The Other Half

 How do you tell a story without featuring one of the main characters? 

It's impossible!

Louis Edward and Eleanor Leona (Carpenter) Butler
51 years of marriage - 1994

In the process of sharing Lou's history, I have known that his story wouldn't be complete without recounting the story of his other half - his wife, Leona.  Married almost 62 years, their life together was a great blend of two distinct individuals who lived and loved life hand in hand.  So in the coming posts, I'm excited to share pictures and stories from Leona's life and weave them together with Lou's so we get the whole story. 

I think I know where I'm going.  Stay tuned! 

Hegler Pool Update

In the process of going through more notebooks, Leona came across a picture and another account of Hegler's swimming pool which I posted about a couple of years ago.  I've updated the post (purple text) and added a little more information.

Click this link and check it out.  You've probably forgotten what it said, anyway, so it'll seem like a new post!

Getting my bearings

Could you think in the middle of this mess?

 I've got a lot of names, dates, places and events rattling around in my head and all over my desk.  While I regroup and figure out the next direction I want to follow, I'll be posting some random pictures, stories, and memories.  Don't be looking for continuity or predictability over the next few weeks, or you'll be sorely disappointed.  Just enjoy these snippets of history and glimpses into the Butler family history, because sometimes memories just can't be categorized!

Now, how are we related?

I'm My Own Grandpa

by Dwight Latham and Moe Jaffe

Many, many years ago when I was twenty-three,

I got married to a widow who was pretty as could be.

This widow had a grown-up daughter who had hair of red.

My father fell in love with her, and soon the two were wed.

This made my dad my son-in-law and changed my very life.

My daughter was my mother, for she was my father's wife.

To complicate the matters worse, although it brought me joy,

I soon became the father of a bouncing baby boy.

My little baby then became a brother-in-law to Dad.

And so became my uncle, though it made me very sad.

For if he was my uncle, then that also made him brother

to the widow's grown-up daughter who, of course, was my stepmother.

Father's wife then had  son who kept them on the run.

And he became my grandson, for he was my daughter's son.

My wife is now my mother's mother and it makes me blue.

Because, although she is my wife, she is my grandma too.

If my wife is my grandmother, then I am her grandchild.

And every time I think of it it simply drives me wild.

For now I have become the strangest case you ever saw.

As the husband of my grandmother, I am my own grandpa.

[Don't] Keep your comments to yourself!

Cute cousins - 1968
Cindy Butler (Delbert) - Beth Butler (Charles)

After journaling my comings and goings and plans to return to blogging in this post of August 7, I got a comment that has thrilled me beyond words.  Some of you may have read the comment - if you're nosy like me, you often click to a comment to see what others are saying even if you don't want to add your own remark.  But just in case you didn't click through, here is what has me so excited:

"I felt compelled to comment when you said nobody else may be reading. I am Delbert Butler's oldest grandson; I have a brother, sister, and one female cousin on the Butler side. I found your blog while Googling my grandfather's name in an attempt to find out more about him. What a gold-mine of history and photos you have shared! I deeply appreciate it. I had never seen my grandparents' wedding picture, nor many of the photos of my grandfather in his youth, and of his parents and brothers. I was able to flesh out my Ancestry.com tree using the family pedigrees you made available, and I uploaded a few of your photos to my tree (which I hope you don't mind.)  

"I saw my grandfather only once in the last 3-5 years of his life, when I was a young teenager. I saw him a bit more in the late 80s and met Great-Grandma Mable one time at his house. Since we did not maintain contact with the Butler family, being able to learn about them through this blog has been a real gift." 

Can you believe that?  Because of this comment, I was able to make contact with a branch of the family tree that we had lost track of.  We have corresponded several times, and I recently sent a number of Delbert's family pictures to Andy who is now sharing them his mom and her sisters - Delbert's daughters.  I feel like those pictures have finally made it home!

Isn't the internet wonderful?  I find it amazing that just a simple search for a name has created a new family connection and added leaves on the family tree.  

So, stand up and be counted!  If you're reading, feel free to add your thoughts.  What do you remember about any of the people or events that I've recorded here?  This history belongs to all of us, and I hope you'll add to it.

Thanks for speaking up, Andy!

See you in September. . .

Reading microfilm (for the first time) in the basement of the library
in Ashland, Nebraska

I know I've been very AWOL from blog posting over the past months.  It's not that I've abandoned genealogy or don't think it's important to continue to record the family history, but without even making a conscious decision, I seem to have transitioned to a research phase.  And as I've said before, research doesn't make very good blog posts!

A lot of good things have been happening, but I haven't yet figured out how to turn some of them into blog posts.  For example:

     *  took a great family history trip to Missouri.  

     *  visited graves of ancestors we knew about, and discovered others with whom we weren't yet acquainted. 

     *  learned how to obtain vital records from California, Nebraska, Indiana and California and Missouri.

     *  sent for and received the death certificate for Lydia/Eliza Ruth Winger and discovered she is buried in Missouri - not in California.

     *  sent for and received the death certificate for William G. Boling and learned his parents' names.

     *  bought a money order for the first time (at least the first time I remember) to send for aforementioned death certificates.

     *  requested information about the Winger family graves in Maitland, Missouri - and am still waiting for a response.

     *  sent email requests to various contacts made on ancestry.com and have received some information in return.

     * realized that I have a lot to learn about using ancestry.com.

     *  filled in a number of blanks on family group sheets with information I've discovered.

     *  organized notebooks on the Carpenter/Boling side of the family.

But now I'm working on getting back in the blogging routine - because even if nobody else is reading, I love the process of putting the pieces together and "publishing" the family history.  So with that in mind, I've chosen September as the target for my re-entry when I will return to my regular schedule of posting on Tuesday and Friday.  I'm brainstorming, creating a list of future posts, and getting pictures and documents ready to share. So if you're interested, check back in a few weeks as we gather more of the family in.

. . . see you when the summer's through.

Looking for the pieces

Pedigree Chart - Leona Carpenter Butler

Just because I haven't been posting, doesn't mean I haven't been gathering information.  Lately I've been spending all of my available time researching the Carpenter and Winger/Boling lines.   I've found these family names on many census records.  I've found lots of death certificates, but not so many birth records.   But unfortunately, I haven't hit any more picture jackpots like this one.   And although I find it very fascinating, research doesn't make very interesting blog posts!  Keep checking back, and eventually I'll have some stories to tell.

Genealogy really is like a puzzle, 

and I'm still looking for a lot of the pieces.

Corresponding with the past

In the process of sorting this week - yes, I still have a bookcase that is almost full of notebooks - I came across a collection of letters written to and from Lou.  None of them was particularly remarkable, and it was a hodgepodge group of authors and dates.  Most of them contained nothing more than a summary of daily activities, highlights of trips taken, or thanks for a gift received, but I was drawn to them in spite of, or maybe because of, their ordinary contents.

A hand written letter is becoming a memory of the past.  In this era of email, instant messages, webcams, and cell phones with unlimited minutes, the idea of writing ones thoughts on paper and mailing it to another person is all but obsolete.  But letters offer an insight to family history that is different from more formal writings.  Sharing routine details about daily life, personal letters allow us to vicariously experience life in a different time and place.  It's hard to imagine a time when a radio would have been an exciting purchase, but it 1941 it was certainly newsworthy.

"Did I ever write and tell you we traded in our old Radio and paid in the money Harker gave me on a new R.C.A. Victor?  Well I did and we do enjoy it so much and it makes a nice remembrance of him, too.  He said what was left to use for something for myself and the children that were home and we decided we would rather have a radio than anything else for our old one was completely worn out and we enjoy a radio so much.  I wanted you to know what we used it for."

 to Mable and family

from Aunt Lorena (Harker's half sister)

January 5, 1941

I've posted before about the Davis family Round Robin letters and recently got this information from Donna Mae Bagby (Lou's cousin) about its origin.

"You asked when the Robin was started.  Uncle Norman started it in the l940's sometime to go to his brothers and sisters (13 of them).  It has gotten lost quite a few times and we have had to restart it but hopefully it will continue.  All of the siblings are gone now so is a cousins' round robin and many, like you had not read it until after their parent passed away so is quite new to many but thankful so many are interested and willing to keep it going.  Thanks to my mother - she laboriously typed off the letters on a manual typewriter starting with Don and My marriage in 1951 and I have all those copies and am trying to get them bound in booklets for our daughter Pamela who will keep them."

So this year I'm going to focus on letters, posting excerpts from Lou's large collection.  His grandparents, brothers, sons, and other assorted family members are represented in the letters, and I'm hoping we can get a glimpse into history as well as the not so distant past.

By way of explanation. . .

New arrivals - September, 1984

 Louis and Leona served as Church Service Personnel at Haskell Indian Junior College from August 1984 - May 1987.  They were at Haskell during the school year and then returned home during the summer for some much needed breaks.  Those three years were very rewarding, but very busy, as they were the spiritual leaders, activity directors, counselors, chauffeurs, cooks, and tailors to the LDS students at the junior college. They stayed up late, got up early, popped more popcorn than we can imagine, and even hosted at least one wedding!

During their time, Dad kept an extensive journal and took countless pictures (think 4 notebooks full!) to document the details - the highs and lows of their service.  Needless to say, I won't be posting all of that here.  Most of the material for these blog posts will be excerpts from letters they wrote home, with enough pictures mixed in to give an overview of their experience at Haskell.  Remember, this was the 80's and the pictures will prove it.  You're going to love them!

In addition to the Haskell experience,  I'll continue telling the Davis family history.  I plan to alternate these two stories on a weekly basis, so if you get tired of one, just wait a week and the other will show up.

Announcing . . .

This gem was hiding in a file folder - just waiting to be found.  I'm fascinated with it, and couldn't resist posting this bit of history.

Notice how clear the postmark is - and the postage was only 1 cent!

Announcing the birth of Shirley Nadine Maxson

Her mother is Marjorie Davis Maxson, sister of Grandma Mable

It appears that the picture and text have been transferred to the post card by use of carbon paper which was in wide use until the mid 1950's.  I wonder how many announcements the Maxsons sent . . . could have been a lot of tracing.

Fun Fact about carbon paper
from this website

Pellegrino Turri created carbon paper for his wife [probably his lover], who had gone blind from illness. He wanted a device she could use to duplicate her letters so she would not have to deal with the mess of a quill and ink and would not have to rewrite the same correspondences repeatedly for friends. The "CC" field used when sending emails to more than one recipient is a reference to carbon paper. It is an abbreviation for "carbon copy."

 

Pellegrino Turri created carbon paper for his wife, who had gone blind from illness. He wanted a device she could use to duplicate her letters so she would not have to deal with the mess of a quill and ink and would not have to rewrite the same correspondences repeatedly for friends. The "CC" field used when sending emails to more than one recipient is a reference to carbon paper. It is an abbreviation for "carbon copy."

Read more: When Was Carbon Paper Invented? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_4867262_was-carbon-paper-invented.html#ixzz0uAc73lWL