Treasure Chest Thursday--Steuben Compote

As I mentioned in last week's Treasure Chest Thursday, my Mother loved glass. This is one of her prized pieces....a Steuben Compote. It always had a place on honor on the dining room table...both on Bramble Lane in Pittsburgh and in her Lakewood, Ohio condo.

I believe that it was either a gift from my Dad or they purchased it on a trip to NYC one year. I am pretty certain that it dates back to the mid 1960's.

It now graces my dining room table and I am thrilled to have it. I can't go into the dining room and not think of my Mom every time I look at it.


The Steuben name etched into the glass.
© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

Anchors Away

I haven't been as active blogging the past few months due to some family related health issues. I have missed the research and reading the supportive comments from the readers.

Now I will be away for a couple of weeks.....cruisin.... There will be WiFi at the hotels for free and also on the ship....for a price...LOL. I know I will be snapping away with my camera and plan to post on Facebook and Flipside along the way.

I can't wait!

Catch ya on the FLIPSIDE

Wedding Wednesday--Frederick Marriage Certificate

This is the marriage certificate for my maternal great uncle, Robert Bell Frederick who married Mary Alice Bradley on June 20, 1906 at St. John's Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Highlighted in yellow is my maternal grandmother, Martha Marie Frederick who married Charles Edward Stark on June 10, 1914.

I believe that the copy of this certificate was sent to me by Roxanne Anderson Frederick, wife of Robert Bell Frederick II.

© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

Wordless Wednesday--More color each week

© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

Treasure Chest Thursday--Tiffin Glass Candy dish

Sometimes I wonder if enjoyment of glassware is a genetic trait. My mother loved glass. She collected various glass pieces....items that caught her fancy when out and about to more expensive pieces of Steuben.

When I was attending Heidelberg College....now called Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio, I was pleased to find that there was a factory in town that made crystal and glass. For me a pleasant afternoon was browsing the tables in the factory. As an impoverished student I was unable to afford the "firsts"--the flawless pieces that were still sold at reduced prices. My area was the tables of "seconds"--pieces that were flawed, but still saleable.

You can imagine that Christmas gifts for my Mom came from the Tiffin Glass Factory.

The piece above is from a collection that once belonged to my mother-in-law. While cleaning out the condo, I found this avocado green glass candy dish in a cupboard. There was no doubt in my mind that it was Tiffin and it came home with me.



Top taken off exposes that the dish is divided into three sections.


This would be classified as a second. This photo shows a flaw in the handle--a tiny bubble. There were several other bubbles in one of the sides.

I would guess that Helena purchased this piece from the factory in the 1960's. The factory closed it's doors in 1980.

History of Tiffin Glass

© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

Wedding Wednesday--Junior Bridesmaid

Thank you to my good blogging friend Carol over at Reflections From the Fence for adding this meme to our weekly blogging events.

I admit that I have few wedding/marriage photos and documents in my cache of genealogical items. This week I am featuring......myself! This is my first memory of a wedding and I was a participant......the junior bridesmaid.


The wedding united my Dad's sister, my Aunt Faith to Ed Roolf on May 7, 1955. I have come to understand that my paternal grandmother....aka Grams....had broken her arm or wrist and was unable to make the dresse. Grams was quite the seamstress and probably would have made dresses for the entire party. I have memories of walking up the street with Grams to a dressmakers for fittings for my little gown.


I can remember how proud I was to be a member of the bridal party and to have such a beautiful dress and bouquet. Believe it or not......I still have both the blue dotted swiss dress and the dried bouquet in a box in my basement.

© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

Wordless Wednesday--Thistle in the Fall

International Peace Day

Graveyard Rabbits Carnival--October 2010

The topic for the October 2010 edition of the Graveyard Rabbits Carnival is: An Occupation Or Hobby Memorialized in Stone. This topic was submitted by Diane Wright, who authors three GYR blogs: The Kansas Rabbit, The Wright Graveyard Stew, and The Grave Yard Rabbit Travels Wright. Have you found an occupation taken to the grave? Pride in a hobby included on the tombstone? Show us what you've found. We are all interested. I know there are some great stories out there, so share with all the rabbits!

James R. "Poley" McClintockShawnee Presbyterian Church CemeteryShawnee on Delaware, PennylvaniaPoley was a member of Fred Waring's Pennsylvaniansand is buried in the same cemetery as his friend, Fred Waring.
Spencer LeeHampton CemeteryAllison Park, PennsylvaniaSpencer took his love of the Pittsburgh Steelers with him.
Jay W. LowreyHiland Presbyterian Church CemeteryPittsburgh, PennsylvaniaOne of the more beautiful tombstones I have ever seen.Jay must have been a lover of the great outdoors.
Paul M. CoxHampton CemeteryAllison Park, PennsylvaniaPaul must have been blessed with musical talents,especially with a guitar.
Frank and Michael WebbHampton CemeteryAllison Park, PennsylvaniaI'm not sure which of these fellows loved his Harley...maybe both.

© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

Treasure Chest Thursday--A Letter from Grams

I am so glad my Mother saved this little letter from my paternal grandmother, Sarah VanGilder Hughes aka Grams. It was written sometime after my birth on May 1, 1947. She mentions my Uncle John Aiden Hughes and my Aunt Faith Hughes. Even my two paternal great grandmothers, Jessie Pool VanGilder and Elizabeth Olesen Hughes.

At this time, Grams, Pop Pop and Aunt Faith were all living in Monaca, Beaver County, Pennsylvania with Pop Pop's mother, Elizabeth Olesen Hughes. No one seems to know why they moved from Avalon, Pennsylvania to Monaca. They lived there during Aunt Faith's high school years and several days following her graduation, the family moved from Monaca to Bellevue, Pennsylvania in Allegheny County.

I rescanned the letter in two parts for easier reading:







© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

Wordless Wednesday---AaaaChooo

© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

Lazy Lady Learning--Benjamin Tappan, Jr.

I know....I know....I have been SO absent of late on Flipside. My life has become somewhat tedious and my latest passion, kayaking, has taken what "extra" time there is in my week.

All genealogy bloggers know the amount of hours one has to put in to write a blog....the photos, the research, the interviews, etc. etc. This series on Flipside is the answer for my lack of time to write.....photographing the various historical markers I see driving from lake to lake and posting them--allowing the reader to explore further if interested.....no muss....no fuss!

I have been driving past this particular Ohio Historical Marker for months now and finally took the opportunity to stop and have a look. For anyone researching the Benjamin Tappan, Jr. family, the marker is on Route 14, south east of Ravenna, Ohio in Portage County. It is easy to see from the road and as the marker suggests, the Tappan homestead was just north of the marker.


I have not often seen a photo of the person mentioned in an Ohio Historical Marker.

BTW....Ravenna, Ohio is a delightful town. So many charming historical homes and a lovely downtown area. We have also found several eateries.....which makes traveling from the Cleveland, Ohio area for a day on the Michael J. Kirwan Reservoir kayaking a real pleasure.

© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

Wordless Wednesday--Signs of Fall

© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

Treasure Chest Thursday--South American Map circa 1875

Another glorious find among the boxes and boxes of paper in Helena's condo. The artist who drew this rendering of South America was Helena Fredericka Oster, my husband's great grandmother and his mother's namesake.

Helena Fredericka Oster was born to Jacob W. Oster and Katherine Seewald on July 11, 1860 in Tiffin, Seneca County, Ohio. Helena married John Andrew Smith on December 9, 1880 in Seneca County, Ohio.



This label was attached to the original frame which held the old drawing. I am wondering if the map was in the possession of Corletta Katherine Smith Renninger, Helena Oster Smith's daughter. It could be her writing on the label. Perhaps Corletta gave the framed map to my mother-in-law since Helena was named for her mother.

The map is hand drawn on a piece of lined tablet paper and is in relatively good condition considering its age.

What else can I say but WOW!!!

© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

Wordless Wednesday--Foam on the Water

© 2010, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser