Treasure Chest Thursday - 1950 Main Street info

Treasure Chest Thursday - 1950 Main Street info

[Two different photos - same time, same place - two different sets of info!]

[Same Homecoming parade, it appears!]

From the Coon Rapids (IA) Enterprise, in my Hometown:

May 11, 2006, p. 5:

[Click to see enlargement and read caption]

October 23, 2008, p. 4:

[Click to see enlargement and read caption]

The Williams story in the second caption is part of our Family History, of course. L.B. Williams, the 'ice-man' referred to above, was a brother of my great-grandmother, Nettie (Williams) Kinnick.

Families are Forever!  ;-)

Wordless (nearly) Wednesday - Fall 1958, Coon Rapids, Iowa

Wordless (nearly) Wednesday

Fall 1958

Coon Rapids, Iowa

Two related photos to share, from the Coon Rapids Enterprise:

Lots of familiar faces, including Aunt LVene

And then, brother Barry in Kindergarten Class, with Mrs. Bote:

[Click on Image to get larger to be able to read caption]

Families are Forever!  ;-)

Eileen KINNICK - 75 yrs ago - Week 25 - June 19-25, 1937

Eileen KINNICK
75 yrs ago
Week 25 - June 19-25, 1937

My mother, Eileen KINNICK (maiden name), kept a diary from 1932 until her death in 1999. In Feb 2005, I created a website of her 1936 diary, the year she graduated from high school. During the latter half of 2011, commented weekly on these entries.
For 1937, I am transcribing the daily entries, currently, at The KINNICK Project surname blog.

In this weekly blog post, I will make summary comments and observations, and perhaps add a photo, from time to time. Starting here with Week 10, I am switching to the week ending on Friday.
Setting: The family lived in a farmhouse a couple of miles out of town (Coon Rapids, Iowa). Older brother, Leo, lived at home; his girl friend, later wife, Ida, visited regularly. Younger brother, Buzzy (she often wrote Bussy) was 9 years old. Pete Smith is her 'boy friend' - fourth month starting Jan 1 (they do marry, in Mar 1938).

Week 25 (June 19-25): From the Coon Rapids Enterprise of June 21, 2012, page 4

75 Years Ago column dated June 11, 1937:


"At a ceremony beautiful in its simplicity Miss Lucille Textor and Wilson Pingrey were married before members of their immediate families and a few close friends at the home of the bride’s parents Sunday afternoon. The Rev. O.E. Cooley of the local Methodist Episcopal church read the marriage lines promptly at 2 o’clock. Mrs. Wayne Textor, a sister of the bridegroom was matron of honor, and Wayne Textor, a brother of the bride, attended the bridegroom. Mrs. Pingrey is the youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Textor."

The Textor family celebrated this wedding and then celebrated an anniversary a couple of weeks later.


I look forward to your comments!

Families are Forever!  ;-)

My Hometown on Monday - Southside Cafe

My Hometown on Monday - Southside Cafe

[Click to see enlarged view and read caption]

This is a really good photo in the Coon Rapids Enterprise of the Southside cafe I "remember so well" from my youth. I used my mental image as a setting in my novel, "Back to the Homeplace," actually. 

I fact, now that I see it, and it does bring back memories - it is much smaller than my mind remembered it. The detail in this photo is exceptional. I am so glad I came across it.

Do you have similar memories?

Families are Forever!  ;-)

Sharing Memories Sunday - Mrs. Ella Preston

Sharing Memories Sunday - Mrs. Ella Preston

It is interesting what catches the eye reading the hometown newspaper:

From the 100 Years Ago column in the Coon Rapids Enterprise of June 21, 2012:

June 7 1912:
Mrs. Ella Preston fell Tuesday
morning while putting up screens
to the windows of her home and
fractured one of her legs below
the knee. Dr. Jewell was called
and reports the patients as doing
well.

This is my great-grandmother (Dad's mother's mother) - she lived alone in a house in Coon Rapids, Iowa. Dr. Jewell lived four houses away, according to the 1910 census. She was 62 years old.

She died on June 25, 1912. Perhaps she wasn't doing as well as the Dr. thought...  ?  ;-)

Families are Forever!  ;-)

Surname Saturday - William Preston Johnston

Surname Saturday - William Preston Johnston

[Col. William Preston Johnston (from a Yale yearbook)]

Image and story courtesy of Eric at:

http://civilwardailygazette.com/2012/06/20/davis-finds-a-way-to-fire-beauregard/

Civil War Daily Gazette.com

Excerpt:

"A few days before Beauregard left Tupelo, President Davis dispatched Col. W.P. Johnston, son of late-General Albert Sidney Johnston, with a series of pointed questions for the General. He was also supposed to examine the Army of the Mississippi. After stopping in Tupelo and finding the force in satisfactory shape, Johnston caught up with Beauregard in Mobile."

William Preston Johnston was my 5th Cousin, twice removed.

From my database:

"JOHNSTON, William Preston, educator, was born in Louisville, Ky., Jan.5 ,
1831; eldest son of Gen. Albert Sidney and Henrietta (Preston)Johnston;
grandson of Dr. John and Abigail (Harris) Johnston of Washington, Ky., and
of Maj. William Preston of Louisville, Ky. He received his early education
in the Western Military institute, Georgetown, Ky.,and was graduated at Yale
in 1852. He was graduated from the Louisville Law school, in 1853, and
practiced in his native city. Upon the outbreak of the civil war he entered
the Confederate States army as major of the 1st Kentucky infantry, and was
subsequently promoted lieutenant-colonel. He was appointed an aide-de-camp
with the rank of colonel on the staff of President Davis, was captured with
President Davis and confined at Fort Delaware, and on his release went to
Canada. In 1866 he returned to Louisville and resumed the practice of law.
He was professor of history and English literature at Washington and Lee
university, Lexington, Va., 1867-74, and a lecturer on the history and
science of law there, 1875-80. He was president of the Louisiana State
University and Agricultural College at Baton Rouge, La., 1880-83, and in
1883 he was selected to organize an institution of learning for the higher
education of the white youth of Louisiana, under the terms of Paul Tulane's
donation aggregating $1,000,000, which resulted in the foundation of Tulane
University of Louisiana. He was president of the institution, 1883-99, and
in 1900 Edwin A. Alderman, D.C.L., president of the University of North
Carolina, succeeded to the presidency of Tulane. In 1886 the H. Sophia Newcomb memorial college was founded by Mrs. Josephine Louise Newcomb as a memorial to her daughter and devoted to the higher education of young women, and it was made auxiliary to the university. He was appointed a regent of the Smithsonian Institution in 1891. Washington and Lee university conferred upon him the [p.121] honorary degree of LL.D. in 1875. He is the author of: The Life of General Albert Sidney Johnston (1878); The Prototype of Hamlet (1890); The Johnstone of Salisbury (1897), and the poems Pictures of five Patriarchs, My Garden Walk, and Seekers after God, besides numerous addresses on educational and social subjects. He died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Henry St. George Tucker, in Lexington, Va., July 17, 1899.

from: Biographies of Notable Americans, 1904"

Families are Forever!  ;-)

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy - Follow Friday - Week 25

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy - Follow Friday - Week 25


If I understand what Amy Coffin is suggesting in her 2012 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy, I believe I can follow these prompts and use them much as I have been posting of Fridays, the past years. Let's give it a try.

Week 25: Genealogy Database Software: Database programs have revolutionized the way we store and record our genealogy. Which one is your favorite? What are some of the tools and perks of the program that enhance your family history research? Share a link to the company website or vendor so others may learn more about this product.

This week’s prompt runs from Sunday, June 17 through Saturday, June 23, 2012.

I use only a MacBook Pro computer now, so I use Reunion 9. I used Reunion many years ago on my desktop computers. Then, I moved to several PC based programs. I was never particularly happy with any of them, though they all worked just fine. When I came back to the Mac, full-time, I tried several of the newer Mac programs, but eventually adopted the Reunion again, which is the same software that my wife uses. I am totally satisfied. I don't do a lot of 'fancy stuff' - so cannot comment on those kinds of things.


Families are Forever!  ;-)

Treasure Chest Thursday - Dr. Megan Conner

Treasure Chest Thursday - Dr. Megan Conner

This is the announcement we received of the graduation of our grand-niece, Megan Conner, as

Doctor of Physical Therapy - Dr. Conner has a nice ring to it! ;-)

Congratulations!  

A really cute announcement!!  ;-)

Families are Forever!  ;-)

Wordless (nearly) Wednesday - Tom and Barry 1953

Wordless (nearly) Wednesday - Tom and Barry 1953

More old 35mm slide scans - from Christmas time, 1953, featuring brothers Tom and Barry:

Playing with my train set, under the Christmas tree:

Ah, the old Motorola TV set - Barry reaching up to "tune" it!

In the living room - notice my 'new' slide projector on the desk!

Ah, the memories! ;-)


Families are Forever!  ;-)

Eileen KINNICK - 75 yrs ago - Week 24 - June 12-19, 1937

Eileen KINNICK
75 yrs ago
Week 24 - June 12-19, 1937

My mother, Eileen KINNICK (maiden name), kept a diary from 1932 until her death in 1999. In Feb 2005, I created a website of her 1936 diary, the year she graduated from high school. During the latter half of 2011, commented weekly on these entries.
For 1937, I am transcribing the daily entries, currently, at The KINNICK Project surname blog.

In this weekly blog post, I will make summary comments and observations, and perhaps add a photo, from time to time. Starting here with Week 10, I am switching to the week ending on Friday.
Setting: The family lived in a farmhouse a couple of miles out of town (Coon Rapids, Iowa). Older brother, Leo, lived at home; his girl friend, later wife, Ida, visited regularly. Younger brother, Buzzy (she often wrote Bussy) was 9 years old. Pete Smith is her 'boy friend' - fourth month starting Jan 1 (they do marry, in Mar 1938).

Week 24 (June 12-19): From the Coon Rapids Enterprise of May 31, 2012, page 4

75 Years Ago column dated May 21, 1937:

The 1937 graduation class of Coon Rapids high school breaks all records in the history of the school. Forty-five students, the largest number ever to leave that hall of learning at one time, will receive their diplomas at Commencement exercises at the high school May 27. Last year's class of 39 was the largest up until this year. Leo F. Morman is president of the graduation class. Other officers include Miss Edith Parker, vice president; Miss Virginia Gillespie, Secretary; Miss Edith Lund, treasurer; and Miss Helen Jensen, representative on student council.
Besides these, class roll includes, Miss Grace Alex, Kenneth L. Beebe, Miss June Bell, Miss Opal E. Brutsche, Miss Carolyn C. Buckley, Miss Virginia Chrystal, L.A. Clausen, Miss Linette Cretsinger, Clayton G. Davis, Miss Edythe M. Evans. A. Lincoln Ford, George Grim, Jr., Edward H. Guitz, Miss Edith Delcress Hart, Daryle Hilgenberg, Miss Gerolena Johnson, Richard L. Lawrence, Miss Margaret M. Loeffler, Miss I. Leone Lovell, Miss Edna I. Mahan, Wilbert H. Ockenfels, Donald H. Patrick, Miss Florence L. Riis, Perry J. Shirbroun, Miss Bethene Smith, Miss June N. Smith, Merville R. Sparks, Miss Harriet A. Squires, Miss Ruth C. Strandberg, Miss Berneice E. Teter, Miss Marian A. Teter, Dale G. Textor, Miss Marian Thomas, Wesley Thomas, Robert W. Trullinger, Leonard H. Tuel, Max R. Tuel, Clair V. Walsh, Miss Dorothy Watrous and Miss Neva N. Watrous.
Senior girls who will be eligible to receive Normal Training certificates include: Misses Parker, Lund, Bell, Cretsingers, Neva Watrous, Gillespie, Bernice Teter, Marian Teter, Evans, Riis and Lovell.


I look forward to additional comments!

Families are Forever!  ;-)

Follow Friday - Digitizing Books

Follow Friday - Digitizing Books

I've been following the changes in both book publishing and book digitization. A recent blog post from Dick Eastman speaks very well to this set of interests: "Scanning Books in the Family History Library: Not everyone is happy."

The second recent article of note updating and discussion the 'state of the publishing industry' was in The Nation recently: "The Amazon Effect."

I hope you find these as interesting as I did.

Families are Forever!  ;-)

Treasure Chest Thursday - Paul meets Santa

Treasure Chest Thursday - Paul meets Santa

This scan of an old 35 mm slide contains much more meaning than just my brother, Paul, at 3 1/2 years old meeting Santa, sitting on Dad's knee - as if that were not enough!

The setting is 'new wing' to our rural Star Methodist Church (the school building from across the road was brought over and set on a new foundation beside the church) - the new fellowship hall! What an improvement!

The real bonus is the family sitting behind - my in-laws and brother-in-law 'Judge Joel' - all decked out in white jacket and black bow tie. If you peek right behind my Dad's ear, you can also see my sister-in-law Janice Bolger, along with her parents, Glenn and Ruth [Nancy and I had just gotten married the August before this Christmas gathering]. One of my favorite all-time photos on slide.  ;-)

Families are Forever!  ;-)

Wordless (nearly) Wednesday - Barry and Bill 1953

Wordless (nearly) Wednesday - Barry and Bill 1953

My brother, Barry and I, about 59 years ago... just came across these scans of old 35 mm slide - on the 'new porch' in the Smith farm house near Coon Rapids, Iowa - love that mahogany!  ;-)

Remember 'Vaya con Dios' sheet music!  ;-)

Les Paul and Mary Ford on the cover - hear them sing it!


Families are Forever!  ;-)

Eileen KINNICK - 75 yrs ago - Week 23 - June 5-11, 1937

Eileen KINNICK
75 yrs ago
Week 23 - June 5-11, 1937

My mother, Eileen KINNICK (maiden name), kept a diary from 1932 until her death in 1999. In Feb 2005, I created a website of her 1936 diary, the year she graduated from high school. During the latter half of 2011, commented weekly on these entries.
For 1937, I am transcribing the daily entries, currently, at The KINNICK Project surname blog.

In this weekly blog post, I will make summary comments and observations, and perhaps add a photo, from time to time. Starting here with Week 10, I am switching to the week ending on Friday.
Setting: The family lived in a farmhouse a couple of miles out of town (Coon Rapids, Iowa). Older brother, Leo, lived at home; his girl friend, later wife, Ida, visited regularly. Younger brother, Buzzy (she often wrote Bussy) was 9 years old. Pete Smith is her 'boy friend' - fourth month starting Jan 1 (they do marry, in Mar 1938).

Week 23 (June 5-11): She went to Carroll on Tuesday, June 8, to get her driver's license and pick up the wallpaper her employer had ordered. While there, she also got a Malted Milk (yum!) and '3 dresses for Mom" - most interesting trip. [The chicken looked and sounded delicious, as well!]

Much of the week was about stuff going on at the law office where she worked. It appears some changes are in the offing… we'll have to wait and see, I suppose.



I look forward to additional comments!

Families are Forever!  ;-)

Follow Friday - 52 Weeks - Family Traditions

Follow Friday - 52 Weeks - Family Tradition

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy - Week 23

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy 2012 prompts suggested by Amy Coffin; thanks, Amy!



Week 23: Family Traditions: For which family tradition are you most thankful? How did the tradition start? Which family members have been responsible for keeping the tradition alive and how has it shaped your own family history?

This challenge runs from Sunday, June 3 through Saturday, June 9, 2012.

Annual gathering of extended family - both maternal lines: Kinnick-Williams and Sorensen
I have written previously about the Kinnick-Williams picnics… I have a photo as early as 1932; they were annual events throughout the 1940s and 1950s as I was growing up. Although they have missed a few years, as people got older, this was renewed, last year (I was able to attend) and I just got a call from my uncle it will be held again next week (I will not be able to attend).
http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/2009/12/wordless-nearly-wednesday-annual.html
On the Sorensen (my maternal grandmother's family) the organization was not as formal, but they met fairly regularly. Here is one from the 1949:

Families are Forever!  ;-)

Treasure Chest Thursday - Sorensen's in Montana

Treasure Chest Thursday - Sorensen's in Montana

In honor of my cousin from Denmark, Flemming Pedersen, visiting the United States for a few months, I am publishing to day some old photos of the Sorensen familiy (our connecting relatives) in Montana in 1918 - the mother and father had arrived in the USA from Denmark in 1905. They only stayed in Montana a short time before the returned to Iowa where they mostly lived out their lives - but they enjoyed their Montana stay, while they were there.

The primary characters in this drama are Pearl (b. 1906, IA) and her brother, Richard (b. 1907, IA). I knew Pearl well, as an adult, in my early years. I did not get a chance to know Richard (he died too young). They are children of my great-uncle, Marius (we knew him as Morris, in Iowa - he was a Pharmacist in Des Moines as I was growing up). Morris was the older brother of my mother's mother, Dorothy Sorensen (Kinnick).

Perhaps my favorite of the photos:

This appears to be the same auto - the people are not identified, but they are family members, presumably...

Here is Richard...

And, Pearl...

This is Pearl, a few years later... perhaps high school graduation...

This looks a bit more like I remember her... just add 25-35 years and a few children...  ;-)

Aw, the memories....

Families are Forever!  ;-)

Wordless (nearly) Wednesday - Mom and Dad relaxing

Wordless (nearly) Wednesday - Mom and Dad relaxing

This was not a terribly common site, as I grew up... my Mom and Dad totally casually relaxing in the yard to the south of our farm house near Coon Rapid, Iowa. This is late July 1960. This is a couple of months before their first grand-daughter, our daughter, Annette, joined the family. We were visiting the farm, from Ames, where I was between my Junior and Senior year at Iowa State University.


Families are Forever!  ;-)

Eileen KINNICK - 75 yrs ago - Week 22 - May 29-June 4, 1937

Eileen KINNICK
75 yrs ago
Week 22 - May 29-June 4, 1937

My mother, Eileen KINNICK (maiden name), kept a diary from 1932 until her death in 1999. In Feb 2005, I created a website of her 1936 diary, the year she graduated from high school. During the latter half of 2011, commented weekly on these entries.
For 1937, I am transcribing the daily entries, currently, at The KINNICK Project surname blog.

In this weekly blog post, I will make summary comments and observations, and perhaps add a photo, from time to time. Starting here with Week 10, I am switching to the week ending on Friday.
Setting: The family lived in a farmhouse a couple of miles out of town (Coon Rapids, Iowa). Older brother, Leo, lived at home; his girl friend, later wife, Ida, visited regularly. Younger brother, Buzzy (she often wrote Bussy) was 9 years old. Pete Smith is her 'boy friend' - fourth month starting Jan 1 (they do marry, in Mar 1938).

Week 22 (May 29-June 4): Back on May 21, the diary entries mentioned May Fest at the School. In the 24 May 2012 Coon Rapids Enterprise, 75 Years Ago column, there was an additional story with more useful information:

"Miss Edith Parker will reign over the second annual May Fete to be Friday night, May 21, at the high school gymnasium. Her attendants will be Misses Helen Jensen, Marian Thomas, Dorothy Watrous, Edith Lund, Virginia Gillesie, Linette Cretsinger, and Gerolene Johnson. This year the fete will be in the form of a “Melting Pot” with dances and games representing the different countries, who have sent emigrants to America."

And, in another article in the same 75 Years Ago column, same issue:

"The Normal Training Club held its final meeting of the year last Wednesday at which time reports of the various officers were made covering the work of the year, and officers chosen for the ensuing year. Those officers were elected for the coming year:
President Marjorie Davis, Vice
President Erna Lund,
Secretary Edith Vaughan,
Treasurer Lorene George, and
Student Council Representative Shirley Johnson."

Note the mention of Eileen's nearest neighbors and good friends, the Lund girls: Edith and Erna.


I look forward to additional comments!

Families are Forever!  ;-)

My Hometown on Monday - Deal Elementary

My Hometown on Monday

Deal Elementary Closed in Coon Rapids, Iowa

The 24 May 2012 edition of the Coon Rapids Enterprise included several articles and clippings and photos about the opening in 1957 and the closing at the end of the recent school year in 2012 of Deal Elementary School. On Wednesday, May 30, I shared a photo of my Dad, Pete Smith, as a member of the School Board in 1956 as they were building the school.

Today, I want want to share just three more 'snippets' - I urge you to see all the stories in the Enterprise. They did a fine job of covering the events. P.S. They are in the process of adding several new elementary classrooms on the central campus of the consolidated school that will be available in the fall - so that there is just he one site to manage, for same on the budget!  ;-)

Three photos, with caption from the Enterprise:

Students, faculty, and staff from the 2011-2012 school year gathered outside Robert Deal Elementary for one last photo in front of the building, which officially closed May 23, 2012. A closing
ceremony was held yesterday morning where former occupants shared their favorite memories of the school.

From Coon Rapids Enterprise archives, January 4, 1957 — Douglas Duncan, left, hangs up his coat in the third grade room in the new elementary school building. Other boys, from left to right, are Martin Shirbroun, Steven Kult and Thomas Smith. The water fountains and lavatories in the rooms, shown at right, are another feature that pleased the new occupants.

Erna Lund stands to be recognized as a former third grade teacher at the building.

My comments: 1) My younger brother, Thomas Smith, now know as T.K. or T. Kinnick, in the middle photo!

2) Erna Lund is mentioned regularly in my daily diary posts of my mother's 1937 diary. She was a nearest neighbor and girl friend, along with her younger sister, Edith, of my Mom. So good to see her actively taking part.

Here is one final clip on Erna, from the 75 years ago column in the same edition of the Enterprise:

"The Normal Training Club held its final meeting of the year last Wednesday at which time reports of the various officers were made covering the work of the year, and officers chosen for the ensuing year. Those officers were elected for the coming year:
President Marjorie Davis,
Vice President Erna Lund,
Secretary Edith Vaughan,
Treasurer Lorene George, and
Student Council Representative Shirley Johnson."

3) Normal training, of course, was the classes the young women took in High School as their initial teacher's training to be able to teach in one-room country schools. As they continued their studies, after High School, while teaching, they would earn credits toward a degree or toward teaching at "higher levels" of schools.

Families are Forever!  ;-)