had 2 sons named Edward, one without the middle name Carter (who was probably by his first wife), who died in Sussex County, Delaware in 1823.”  The elder brother Edward was born in February 1747 possibly in England.  Edward Carter Dingle also had older siblings - a sister Elizabeth, another brother, a brother Richard born 1748 and died 1778, a brother William born in 1760 and died in 1793 after a tree fell on him.

Sometime before August 1775 Edward Carter Dingle’s mother Elizabeth married John Gibbins, a Baptist Minister, who then raised him.

Edward Carter Dingle’s first wife was Nancy Crockett. Her grandparents, Richard and Elizabeth Crockett were member of one of the Gibbons churches in Delaware. Edward Carter Dingle and Nancy had their first child Edward F. in 1781 and then William in 1783. In 1786 Edward Carter Dingle is mentioned in his stepfather’s will. A daughter Julia was possibly born in 1790. Their son Richard C. was born in 1793. Their daughter Elizabeth was born in 1795 in Maryland. Edward Carter Dingle was a licensed, ordained, Baptist Minister in 1795 and in that year moved to Scott County, Kentucky. There Charlotte was born in 1796 and Winder Crockett Dingle in 1800. Edward’s wife Nancy died in 1800.

Edward Carter Dingle then married Frances Jane Sallee (born December 7, 1778 in Buckingham, Virginia) sometime before 1806 in Scott County, Kentucky. They were my great, great, great, great grandparents.  It is believed that their children were Nancy Catherine Dingle born in 1806, Jane born in 1808, Mary Sallee (Polly) Dingle born in 1810 (my great great great grandmother), Samuel born in 1811. Carter Blanton born in 1813, Stephen B. born in 1815, William Sallee born in 1817 and John Gibbons Dingle born in 1819, and Margaret M. born in 1822.

Edward Carter Dingle died May 22, 1835 in Georgetown, Scott County, Kentucky. His will written on February 16, 1834 mentions his beloved wife Frances Dingle and then all of his children and one grandchild by name. The first William born in 1783 is not mentioned in the will so he may have predeceased his father since Edward Carter Dingle was said to have seven children with his first wife. Two of his children with his second wife Frances Jane born in1808 and Stephen B. in 1815 are also not mentioned in the will so either they predeceased him or they have been listed in error. They are also not mentioned in a pioneer history written prior to 1883.


Great Great Great Great Great Grandparents: Edward Dingle/Elizabeth Carter
Great Great Great Great Grandparents: Edward Carter Dingle/Frances Jane Sallee
Great Great Great Grandparents: Mary (Pollie) Sallee Dingle/ Kinzea W Hardesty Jr.
Great Great Grandparents: Mary Grave Hardesty/John Tucker
Great Grandparents: William John Tucker/Georgianna Katherine Ragan
Grandparents: Alva Ashbury Tucker/Effa Belle Graves
Parents: Elva Rosalie Tucker/Lionell Burris Mitchell

Sunday, June 22, 2014

52 Ancestors - #25 George Riches – He Traveled to the Americas to Find His Fortune



George Riches was born in May 15, 1835 near Yarmouth, Norfolk County, England. He was baptized on May 20th in the Parish of Brooke in the County of Norfolk, in the Year 1835. His father is listed as Peter Riches and his mother as Ann, late Artis (meaning maiden name Artis though someone when transcribing the records listed her last name as Rute because they couldn’t read the handwritten ‘late’.) According to information on his death certificate his father’s name was Peter, and with the month and year known to be May 1835 and since he was also known to be from an area near Yarmouth, this is our George Riches.  

During the 1841 Census the family was living in the Parish of Brooke, Norfolk County, England. Still at home with George age 6 was a sister Mary Ann age 15, sister Sarah age 10, sister Martha age 8, brother Charles age 4, brother Robert age 2, and the baby, one month old Samuel. George is also known to have older siblings at this time - Edward age 17 and William age 14 that were not living with the family in 1841. The family also was joined by Louisa in 1845/6 and John in 1849. During the 1851 census George is not with his family so it is possible that he is the 16 year old George Riches listed as a servant for the Utting family in the same Loddon Registration district.

It is also possible that they are two more siblings with identical names who died young – another Edward born May 1821 and died June 1821, and another George born May 1834 and died June 1834. In addition there might be an older sister born in 1820 and possibly a sister born in late 1841.

My George Riches traveled to "the Americas to find his fortune" at the age of 18. He married Jane Elizabeth Wilkins, daughter of John and Elizabeth Kelly Wilkins, in about 1855 in New York.
Jane Wilkins was born in New York State in April 1838; Jane’s parents had also emigrated from England.

George and Jane’s daughter Elizabeth was born in 1857 and Anna Jane was born July 9, 1861. Their third daughter, my great grandmother, Martha Matilda or Mattie, as she was known, was born in New York State on February 17, 1863. Sometime after 1863, the Riches family moved from New York and was living in Waterville, Pepin, Wisconsin where their daughter Olive was born in 1867 (possibly July 28th.)  In the July 26, 1870 census George’s occupation is listed as a raftsman. George and Jane’s first son Edward Thomas Riches was born July 28, 1872. On November 10, 1872, their eldest daughter Elizabeth and Edmund Bignal were married by a Justice of the Peace in Waterville. Elizabeth was 15 years old. There was also another son George Bell born on June 20, 1875 at Round Hill, Pepin County, Wisconsin who died just before he was three years old on March 26, 1878 of diphtheria.

On July 9, 1877 George’s daughter Anna Jane married Charles William Atkinson in Maiden Rock, Pierce County, Wisconsin.  Anna Jane was 16 years old.  His daughter Mattie then married H. (Henry) Pember Taylor on February 13, 1879 in Pierce County, Wisconsin when she was also 16 years old.

On April 26, 1880 daughter Elizabeth is married for a second time at age 23 to Horace Gray by a Justice of the Peace. In June 1880 the Riches family was still living in Waterville, Pepin, Wisconsin and George is working as a farm laborer.  At that time, George’s 82 year old father-in-law John Wilkins was living with them. On July 3, 1883 daughter Olive married William T. Patton in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. She was 16 years old.

On August 23, 1889, 17 year old son Edward Thomas Riches married Mary (Maime) Gongia. George and Jane’s daughter Olive died after the birth of her third child in 1890. On December 12, 1895 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin daughter Mattie also married again to Jefferson Thomas Graves.

Members of the Riches family then moved to Washington State from Wisconsin. Anna Jane, her husband Charles and family, and Edward and his wife Mary and family settled in Elma, Washington some time before June 18, 1900. On June 20, 1900 George and Jane are living in Mentor, Clark, Wisconsin and their late daughter Olive’s children are living with them while their father works out of town. George is working as a stationery empem (?).

The 1900 census says that George came to the United States in 1844 and that he had lived here for 44 years. Since that does not add up and because of the family information that he came to this country when he was 18 and he was born in May 1835, it is more likely that he came here in 1854 or 1855.

Sometime between June 20, 1900 and July 12, 1903, George and Jane also moved out to Washington with Olive’s husband William Patton and their three children. Mattie and her husband JT followed his father James out to Washington State and settled in the Jackson Prairie/Mary’s Corner area of Lewis County on a farm in 1903.

George Riches died July 12, 1903 in Rayville, Chehalis County (now Grays Harbor County), Washington from complications due to bad kidneys. George was 68 years old. He is buried at the Oddfellows Cemetery in Elma, Grays Harbor, Washington. His wife Jane remarried on September 24, 1908 to Barton Koontz of Chehalis and was living in Elma, Grays Harbor County, when she died on July 6, 1911. Jane was 72.

By April 18, 1910, Edward had moved to Mukilteo, Snohomish, Washington and later settled in Everett, Washington.

Anna Jane died March 24, 1917 at the age of 56 in Olympia, Thurston County, Washington of mitral regurgitation and is buried at the Oddfellows Cemetery in Elma. Martha Matilda (Mattie) died on March 21, 1940 of cardiac failure at age 77. She is buried in Chehalis, Washington at the Claquato Cemetery. Edward Thomas Riches died on September 17, 1955 at the age of 82 in Everett, Washington.



Great Great Great Grandparents: Peter Riches/Ann Artis
Great Great Grandparents: George Riches/Jane Elizabeth Wilkins
Great Grandparents: Martha Matilda (Mattie) Riches/Jefferson Thomas Graves
Grandparents: Effa Belle Graves/Alva Ashbury Tucker
Parents: E. Rosalie Mitchell/Lionell Burris Mitchell


Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Glacier Star - Class 1 of 6

This is the picture that suckered me in from the Puyallup Quilt Barn Newsletter ~

Glacier Star by Judy Niemeyer Quilting




I called on a Wednesday and signed up for a class starting on Saturday. On Thursday night I had to drive through the most ghastly traffic leaving Renton at 4 p.m. and getting to the store in Puyallup one hour later (I took back roads - it was faster than the freeway.) I picked up the cutting instructions for the first class and the first set of material so I could get it cut. I got it cut on Friday night after work and a dentist's appointment, got my supplies together and then fell into bed.

On Saturday I got up and headed for Puyallup - much faster on a Saturday morning. I could go the freeway and it took 30 minutes. The classes teach special foundation piecing techniques developed by Judy Niemeyer Quilting who also designed the patterns. The classes are taught by Certified Instructors. I have to say our instructor was wonderful - Linda Tellesbo. The classes are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and a half hour for lunch. (And dinner is with Cousin Chris for five of the six classes.)

We had to narrow the stitch length and put in a different needle - and then I couldn't get my 1939 Singer Featherweight to cooperate. It would not make a stitch. I threaded the machine several times, and reinserted the bobbin a dozen times, even changed the bobbin. No luck. Then, I thought, what is different from the last time I used the featherweight - stitch length and the needle! Stitch length didn't make a difference and then I put the old needle back in and it sewed like a champ. I then tried the new needle and it sewed just fine. Obviously, the 1939 Singer doesn't get cranky and make loud noises when the needle isn't right - it just doesn't stitch.

I got to start sewing much later than every one else so I didn't get very far, but I have to say it is a wonderful way of doing foundation piecing.
Fabric is cut out using templates so there isn't as much waste and the cutting is done along the grain line. The templates have "sew here" notes so you can keep it straight.


The patterns are marked with the sewing lines in order and you use the templates in order. The Judy Niemeyer pattern looks very complicated but it has step by step instructions that are very clear when you focus on them one at a time.

There will be five more seven hour classes to go between now and December 6 with the next class on July 19th. I have a lot to get done before the next class and I am determined to have a finished quilt top on December 6th. This weekend I plan on finishing the first block above. I then have seven more to sew. Before the next class I need to cut out the patterns and templates for technique #2 and get the fabric cut and ready to put the templates on for the final cut. I still need to find the right background material for the next technique which in the first picture of the sample is the background that the flying geese go into around the center star. I found something that might do but I think I need something lighter.

Sunday, June 15, 2014

52 Ancestors - #24 Hubbard Philander Mitchell - He Liked a Little Nip Now and Then

Hubbard Philander Mitchell was born at Licking, Texas County, Missouri, on April 22, 1866. According to bible records his correct name was Philander Hubbard but he always went by Hubbard. Hubbard’s father was Judge Philander Davis Mitchell who had been born in White County, Tennessee on June 1, 1827 and came with his parents to Licking, Missouri in 1837. His mother, Mary Loucinda Halbert, had been born in Licking on November 30, 1832. His parents were married at Licking, Missouri on March 24, 1853.

He was born, raised, and lived almost his entire life in his father and mother’s old house except for seven or eight years in another small house on the property. He also spent his last three years in Missouri boarding in Licking when he couldn’t live alone any longer. He then spent the last six months of his life with his daughter Veron in California.

Hubbard Philander Mitchell married Effie Luella Harry (born at Hedge City, Knox County, Missouri on June 3, 1872 and moved to Licking in 1884) on February 3, 1889 at the home of her parents in the old log parlor (west room of the old house.) A plate lunch of cake and peaches was served to the guests and Hubbard’s sister Lizzie Hatch played “Annie Laurie” on the organ. After the ceremony, Effie’s grandfather, Charles Andrew Harry wept bitterly, because he said it reminded him of his wife who had died just two years before.
 On their wedding day

Hubbard and Effie lived at the old home with his parents (where their first child Lawrence Cook September 10, 1889 at 1 pm.) They moved to the smaller four room house on the hill west of the family home in about 1892 or 1893. Harry Travis was born there on March 25, 1894, followed by Roscoe Arthur born on September 2, 1896.

circa 1897 
Harry, Hubbard, Effie, Roscoe, Lawrence

Their daughter Avis Veron was born there on November 23, 1899. When Veron was three, Hubbard and Effie moved back into the big house with his mother Mary Loucinda Halbert Mitchell. Hubbard’s father Philander Davis had died two years before. The big house was the birthplace of the other children: Spencer Sterling born October 27, 1904; Philander born September 17, 1907 and died November 14, 1907; Norman Isaac born July 3, 1910; and Gwendolyn born January 12, 1916.
Their second child Harry Travis married Jessie Beard (the daughter of John Beard and Melinda Thornton) on March 5, 1916 in Licking. They moved to Taft, California in 1923. He and Jessie had four daughters and one son.

Hubbard and Effie’s daughter Avis Veron was married on January 1, 1919 in Davenport, Iowa to Otis Lawrence Ware. They had one daughter.  My grandfather Roscoe Arthur married Ruby Burris May 19, 1919. My father Lionell Burris Mitchell was born the following year. Roscoe worked in oil fields in Oklahoma, California, and Texas.

Hubbard was a very successful farmer and raised livestock and crops for a living. He was also known to make a good batch of moonshine and apple jack cider from a still he kept hidden on the property. He attempted to keep his stash of apple jack cider in the cellar away from Effie’s eye because she totally disapproved of such “goings on.” One day while he was in the cellar having “a little nip” with a friend, they were very surprised when a pan of boiling hot water came pouring through the cracks of the cellar door onto their heads!

On July 26, 1929 Spencer Sterling married Muriel R Wright in Bakersfield, Kern County, California. They had one son. Spencer was also an oil worker in California.

Hubbard experienced a very serious attack of gallstones in 1929 and was rushed to St. Louis Baptist Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri for surgery. He was in such a weakened condition that the doctors felt that ether anesthetic was too dangerous. Instead of ether, ice was used to freeze his body during the operation. He survived the operation but it left him with a long recovery.

Hubbard was a Democrat and a Mason, and both he and Effie were members of the Methodist Church. Their eldest child Lawrence died on April 30, 1930 at age 40 of tuberculosis in Klamath Falls, Oregon and is buried at Boone Creek Cemetery in Licking, Missouri. He worked on oil rigs most of his life and never married.

1929
Barnyard at Hubbard and Effie Mitchell's 
 
On May 23, 1932, their youngest child Gwendolyn married Athol Winfred Wiggins in Waynesville, Missouri. They had a daughter (my cousin Bonnie) and two sons. On March 25, 1935 Norman Isaac, their youngest son married Geneva Joan Farmer in Visalia, California. They had a son. He latter remarried and had a daughter. Norman worked in the California oil fields. My grandfather Roscoe also remarried in 1935 and had a daughter.

 January 1934
Hubbard and Effie Mitchell

Hubbard and Effie Mitchell

Effie Mitchell died March 11, 1936 in a Rolla, Missouri hospital about three days after a gall bladder operation; supposedly her heart was too weak to stand the shock. She had been suffering from severe abdominal pain and was sent to Rolla Hospital which had a bad reputation for poor doctors and care. She was 63 years old and she and Hubbard had celebrated their 47th anniversary the month before. Her funeral was held in Licking, Missouri on March 15, 1936.
(Pictures from Gwen Mitchell Wiggins)
"A sad day of Mama's funeral 
Norman, Gwendolyn, Veron, Papa
Lionell, Roscoe and my daughter Bonnie 17 mos"


 "The day of Mama's funeral
Norman, Papa, Roscoe, Lionell
C.D. Keller (neighbor boy)
In front -Gwendolyn, Veron"

Hubbard suffered most of his adult life from severe asthma attacks. He was always looking for some medical remedy that would relieve his difficulty in breathing. He relates in his diary of its severity while in Missouri and how difficult it was to breathe when he came for a visit to California in 1937, because of all the sage brush and pollens.
 1937 Hubbard and his grandson Wm Spencer - Spencer's son

Veron and her husband had been in California earlier in 1921. In 1931 they moved back to Licking but moved back to California in 1933 during the depression. In 1940 Veron and her husband were again living in Davenport, Iowa but by 1943 they had moved to Oakland, California. They divorced and Veron married Jess Holden in 1945.

Hubbard in 1944 reading a newspaper

The June 19, 1944 Obituary published in the Licking News, Licking, Missouri said that Harry T. Mitchell drowned while trying to save George Harlan Haws age 9 years 11 months of age. The accident was a mile south of the Western Water Company plant. Harry Travis Mitchell worked for Standard Oil Company as a Pumper. He was 50 years old. He is buried at the West Side District Cemetery in Taft, Kern County, California.

Hubbard Philander Mitchell’s moved from Licking, Missouri in 1949 to Oakland, California to spend the last six months of his life with his daughter, Veron (Mitchell) Holden in Oakland, California. He died on March 19, 1950 of a bad heart condition and old age complications. His cause of death was listed as congestive heart failure. He would have been 84 years old on April 22nd. His body was transported by train back to Licking, Missouri, so he could be buried next to Effie. Both Effie and Hubbard Mitchell are buried in the extreme Southwest corner of Boone Creek Cemetery about three miles due south of Licking, Missouri. Five of Hubbard’s eight children survived him.

On April 15, 1982 Roscoe Arthur died of a stroke in Rio Grande City, Texas. He was 85 years old. Roscoe is buried in Rio Grande Cemetery. Norman Isaac died on November 21, 1989 in Camarillo, Ventura, California of pancreatic cancer. He was 79 years old. Veron Avis died on July 25, 1991 of a stroke and related complications and is buried at Oakmont Memorial Park in the Garden of Inspiration in Lafayette, Contra Costa County, California. She was 91 years old. Spencer Sterling died on August 10, 1993 at Bakersfield, Kern County, California of congestive heart failure and related complications. He was 88 years old. He is buried at Green Lawn Memorial Park, Bakersfield, California. Hubbard’s youngest child Gwendolyn died on January 30, 2004. She is buried at Grand View Memorial Park in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California next to her husband Athol. She was 88 years old.

Some Information from: Grand Aunts Veron and Gwen and Gwen’s daughter Bonnie.

Sunday, June 8, 2014

52 Ancestors - #23 Benjamin Franklin Hardesty - Early Kentucky Settler


Benjamin Franklin Hardesty was born around 1735, the son of William Hardesty and Priscilla Lawrence. The family lived on a portion of “His Lordship’s Favour” a plantation which William’s mother Sarah Meades Hardesty had inherited from her father William Meades. Benjamin was the fourth son out of five and he also had three sisters.

Benjamin Franklin Hardesty married Elizabeth Hance, the daughter of Joseph Hance and Ann Johns about 1765 in Calvert County, Maryland.  Their first child Henry was born in Maryland and he was most probably followed by Elizabeth, Rebecca and Thomas. At some point they moved to Virginia because some of the children appear to have been born there - Samantha in about 1773, Benjamin in about 1776, William in 1777, Kinzea in 1779 and Samuel about 1782. According to some records Elizabeth and Benjamin may have had another child while living in Virginia.

In 1784 Benjamin brought his family to Kentucky (which at that time was still part of Virginia.) It was only nine years after Daniel Boone, thirty-five men, and two women blaze the Wilderness Trail into Kentucky. Sometimes it is hard to realize how difficult it was to travel from place to place back then.

The following is from Border Life: Experience and Memory in the Revolutionary Ohio Valley by Elizabeth A. Perkins, John Dabney Shane: 

Animal and man-made trails provided a rudimentary road system through the dense vegetation, although travelers needed considerable experience to navigate these routes successfully. Benjamin Hardesty described his family’s confusion upon their arrival in Kentucky in 1784 when they encountered the maze of trails and paths which criss-crossed the countryside. “We got out of our road at the Lower Blue Lick, and got lost with our wagons before we got to Bryant’s Station,” he said. “Followed an old Indian trace that let from Limestone to Bryant’s Station.” He added, with evident chagrin, “we took the wrong buffalo trace, of a good many that came in to the lick. Were two weeks getting to Bryant’s Station (sic) from Maysville,” a distance of approximately 60 miles.

1784 was also the year that the first statehood convention was held. Several factors contributed to the desire of the residents of Kentucky to separate from Virginia. First, traveling to the state capital was long and dangerous. Second, offensive use of local militia against Indian raids required authorization from the governor of Virginia. Last, Virginia refused to recognize the importance of trade along the Mississippi River to Kentucky's economy. Trade with the Spanish colony of New Orleans, which controlled the mouth of the Mississippi, was forbidden.

Benjamin and Elizabeth had three more children after they moved to Kentucky - Mary was born in about 1784, Sarah in about1786, and Francis in about 1790. As more settlers arrived and were born, the problems increased and nine more conventions were held. Finally, on June 1, 1792, with Virginia consenting to the separation, the United States Congress accepted the Kentucky Constitution and admitted it as the 15th state, without creating a territory first.

Benjamin and his youngest son, Francis, lived in and ran the first tavern between Lexington, Fayette County, and Maysville, Mason County, Kentucky. It took up to five days to make the trip between Maysville and Lexington, so hopeful proprietors established inns or taverns to serve travelers.

Elizabeth and Benjamin were married for 53 years when he died in 1818 in Bourbon County, Kentucky. Elizabeth died in 1833 and her will was probated in June of that year.  


Great Great Great Great Great Great Grandparents: William Hardesty/ Priscilla Lawrence
Great Great Great Great Great Grandparents: Benjamin Hardesty/Elizabeth Hance
Great Great Great Great Grandparents: Kinzea Hardesty Sr./Sally Campter (Kemper or Kempter)
Great Great Great Grandparents: Kinzea W Hardesty Jr./Mary (Pollie) Sallee Dingle
Great Great Grandparents: Mary Grave Hardesty/John Tucker
Great Grandparents: William John Tucker/Georgianna Katherine Ragan
Grandparents: Alva Ashbury Tucker/Effa Belle Graves
Parents: Elva Rosalie Tucker/Lionell Burris Mitchell