Wednesday, December 15, 2010

What Do You Have Saved From Your Childhood?

Question:
What Do You Have Saved From Your Childhood?

Answer:
A bunch of junk. And then some.

I remember a lot of my toys from late childhood are still in my father's attic but there are a few that stick out specifically. There was a red table with matching red chairs. A yellow hairbrush. White leather baby shoes. And a Snoopy doll.

That Snoopy doll is what I remember the most. I don't remember carrying it around like I've heard I used to do as a young child, but I do remember it in my collection of stuff as I got older. It was white and black (just like Snoopy!), his nose was missing, and he was filled with something that made it feel like a bean bag.

Photos:


Note: This is not an actual photo, but merely a representation of what the Snoopy looked like.

References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Joy in the Journey - April 27, 1997

Transcription:
Dear Lord, these people are particularly in my heart as I pray that You will be close to them, letting them know that You love them & call for them now!!!

[there are two columns of names]

[left column]
(Church Family)
Janice, "my prayer pal"
Marian
Danny & Emma
Ivan [labeled as "teens"]
Sylvester [labeled as "teens"]
Travis [labeled as "teens"]
Mark their leader
Pastor Bill & Millie
Millie's Mom
Larry K. - as he does today's sermon
Betty Bell
Willie & Alfred

[right column]
Grace-Mom [this would be Theodore Hollingsworth's biological mother - Dorothy called her "Grace-Mom"]
[redacted] & family
[redacted] [redacted] following surgery
[redacted] (future surgery?)
[redacted]
[redacted] [redacted]
[redacted] - to know You, Lord
[redacted] [redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted], [redacted], [redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]

Today, I am thankful for: 1. Your guidance 2. my parents 3. My husbands 4. my children 5. my life

As I write to [redacted] & [redacted], please give me the words that will honor Your name, Lord, and lead them to know Thee better! Amen

Interpretation:
We redacted a lot of names here in the second column because they are family members that may want to remain anonymous and many are still alive. We left in Grace (Brown) Steinbaugh's name because we felt the tidbit of history was interesting and, unfortunately, Grace has been dead for over ten years.

References:
- Hollingsworth, D. B. (1997). Joy in the Journey. Private Collection.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Joy in the Journey - Preface

Transcription:

"Joy is a deep settled conviction that a loving Heavenly Father is in control of the details of my life."

John 14:27 .... "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

2 Timothy 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

Today is April 27, 1997 - I shall try to write a prayer, a quote, what I am thankful for, a prayer request or list of those for whom I am praying each day during the remainder of this year.

D.B.H.L.H.
Interpretation:
This is the first page of the journal and it seems pretty clear what Dorothy Hollingsworth intends to write about. One side note on her signature. She was born "Dorothy Beth Hollingsworth," married Andrew Lester, then married again (after Andrew died) to Theodore Hollingsworth. So her initials started as D.B.H. then D.B.L. then D.B.H. Somewhere along the line she adopted the full D.B.H.L.H. (for Dorothy Beth Hollingsworth Lester Hollingsworth). We have not determined if this was out of humor or a way of honoring her past. Whatever the reason, the signature was always the source of a few chuckles in the family.

Some of you may be wondering about her marriage to Theodore (Ted or Teddy) Hollingsworth. Dorothy married and had several children with Andrew Lester. He died in 1960, leaving Dorothy to care for several young children by herself. She remarried in 1971 to Ted Hollingsworth. Ted was the adopted cousin of Dorothy. Ted's biological parents were Homer Dean and Grace Brown. He was adopted by William Hollingsworth and Mary Lane. William Hollingsworth was the brother to Glenn Hollingsworth. Glenn was Dorothy's father.

References:
- Hollingsworth, D. B. (1997). Joy in the Journey. Private Collection.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Joy in the Journey

We will be departing a bit from the pattern of our last few posts to cover a different aspect of our unique family history. Specifically, we will be covering Dorothy Hollingsworth (aka Dorothy Beth Hollingsworth Lester Hollingsworth) and a journal she kept from 1997 to 2002. In keeping with our previous risk analysis, we will be redacting some personal information for various reasons. If you happen to be a family member and you want something redacted, let us know and we will research the issue before taking action. However, please do not expect us to leave everything unpublished. We want to publish this journal while staying as tasteful as possible.

So without further ado, here we go.

First, a little about the author. Dorothy Hollingsworth was born in 1919 in California. She was the daughter of Glenn Hollingsworth and Mary Ashton, both big names and big families in our country's history. She died in 2006 in Illinois after a long and productive life. She always struck me as a patient and wonderful woman who did her best to help those in need.

Her journal is a very personal thing to both her and our UFO Team. We rarely get a look inside the inner workings of a person, let alone one that has had such large impact on so many people. It is because of these strong emotions that we will attempt to limit ourselves to just one journal entry at a time. We struggled with tears last night as we read the first entry and, while it may not have had a lot of substance, the emotional weight was palpable.

The journal itself is just a simple composition notebook. Like many that you would in a local office supply store, it has that marbled black and white cover. The cover has been customized a bit with a label that has a nicely scripted title of Joy in the Journey. The pages are worn around the edges and one page has been torn out. We assume this acted as a bookmark as well as a prayer list. Upon closer inspection, the cover reveals a set of tiny footprints going across the cover.

The entries are all handwritten in ink and cover most of 1997. There are a few entries for 1998, 1999, and 2000. After September 11, 2001, the entries become almost daily until early 2002. This is were things end. The entries cover April 27, 1997 to January 10, 2002.

A few key events within that general time frame include:

- December 1996 - Dorothy's second husband dies.
- December 1996 - Dorothy's daughter dies.
- November 1997 - Dorothy's son gets remarried.
- July 1999 - Dorothy's son-in-law dies.
- April 2000 - Dorothy's mother-in-law dies.
- Several great-grandchildren were born.

So you can see that a lot happened during this time frame as well as a lot of things immediately before-hand. From here, we will be transcribing and discussing the entries.

References:
- Hollingsworth, D. B. (1997). Joy in the Journey. Private Collection.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Do you know Marvin Russel?

Question:
Do you know Marvin Russel?

Answer:
We know very little about Marvin Russel, but we feel confident that he would be willing to crack a small grin when forced to by a nice young lady. As you can see in the photos below, his expression was slightly different when he had his arm around Velma Phillips. The photos, likely taken in the 1930s, are in Nebraska, but we could no find any further information on Marvin. So if you know him or his family, please contact us. We would love to know more about Marvin and how he is linked to the Phillips family.

Photos:
Marvin Russel


Velma Phillips and Marvin Russel


References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Do you know LeRoy Burr?

Question:
Do you know LeRoy Burr?

Answer:
LeRoy Burr (possibly "Leroy Burr") is shown in one of our photographs posing with a horse. Either he, or the horse he is posing with, had the nickname of "Sonny Boy."

After some searching, we did find a Burr family related to our own Phillips family in Nebraska. It turns out that Verna Pearl Phillips (daughter of Francis "Frank" Eugene Phillips) married James Newton Burr. They had two or three children together, Mabel, Claris, and Eleanor (it appears Mabel died at a young age). According to our internal notes, James Burr was born on April 9, 1889, but after further research, that appears to be Pearl's birthday. James was born in 1882. He married Pearl in 1907 and died in 1943. Pearl died on June 14, 1970 (the date of death could be 1910, but we doubt it). Our notes also say he was a "Sand hill, Nebraska cattle rancher. 30 miles north of Whitman, Nebr."

Based on our rough calculations, a ranch 30 miles north of Whitman, would be in Cherry County.

We found a few other interesting items in our research of the Burr family. In 1910, they had one daughter, Mabel (age 1). By 1920, Mabel was missing from the census, and two other children appear, Claris (age 8) and Eleanor (age 6). And all four are still present in the 1930 census.

In 1910, the Burr family lived in Buffalo Lake (Cherry County, Nebraska). In 1920, they moved from Buffalo Lake to Mullen (Hooker County, Nebraska). To be more specific, they moved between January 17th and February 9th of 1920. Why? Because they appear in the 1920 census in both locations with only one variation. James turned 37 during the move. By 1930, they had moved again to Twin Falls, Idaho.

But things get even more interesting. There is a Cleavenger family in Mullen. That name is linked to another side of our family tree, the McCoig family. Odder still is the Phillips family is present as well as the Yaryans and the Piesters, all related to our ancestors and all living in Cherry or Hooker Counties with the Burrs.

Despite all of this research, we still cannot find out how LeRoy Burr fits in. We feel comfortable assuming that he is related to the Burr family of Cherry County (or Hooker County or both), but we could not find a link. We do have some queries out, but nothing has been returned yet that mentions LeRoy. So if you know LeRoy Burr, please contact us.

Photos:
LeRoy Burr "Sonny Boy"


James Burr and Verna Pearl Phillips


Claris Burr, Verna Pearl (Phillips) Burr, and Eleanor Burr


References:
- 1910 United States Federal Census.
- 1920 United States Federal Census.
- 1930 United States Federal Census.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Do you know Josephine Piel?

Question:
Do you know Josephine Piel?

Answer:
We were able to find a few sources of information that gave us just a little peek at Josephine. Born in 1916 in Blue Hill, Nebraska, she married twice. Once to Melvin McIntosh in 1936 and once to Jim Johnson in 1984. She appears to have had four children, all from her first marriage.

But beyond her obituary and her name on the 1920 and 1930 census, we could not find any other details on her life.

Photos:


References:
- Smith, Rachel. "Lower Volga Village Project." AAUW Livermore-Pleasanton-Dublin Branch. May 2007. Web. 04 May 2010. http://www.webbitt.com/volga/lower/obitsp.htm.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Do You Know John Maire?

Question:
Do You Know John Maire?

Answer:
Yet again, our Research Team has come up with an empty hand. This time more so than some of our previous attempts. And while we found yet another potential candidate, the link is so tenuous, it does not even garner enough attention to share details.

So in the end, we are left with a single photo of a young man with a fancy belt.

Photos:


References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Do You Know Howard Wagner?

Question:
Do You Know Howard Wagner?

Answer:
As usual, our Research Team is coming up with either not enough information, or too much. When we search on Howard Wagner in Nebraska in the 1930s, we come up short when using basic search tools. When we refine our search to more genealogical sites, we find many potential candidates. In the end, we are left with nothing but wonder and more questions.

The closest candidate was one Roy Howard Wagner, born February 6, 1891 in Comstock, Nebraska. In 1917, he was working as a railway brakeman for the Chicago & Northwestern Railway. He was single and had blue eyes with light hair. This last clue is as close as we can get to a link between this particular candidate and the person we are looking for. You can see in the photos below, our Howard Wagner has light or blond hair. But we do not feel comfortable taking a firm stance that this is our mystery man because his age would not quite match what we estimate based on the photos.

As you can see, we are still lost. So if you know who our Howard Wagner is, please let us know.

Photos:




References:
- Ancestry.com. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

What Do You Remember About Your Grandparents?

Question:
What Do You Remember About Your Grandparents?

Answer:
I grew up with two grandmothers, two grandfathers, and one great-grandmother. All have since died, but I can remember some of the strangest things about them. Like my great-grandmother always had the funniest glasses. They were those old-fashioned, horn-rimmed type that always made me smile when I saw them. And I can still remember being afraid of my one grandmother, even though I had been around her plenty of times before. Makes me wish I could go back and change my reaction because I miss her the most. But instead of sharing all of my bad memories, I thought I would share something a little more positive.

In the first photo below, you can see my grandmother with her grandchildren. I can vaguely remember posing for this photo, but I can remember her house quite well. Everything from the couch to the pillows to the clock on the wall. I can remember exactly where she kept the toys (in the laundry room), what her kitchen table looked like, and all the little knick-knacks she had on her shelf (right as you walked in the front door).

In the second photo, you can see my grandmother as a child. Next to her are siblings and family members. Behind her is a sod house, sometimes called a "soddie."

My grandmother was a solid woman who endured many hardships growing up. But despite how hard her childhood was, she always had time to share her love (and discipline) with her children and grandchildren. It is her love and the story of her life I wish I had more time to go back to get more of.

Photos:




References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Do You Know Hoot?

Question:
Do You Know Hoot?

Answer:
We are not sure who Hoot really is. Based on one of the photos below, he could be Louie "Lou" Steckly, the husband of Velma Phillips. But based on some further research, we highly doubt that.

In our research, we ran across an undated article from the Hooker County Tribune that mentions "Hoot." But Hoot appears to be brothers with Paul Prentice. It also mentions that Hoot "played ball" and "pitched for the Diamond Bar team." His brother Paul "played with Cody." These two teams appear to be baseball teams.

That particular information led us to a Prentice family living in Calf Creek in Cherry County, Nebraska in 1930. The family had four children, Paul (age 24), Dorothy (age 22), Howard (age 20), and Adaline (age 16). The parents were Benjamin (age 66) and Laura (age 59). Two older sons, William and John, were absent from the 1930 Census, but still listed on the 1920 Census. Our best guess is that Howard is Hoot.

But we cannot confirm that guess with any factual data. So if you know Hoot, let us know!

Photos:
Hoot standing alone:


Velma Phillips and Hoot:


This photo has the title "Old Married Couples"
Hoot, Velma, Virginia, and Frank:


Undated Hooker County Tribune article:


Jess Phillips and Paul Prentice (who appears to be in a baseball uniform):


References:
- 1920 United States Federal Census.
- 1930 United States Federal Census.
- "Rolf News Notes." Hooker County Tribune [Mullen, Nebraska]. Print.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Did You Have A Memorable Vacation As A Child?

Question:
Did You Have A Memorable Vacation As A Child?

Answer:
I have been very fortunate to have had many, many memorable vacations as a child. From tossing tea into Boston Harbor to driving from one end of Texas to the other to taking a train from the east coast to the west coast. Many, many memories. So many, that I think I should save them for another time.

Instead, I will share with you the memorable vacation of my grandmother, Dorothy Beth Hollingsworth, as told in her own words. The main cast of ancestors include Dorothy, her brother Ken (or Kenny or Kenneth), her mother, and her father Glenn. Also mentioned is Ted, who would later be her second husband.

1929 Family Trip
by Dorothy Beth Hollingsworth

In the summer of 1929, I was nine years old and Ken was seven. Something exciting was about to happen. Our family was going on a six-week camping trip and Daddy was packing all the equipment we needed for this adventure.

A heavy canvas tent (no nylon fabric then), tent poles, tent pegs and ropes were ready to be tied to the top of the car. A double sleeping bad and double cot for our parents, two single cots and sleeping bags were for Ken and me. A two-burner Coleman kerosene stove and a Coleman kerosene lantern were also packed. On the running-board of the car, an aluminum ice-chest held ice, milk, cheese, butter, eggs and fruit or other perishables. Boxes of cornflakes, shredded wheat, crackers, bread, salt, pepper, peanut butter, canned tuna and canned beans were stored in a carton. An essential item was a bucket for carrying water when we camped. Clothing for four people, soap, washcloths, towels and toothbrushes were other necessities. We took maps, books and a notebook for keeping a record of the trip, which was my responsibility. With some items stashed in the small trunk of the car, others were tied on top of the car and on the running-boards.

As the work progressed and was almost finished, Ken said to me, “I wonder how it feels to go to another state. I’ve only been in California.”

As an infant I had lived in Arizona for five months, of which I had no memory. After considering his question, I answered,

“I don’t know. Maybe there’s a fence or a painted line across the road. Let’s ask Daddy.”

Daddy laughed and said, “There’s probably a sign that says Welcome to Oregon. We’ll see when we get that far. Now, go in and ask Mother if I have to squeeze anything else in or on this car!”

After all the preparations, we were finally ready. I wish I had a picture of our vehicle loaded as it was!

Our trip started east toward San Bernardino, then north through the mountains, including the “Grapevine Grade” which was a challenge to any car in those days. The highway was two-lane with many curves, not like it is now on Highway 5. We carried water to fill the radiator as necessary. We stopped for gas at the top of the grade, then went on to Bakersfield. I don’t remember where we camped, or all the people we visited. Some people and places I do remember. From Highway 99 we drove west to Hanford and spent the night there. We had breakfast at Aunt Nellie’s (Grandpa Hollingsworth’s half-sister) and Uncle Elmer’s. I mainly remember the ham gravy, as my Daddy thought that was the best! In Lemoore, we visited Aunt Nellie’s sister, Bertha, and went back to 99 working our way north and east toward Yosemite National Park.

Yosemite was so different then. It is so crowded these days. It is still beautiful, but some of the things I remember no longer exist. For example, we camped near the river in the valley. There were other people camped in tents, too, but not very close to us. Every night the Rangers took all the garbage to one spot and the bears came to enjoy eating their nightly treat.

Every night after dark, there was a wonderful sight! It was better than fireworks! The only place it happened was in Yosemite. The Rangers made a fire on top of a mountain (maybe Half Dome?) with only a special kind of wood, native to the area. The fire was not visible from below. From the top, a male voice called out:

“Le-e-e-t the f-ire fa-a-a-all,” with a call that was almost like a song. I can still hear it, but can’t describe it in words. As the voice called out, the fire fell. It was so impressive, people “ohed” and “awed” as they do seeing fireworks today. These days we would call it “awesome.” It was awesome, and is still a vivid memory in my mind.

After Yosemite we drove on to Sacramento and saw our California State Capitol. That was impressive. Next we went west to San Francisco. I remember the beautiful views of the bay, but my most vivid memory is of riding up the hills in our car. It seemed as though I were lying on my back. Yes, it was scary!

From San Francisco we traveled on north to Eureka, where we visited a lumber mill. I never forgot that. I was fascinating to see the tree trunks being made into lumber. (In the 1980’s when I was there, it was much more automated than in 1929.) Some place along the way we visited the Redwood National Forest. I’m not sure but it could have been there we camped in the rain. The next morning I had eleven mosquito bites on one arm. Any time it rained, we were careful not to touch the tent. If we did, water started dripping down on us from that spot.

There was a sign as we entered Oregon, as Daddy had expected. Ken and I observed that Oregon looked just like northern California. Ashland, Oregon was always in our memory because of the delicious Bing cherries. Ken and I are cherries and had contests to see how far we could spit the seeds. I think he won. Another memory was the Rogue River. As the dusty two-lane road followed along beside it, we became accustomed to hearing,

“Glenn, please stop.”

Mother got out each time with a washcloth in hand, ready to dip it into the sparkling river, wring it out and climb back in the car. She held the cloth over her nose and mouth because of all the dust in the air.

Crater Lake National Park is my next memory. What a blue, blue lake it was! At that time, no one had been able to measure its depth.

I have since crossed the beautiful Columbia River and ridden along beside it, but have no memory of it as a nine-year old.

Mount Rainier National Park, I DO remember. We went up a winding road, parked nearby and saw a REAL glacier. That was very impressive. As it melted, the water running from it was white, not clear. Chunks fell off as we watched. (I have learned since then that this is called calving).

We went on to Seattle, a beautiful city with hills like San Francisco. My next special memory is crossing the border into British Columbia, Canada. We were stopped at the border briefly, and then we were in a different country! We no longer saw the Stars and Stripes. How strange that felt.

Daddy had a friend who lived in Vancouver, British Columbia. She had taught with him on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound near Seattle in 1917-1918, his first year of teaching. She and her husband had retired in Vancouver, B. C.

We had a pleasant visit there. Ken and I enjoyed looking at pictures through a stereoscope. (We called it a stereopticon, but Webster’s Dictionary doesn’t define it that way now.) The main thing I remember is how the Canadians talked, saying, “The weather is great today, eh?” with an “eh” at the end of many sentences. This seemed very different to us.

Back in the United States, we headed east over the Cascade Mountains and down intot he desert-like country. Mother had a cousin who lived in Spokane. The gravel road between the mountains and Spokane was dreadful. Daddy called it a “washboard road” and that was truly what it looked and felt like. There was no river along beside it either.

Cousin Gene Ashton was probably Grandpa Ashton’s cousin. He was tall and handsome and had wavy white hair. He was an excellent singer, and Mother was a proficient singer as well. They had fun singing old songs as duets. I don’t remember much about Gene’s wife, but they grew strawberries in their backyard. We were allowed to pick them and have strawberry shortcake for supper.

Many years later in the 1980s, Ted and I drove our motorhome across from Spokane to Seattle. I was amazed to see all the crops growing on the eastern side of Washington. Grand Coulee Dam had changed it completely. Wheat, barley, corn and other crops were covering the land that had once been parched before that enormous dam was built.

The Great Depression of 1929 began only two months after our return from this wonderful trip. I shall always treasure the memories I have of this time our family had together, with Ken carrying the water bucket, Daddy setting up the tent and cots, and Mother cooking. I helped when needed and kept a daily record of our travels in three states and one province of Canada. Our family trip in 1929 was educational, fun and memorable. I think it also taught me what a joy it is to travel.

References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Do you know Herman Keloof?

Question:
Do you know Herman Keloof?

Answer:
We wish we knew this dapper fellow in his glasses and cap. But alas, this chap is a mystery. And while most of the individuals we feature here are unknowns to us, Mr. Keloof is an even bigger mystery for us. But here is what we have been able to find out.

Clinton Orla Dedmore was likely the photographer. He began his photography business in North Platte, Nebraska in April of 1919.

Beyond that, we are lost. Most likely this is due to the spelling of Herman's name since it could be "Herman" or "Hamon" or "Kelloof" or "Kelloog" or something else. But in the end, we still like this dapper young man. So if you know him or his family, please drop us a line.

Photos:






References:
- "The Nebraskana Society." USGenNet. The First and Only Nonprofit Historical-Genealogical Web Hosting Service on the Internet! History, Historical, Family History, Genealogy, Genealogical. Family Values. History and Genealogy. Genealogy and History. ISP. Web. 09 Mar. 2010. http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/topic/resources/OLLibrary/Nebraskana/pages/nbka0089.htm.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Technical Difficulties



We recently experienced an outage of one of our external hard drives. While we work to repair the issue and restore our lost data, we will need to take a short hiatus. In the mean time, please feel free to browse through some of our older posts.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Who taught you to love books?

Question:
Who taught you to love books?

Answer:
My Uncle Phil. And it is a bit of a long story, so first, here is a portion of the last (and one of the few) letter I wrote to him. He passed away a few weeks afterwords.
Because of you, I love to read. And this is the big one Uncle Phil. This is the biggest one of all. I can still remember going to your parent’s place when you were cleaning it out. You let me dad and I pick through some things and gave us a paper bag full of old books. It was some old series called The Hardy Boys. At the time I loved how they smelled more than the idea of reading them, but as I began to read them, my life changed. I found I loved to read. I could escape from the real world and solve mysteries. I began collecting more of the series. And along the way I discovered other books were out there that I liked to read. Books with dragons, magic, and heroes. I couldn’t tell you how many books I’ve read since the day I left with that paper bag. But I can tell you I had fun reading them. And the best part of all, my daughter loves to read now. At the age of five she still struggles with words, but I can see that look in her eye when she sits down with a book. It’s the same look I had when I started reading The Hardy Boys.
Now, some background on Uncle Phil. I usually tell people he married my aunt just because I like to see them make funny faces. So I will back up even more to give a bit more history behind the man.

Uncle Phil was born, well, a long time before I was. His parents were nice from the stories I have heard and they were both very intelligent people. Uncle Phil married my mother's sister, Diana. Uncle Phil and Aunt Diana were (and still are) the source of many good stories in my life. Whenever I traveled to, from, or through Chicago, there was always time taken out for a visit to their house in Homewood. A house I can still remember quite distinctly. Diana and Phil were the powerhouse on my mother's side of the family. I do not know if it was their personality, their grace, or something supernatural, but you could always count on having a great time there.

So when Uncle Phil's parents passed away, it was a sad time for him. And on one of our many trips west, my father and I stopped as usual at the "Diana & Phil Rest Stop." Uncle Phil was kind enough to take us both to his parent's apartment where he essentially let us browse through their stuff to see if there was anything we wanted. While I am sure everything that Phil and the rest of his family wanted was already taken, it still felt wonderful (and awkward) to be invited to somebody's house to pick through their stuff. It was like an estate sale where everything was free.

One of those items I picked to take home, somewhat reluctantly, was a set of musty books. Something called the Hardy Boys. To this day, I still love that smell of musty, old books. And to this day, I still love to read (even though my Kindle does not smell musty).

As time passed, Aunt Diana passed. Uncle Phil remarried to the ex-wife of my mother's brother. So the in-laws (or "outlaws" as Uncle Phil liked to say) got married. For me, it was no big deal. They were still "Aunt" and "Uncle," they were just married. I am sure others thought differently.

And that is the story of Uncle Phil. Although he impacted my life beyond teaching me to love reading, he will still be missed. But I am glad I can find him again whenever I want simply by reading a book.

Photos:
The UFO Team has several photos of Uncle Phil, but seeing as his death is still fairly recent, I have refrained from showing them as well as disclosing his full name.

References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Do you know Harry Kurtz?

Question:
Do you know Harry Kurtz?

Answer:
In the photo below, we can see Harry Kurtz posing with a beautiful horse. In the background, you can also see a sod house or building of some sort. Based on the other photos in our collection, the UFO Team is going to guess that this photo was taken between the late 1920s and the mid 1930s.

According to the 1930 Census, Harry Kurtz was born in Iowa around 1909. His father was born in Pennsylvania and his mother was born in Illinois.

Aside from that, we can only guess that he was a co-worker and friend of the Phillips family.

Photos:


References:
- 1930 United States Federal Census.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

What blizzard do you remember as a child?

Question:
What blizzard do you remember as a child?

Answer:
The past two months have brought an unprecedented amount of snow to the east coast. Fortunately, the UFO Team has managed to stay on the outskirts of most of these major storms, but we have also managed to accumulate enough snow to make us wonder if we still live in the Snow Belt of north-western Pennsylvania.

So aside from this year's memorable storms, the one I remember most as a child was back in the mid 1980s. I am sure we got out of school (usually anything over two inches of snow results in a closure) but what I remember most was having a snowball fight with my Dad and building a snow fort. I believe this was also the year I built a snow bear (instead of a snow man). Needless to say, I had lots of fun being a kid in the snow.

Photos:
While I know there are photos of the storm I remember as a kid, they are stored in some secretive UFO location and cannot be accessed at this time. So instead, I'll share other photos of snow in our collection.

The HL Ranch in 1923:



Sledding down a hill:





A young couple in a buggy:



References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Who were your childhood heroes?

Question:
Who were your childhood heroes?

Answer:
I had a few people that I idolized when I was a kid. From singers, to actors, to family members, to friends, there were people that were popular and I wanted to be just like them. Case in point, I seriously wanted to be like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie Commando. Just watching him kill the bad guys and rescue the good guys made my day (as did Stallone, Norris, and others).

But all of these people were not really heroes to me. These were just people that were "cool" and I wanted them to be my friend. The real hero I idolized was my great uncle (as in he was my father's uncle), Uncle George.

Uncle George (Neil George Richards) served as the tail gunner on a B-24 that was shot down in September of 1944. The story I was always told was that he was shot down and got shot in the butt with a crossbow by a Russian woman. How much of this is true, I have no idea. But in September of 1944, he was indeed shot down over Russia. As their plane took fire from the ground, he bailed out over water:
My chute would not open at first but did just about the time I hit the water. Next thing I did was to get out of it and inflated my Mae West so I could stay afloat.
And he was "captured" by a woman, but there is no account of any shots fired (by crossbow or otherwise):

Just as I had reached the top of the cliff I was covered by an armed Russian guard which happened to be a girl. She pointed her gun at me and loaded it then hollered and three more girls came up. They had guns with bayonets on them which they also pointed at me.

Regardless of what happened and how the story was told, Uncle George was always a hero to me. He rarely spoke of his time in the war and only had a few modest displays of his mementos from the war.

Photos:


Neil George Richards is on the far left




References:
- 1409th AAF Base Unit, European Division Air Transport Command, Historical Record Report, Ball Project.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Do you know Fred G. Gies?

Question:
Do you know Fred G. Gies?

Answer:
We do not know Fred, but we did find a little information about him that seems to pan out based on the photos we have. Fred appears to have been born March 1910 in Nebraska to parents of Russian and German origin. He and his family eventually ended up moving from Lincoln, Nebraska to Keystone, Nebraska. The link to Keystone is clear in one of the photos below.

We also found another reference to Fred on the Keith County, Nebraska GenWeb site, where it appears the coordinator, Susan Anderson, is related. We attempted to contact Mrs. Anderson but were unsuccessful.

Photos:






References:
- "NEGenWeb--Keith County--WELCOME!" RootsWeb.com Home Page. Web. 28 Jan. 2010. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nekeith/.
- "Walter Message Board." Web. 28 Jan. 2010. http://erikas.cc/walter/walter.htm.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

When did you have to lie as a child?

Question:
When did you have to lie as a child?

Answer:
A lot of the time. But I never liked it because I knew I would always get caught. I know one of the biggest lies I ever told was in third grade. I was living with my mother and stepfather in Bellevue, Washington for the year and they somehow saved enough money to buy me a bicycle. Times were tight then (I know that now, but didn't then) so it was a big deal for them. It was a big deal for me because I could ride around the trailer park. I wasn't allowed to take my bike on the little trail that went between it and the nearby shopping center. I'm not sure if it was because of the hills or because they didn't want me to take my bike out of the trailer park.

Anyway, I remember there was this little stream on the hillside that was close to the trail. I loved to go there and build dams, play in the dirt, and explore the nearby woods. Anyway, one day I went and left my bike at the fence as I went exploring. I'm sure I was told that I wasn't allowed to leave it there, but being the stubborn mule that I am, I left it to go play. When I came back, it was gone.

I'm sure my mother will tell it differently (and I'm sure her memory is better than mine), but I remember walking home thinking my bike was stolen. When I got home, I broke the news but refused to admit that I left it by the fence. I knew I'd get in trouble for that, but it didn't register that it would be less trouble than loosing my bike.

In the end, I still had a bike, but I don't think I got to ride it for awhile after that. You see, my stepfather saw the bike and took it back home to teach me a lesson. And I learned not to leave my bike there, but I didn't learn to stop lying. I mean, I still lied about the time I said I was going to that play, but really I went.....well.....let's leave that story for another day.

Photos:
None were readily available. You'll just have to use your imagination.

References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Do you know Frank Adams?

Question:
Do you know Frank Adams?

Answer:
According to the 1920 Federal Census, Frank is 19 years old and was born in Indiana (as were both of his parents). Also listed in this census is a John Adams (age 26) and Joseph Adams (age 33). The Barbara Adams listed (age 20) appears to be married to John since they share the same last name, are listed next to each other, but their parents were born in different states.

Aside from that, all we know about Frank is that he can ride a calf one-handed.

Photos:


References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.