A little Catching up

The Blue and White quilt.

No, this is not that same photo I've shown before!

My design wall isn't large enough to show the whole quilt.

This is part 2, part 1 is finished.

There's still a part 3 made up of three rows in the middle of the quilt.

I really like it better when everything fits on the design wall!

The Granny is 3/4 quilted as well.

Really, I have been stitching!

Except, 

I haven't done a single block for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

There are several cut out, 

I have just been reluctant to change the thread on the machine to red.

Lazy much?

Things have been a bit nutty around here this week.

My middle son, Rob, took a new job in Nashville, TN 

they have purchased their first home 

and this week was the BIG move!

They have been sleeping here,

eating here some,

and I have been dog-sitting Lola.  

Seems like I've not done anything much all week!

They left this morning for Nashville and I'm heading down tomorrow.

So I  have some "getting ready to do"

So,

guess I should go do it!

52 Ancestors in 52 weeks-Part 4

I'm caught up with this one!

The challenge-someone you'd like to meet.

This is hard, how to choose?

Still, I think this one.

Jaley Roann Birdsong

I've always loved her name!

Wanted to name my daughter after her but her Dad wouldn't agree!

Elizabeth is a lovely name as well.

Jaley Roan Birdsong was born November 16, 1851 in Missouri -perhaps Cedar County or Moniteau County.

She was named after her father's sister also Jaile, bit different spelling.

Actually, I think the name Jaile/Jaley belonged to several ladies.  So a family name it seems.

Her parents were:

James P Birdsong and Mary C. Beatty

She married James Polk Hickam on March 9, 1849 in Moniteau County Missouri.

They had four children, 

Two girls:

Clementine Orlene Hickam who married Charles Adam Ketterman

Vicey Myrtle Hickam who married John Walter Jackson-she and my grandparents had a running feud (of sorts) over which religion was better Baptist or Methodist!

Two Boys: 

Larenzo "Lee" Neminah Hickam who married Margaret Bell Burchett 

William Hamilton Hickam who married Cora Colin

Jaley died  February 16, 1938 and is buried in Inola, Oklahoma (which is within the Cherokee Nation although I'm not sure about any tribal affiliation.)

My father remembers her a bit.

Said she laughed a lot.

I like that idea.

The only photo I have of her.

Something about her eyes and mouth says she smiled a lot,

in some of these old photos the folks look downright mean!

My lineage:

Gail Sue Hickam>James Robert Hickam>Charles Lloyd Hickam> William Hamilton Hickam> Jaley Roann Birdsong and James Polk Hickam

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks-Part 3

This is week three.

Tomorrow, I'll do week 4 and be caught up.

I'd planned to write this one earlier but it's been crazy around here.

My middle son, Rob, has taken a new job in Nashville, TN.

The packers are coming tomorrow!  

I'm excited for them!

So there's stuff going on there and other stuff has come up as well.

Let me just confess- I didn't feel like doing ANYTHING!

So the challenge this week is:

Unusual Name.

I knew right away who I was going to write about.

Santa Fe Clementine Ewell

Her headstone reads Santa C and other times you see S C

She had a brother named Amazon so I guess her parents were into place names?

Born January 4, 1857 in Vernon County, Missouri (3 counties straight south of me)

Died 16 January 1916 also in Vernon county, Missouri.

At age 59.

She was the daughter of Jesse Ewell and Rebecca Hurst and the Great-granddaughter of Maxey Ewell, who served in the Revolutionary War.

She married James Newby Welch April 6, 1873 in Vernon county, MO

He was the son of Thomas Welch and Nancy Pryor.

It's interesting to note that EVERY time they are listed in a census his FULL Name is used.

They had FIVE daughters.

Laura Welch who lived only 2 weeks.

Lily Pearl Welch who married Wallace Irvin Lyons

Jessie Ivy Welch who married John William Weddle

Ina Welch, Jessie's twin who died the day they were born.

and Isabelle Welch who married Floyd Dixon

My grandmother (granddaughter of Santa Fe) told this story,

I don't know if it's true but it is possible.

Grandma (Santa C) told me that during the war (between the states) she as a young girl was sent to town for a peck basket of salt. (This seems like an awful lot of salt to me!)

She was on her way home (I believe on a horse) when she heard the soldiers coming.

Knowing that they would take the horse and maybe do worse to her, she hid in the woods for several hours while the Red Legs passed before going home.

Here's why it's possible.

The Ewell's lived on the south side of the Little Osage River, which was the southern border of General Order No 11. Now General Order No 11 basically cleared everyone out of the countryside along the border with Kansas and into a few towns.  In the case of Bates County no one was left, they were forced to go east or south but not into Kansas, many would go to Texas. Even to stay in the Union held town you had to sign a loyalty oath to the Union and many southerners (most of my family on that side) who did not flee refused and were jailed or sent to prison camps even though they were not in uniform.  This included women and children.  Then Union forces set fire to everything outside the limits of the town - a scorched earth policy.  So the Ewell's lived just outside the area included in the Order but would have known what was going on.

The Red Legs were Union Troops from Kansas and had a reputation for being rather brutal and where in charge of all that burning.  If they had found her they would have taken the horse and the salt at the very least.  At any rate Santa C conveyed her absolute hatred of Kansans to my Grandmother!

You can read more about the Civil War on the Missouri/Kansas Border at www.civilwaronthewesternborder.org

This includes a section on Order No 11 as well as George Caleb Bingham's famous painting with the same title.

Again, my lineage:

Gail Sue Hickam>James Robert Hickam>Ora May Weddle>Jessie Ivy Welch>Santa Fe Clementine Ewell and James Newby Welch

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks-Part 2

This is actually week number three but I'm behind.

I think I'll do another post later in the week.

So,

The word for the week is Challenge.

It was a challenge for me all right-just deciding what direction to take it.

I finally decided to write about the "brick wall" I'm working on at the moment.

Phoebe Smith

That last name, that's a challenge right there!

Phoebe was born in 1810 (Maybe the 8th of February)

in Virginia, USA

Although, the Virginia is suspect to me as it comes from census data and it may be that someone else told the census taker he thought Virginia.

I've been looking at Smith's in Boone County, Missouri and they all seem to have come here from Kentucky so I'm keeping an open mind.

Some people think her parents were Henry Smith and Eve Hickam but I find that unlikely as Eve was only 15 when Phoebe was born.  Not impossible but unlikely and she is never attached to information on those two.

There is a Henry Smith in Boone County at the time she married who had a daughter in the 1830 Census who would be about the right age-I'm still looking for probate on him-but his wife's name wasn't Eve. I actually have two Smith families that she could belong to and both came from Kentucky.  There are also some Smith's in Howard County to look into. 

More fun for me!

Phoebe married William Hickam, son of William (Billy) Hickam and Susannah Erton, on 28 December 1830 in Boone County, Missouri.

They had eight children:

Jinneta Hickam (F) who married James S Crum

Adeline Hickam (F) who married Samuel H Strother

Kesiah (F) who married John Huff

Francis Marion Hickam (M) never married--thought I'd struck gold here when I found a Francis Marion Smith in Boone County but NO.

William Jackson Hickam (M) who married Lucinda Elizabeth Sartain

Samuel Hardin Hickam (M) Married M. 

Susan Hickam (F) married Melton Pemberton Vivian

and James Polk Hickam (M) who married Jaley Roann Birdsong.

Phoebe 's husband died in 1852 on his way to California.

A Gold seeker struck down by fever of another type.

The 1860 US Census for Moniteau County, MO show her living with Francis M as head of household.

Phoebe died 23 November 1891 in California, Moniteau Co., MO at the age of 81.

She is buried in the Old Lebanon Cemetery, McGirk, Moniteau Co., MO

There are still many of her descendants living in Moniteau Co., MO

I had never known any Hickam that I could not immediately place within my grandfathers family until one night at an meeting at The University of Missouri.

 I turned around and was shocked to see the name on the girl behind me!  She was from Moniteau and they consider my family the "Lost branch"

So, 

My lineage:

Gail Sue Hickam> James Robert Hickam>Charles Lloyd Hickam>William Hamilton Hickam>James Polk Hickam> William Hickam and Phoebe Smith

Cross stitches on Tuesday

I've been working quite a bit on Ethan's Stocking!

The pattern is on 4 pages so I tape it together in two sets of two.

Top Half, Bottom half.

That makes handling the pattern much simpler.

Anyway,

I'm finished with the cross-stitches on the top half.

And getting a start on the bottom.

The bottom has BIG areas of the same color.

Boring 

but faster without all the thread changes.

Plus, there's no blending filament in this one.

There's really not enough change for a weekly update so

more next month.

The snow began to melt some today.

Fell off the trees in great globs.

More winter weather beginning tomorrow

and this time it's supposed to be really cold as well.

Hey, it's January so it's to be expected!

Snow!

The big news around here today is SNOW!

Deep, wet snow.

I took all these photos this morning and I have about 2 more inches on top of this.

I measured the snow on my patio table just now 9 inches!

I think they are still saying we might get more.

This is the second BIG snow of the season.

It's wet which makes it great for snowmen, snow forts and snowball fights!

That's also why it is stuck on all the trees like it is.

Also, there's been no real wind to blow it off.

The temperature is sitting right at freezing so it isn't miserable when you go out, 

and the roads are wet but clear.

My driveway is another matter!

I did get out and shovel a little-

Quinn needed a path to get around some, 

when she went off the path she got big snowballs stuck to the feathers on her feet!

Tomorrow's birthday party for Ryan has been postponed as Columbia got

even more snow-Scott said 20 inches!

Ryan was loving playing in it and Scott was grateful he had snow pants.

So tomorrow I guess I'll be out with the shovel, at least enough to get the truck out.

Mostly, I'll just sit inside and enjoy looking at it!

Quilting catchup

I don't think I've even talked about this project!

I've been putting blocks together for quite a while now-some as leaders and enders.

All the blocks are finished now-

Well---

that's what I thought.

When I began laying it out though 

the blocks that form the legs of the "X' have to go in two different directions.

So I have some un-sewing to do! 

About 22 more blocks have to be changed.

I think I'll leave the place for them empty until I'm sure of that number.

Otherwise, 

the Granny is 1/4 quilted.

I can only work at that about an hour before my shoulders begin to ache, 

so it's a slow go.

I've been cutting scraps and cutting scraps and cutting scraps!

Are they rabbits?

Do they multiply in the scrap bin?

I think I'm making headway but I'm never sure!

Snow is falling outside.

Winder storm advisory-roads are likely getting bad.

4-6 inches of heavy wet snow-really good for snowmen!

Not so good for travelers.

There's a football playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium tomorrow-

that should be interesting!

There's a planned party for Ryan's birthday on Sunday

Columbia is to get even more snow.

Wonder if that will happen?

Of succulents and cacti

 This is the winter home of my succulent collection.

(Seems to be growing, yikes)

In the summer they go out on the shady side of the house, 

they always grow like crazy outside so I'm guessing they like it!

They seem to like it in this east facing window too!

Otherwise would this happen?

Christmas Cactus

Well, that's what the label said!

I called this one the Halloween Cactus as that's when it bloomed.

Now it's blooming again!

I've never had one of these bloom twice in one winter!

This is not the only one blooming again!

Again, the label said Christmas Cactus.

The one on the right bloomed at Thanksgiving and into December.

Now, it is loaded with buds.

Several of the others have buds as well.

I'm always happy to see flowers blooming in the winter.

These are so easy,

 water them once a week

maybe throw some plant food in the water once in a while.

Easy Peasy.

On a side note.  I think I have the issues with commenting fixed.  I had to add my gmail  address as another author! Only took me hours of asking Google questions before I finally asked the right one! Apparently, my excite addy was OpenID and no longer supported.  Really I wish they'd take into consideration that most of us are not Computer programers! Now to figure out how to get rid of I AM NOT A ROBOT! May be a challenge.

52 Ancestors in 52 weeks-part 1

I've joined Amy Johnson Crow's 

52 Ancestors in 52 weeks.

The idea is to write about one ancestor each week of the year.

I'm already behind!

She sends a set of prompts for each month by the week-

for this first one the prompt is FIRST.

Very broad prompt!

My brain went immediately to 

First immigrant ancestor,

I've known that this man was an ancestor for a LONG time as a cousin of my Grandmother Dinner nee Chadwick had given me a lot of information on the Chadwick line, but, I'd never really tried to learn about him.

So, I printed out quite a bit about him, his wife and their children.

Without further ado let's talk about 

RICHARD WARREN

born circa 1585 in County Hertford England, although later it was said he was from London which is in Sussex and Middleton counties so he must have moved at some point.

on 14 April 1610 he married Elizabeth Walker at Great Arnwell, County Hertford England.

She was the daughter of Augustine Walker.

Sometime before 1620 they became members of the Puritan sect.
We have been taught forever that they were persecuted and jailed and so sought refuge in the colonies in order to practice their religion.  Actually, they intended to go to Virginia-ha Massachusetts is just a bit north of there!
Anyway, Richard sailed for the New World in 1620 on the good ship Mayflower.  He was part of the arrival scouting party and a signer of the Mayflower compact.
Elizabeth and their 5 daughters( Mary, Ann, Sarah, Elizabeth, and Abigail) remained behind and joined him in 1623 on the Anne. Two boys (Nathaniel and Joseph) were born to them in Massachusetts.
Richard died in 1628 and little is known about how he lived.
I know from my research on the California and Oregon trails that things in the "Promised Land" where ALWAYS worse than anyone anticipated.
Homes had to be build and food grown or harvested from nature.
Starvation and illness were huge problems, especially in the winter.
He was awarded a few acres of land and a few cattle and that is recorded in the records of Plymouth Plantations.
Elizabeth lived to be 90 and all of their children lived to have large families. There are many, many of their descendants including Franklin D Roosevelt, Alan Shepard, Matt Damon and me!
More information on the ship and it's passengers can be found here.

My Lineage:
Gail Sue Hickam>Oma Jean Danner>Thelma Marie Chadwick>Arthur Abbot Chadwick>Wallace Chadwick>Cyrus Chadwick>Bartholemew Chadwick>Nathan Chadwick>Ruth Maddockes>Ruth Church>Caleb Church>Elizabeth Warren and Richard Church.
(the first 6 generations are established by the Mayflower Society I still need to work at proving the rest but I know it's good as Mabel was a member and another cousin was President at one time.)

Frustration

No photo.

Just a bit of a temper fit.

Frustration lives today.

I had an asthma attack early in December,

thought I was well and truly done with it

BUT

today I began coughing again.

Will need to start using the inhalers.

Anyway,

I get tired easily.

So packing up the last of the decorations either for

storage or disposal

just wore me out.

Then I went into the studio to do a bit of stitching.

Remember I showed a photo of it last night?

I got so frustrated trying to find things that

I decided it had to be cleaned before I could hope to do anything!

I'm a bit frustrated at the moment.

SIGH!

Tomorrow, I'm cleaning.

Boring.

What a mess!

Taking down Christmas makes such a mess!

Well, putting it up does too! 

My great room is a disaster.

So far, I've taken down both of the trees,

and purged ornaments.

The artificial trees and unwanted decor will go off to the Thrift store

before too long where I hope they will find new homes.

I can't blame Christmas for the mess in the studio though.

Darn it!

I have at least one more day of taking stuff down

then I'll really get down to cleaning.

(It's next to impossible to dust while everything is out.)

Some stitching is being done, 

and I am enjoying my new Paperwhite Kindle.

So much easier on the eyes than the Fire.

New Beginnings

  Yesterday, the family met in the Boone County Commissioners chambers to

Watch Brianna being sworn in as County Clerk!

So Left to right we have the outgoing county clerk, 

Brianna (Bri) holding Isabel

And Scott holding Ryan.

Not often do you have the opportunity to watch a member of the family

take the oath of office!

Ryan was looking especially dapper in his vest and tie!

They said he picked it out himself-boy has good taste!