Wordless Wednesday--Frank Lloyd Wright Obsession

WESTCOTT HOUSE

Springfield, Ohio

Tombstone Tuesday--Schickling

Walter C. and Blanche Edith Green Schickling are the great grand uncle and aunt of my Michigan cousins. Blanche is their direct ancestor, the sister of their great grandmother, Clara Green McGoey, wife of Michael Joseph McGoey of Clearfield, Pennsylvania.

Blanche Edith Green was born on August 30, 1886 in Girard Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania the daughter of Bernard Green and Rosanna McGovern. Walter C. Schickling was born on November 14, 1883 in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.

Photo found on the Internet and posted by Weaver

Walter and Blanche were married on March 31, 1907 at Saint Mary of the Assumption Church in Frenchville, Girard Township, Clearfield, County, Pennsylvania.

The Schicklings had eight children: Rosanna, Constantine J., Jane, Edward Clyde, Naoma Liney, Walter, Emile (who died at birth) and Sylvester, who was only seven months old when his father died. Walter was injured in a mining accident and died on October 30, 1917 in Clearfield, County, Pennsylvania. Blanche died nine years later on January 21, 1926 in the town of Clearfield, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.

Walter, Blanche and a daughter, Emile, are buried in Saint Mary of the Assumption, Frenchville, Girard Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.

A Festival of Postcards 3rd Edition--Signs

Evelyn Yvonne Theriault over at A Canadian Family Acadian and French-Canadian Genealogy has called for postcards featuring signs for the 3nd Edition of A Festival of Postcards.

This photo postcard was in a photo album that my grandmother made for my aunt. When I first saw that it was from England, my educated guess was that it was a Hughes and with my grandmother’s identification written on the back, decided it was my great great grandmother, Mary Ann Storey Hughes. My grandmother had one too many great’s for my aunt. Mary Ann would have been her great grandmother!

I took the card with me when I had the good fortune to visit relations in Hartlepool, England back in 2003 and the picture was identified by folks that knew her. It was indeed my great great grandmother, Mary Ann Storey Hughes.

She is standing outside of the family’s green grocer store located at 70 Florence Street, in the Longhill section of West Hartlepool, England. Florence Street was one of three main streets in Longhill located near the steel mill. I have enlarged the area around her head to feature some of the signage on the storefront windows. About the only one I can actually read is the one for D.C.L. Yeast.

The family lived in rooms inside the store. John George Marsh, a grandson, who lived in the family quarters at 70 Florence as a child, said that the store was in one room that opened into a “family room” where Mary Ann would sit in a chair by the fireplace holding a big fly swatter to swat the flies. A grand daughter, Betty Hughes Jamieson told me that later in life Mary Ann was very overweight and had a huge wattle that hung down under her chin and when she walked it swung from side to side. A genealogist couldn’t ask for a more descriptive picture than that!

Wordless Wednesday--Interesting Architectural Detail

76th Carnival of Genealogy--How I Spent My Summer Vacation

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: How I spent my summer vacation... a favorite summer memory from your youth is hosted over at Creative Gene.

There’s not even a question mark in my mind on this one. Hands down it would be our two week summer vacations in Stone Harbor, New Jersey.

From 1957-1962, the Hughes family would spend two glorious weeks in a rental property somewhere in Stone Harbor. We shared these weeks with our neighbors and good friends the Arthur family….always finding side by side duplexes.

This was probably the beginning of Dad’s “grab your shoes and grab your socks” vacation saying. I have to laugh at the memory of the five of us piled into a car, with a fully loaded trunk and top rack heading down the PA pike from Pittsburgh to Jersey. To make it even more hilarious, during the last couple of years we also took our dog. Three kids and a dachshund squished into the backseat of a car for 6+ hours. What insanity!

We all looked forward to our summers in Stone Harbor with much anticipation. I know that even my youngest brother can still remember those delicious ice cream cones from Springer’s and the Copper Kettle Fudge. I am really dating myself, but Springer’s was only a nickel a scoop back then and I usually had a quarter to spend. The decision was: five scoops of ice cream or five scoops of sherbet!

There were days filled with: bowling at the local alley and frosty mugs of birch beer for the kids, greasy burgers at a restaurant uptown, souvenir shopping in a store with those old fashioned hardwood floors, movies at the Harbor Theater at night (saw Psycho there and was terrified to walk back to the duplex), fishing, meals at the Harbor Light, tandem biking, water skiing, trips to Atlantic City for lobster at Hackney’s, the amusement rides south at Wildwood and of course, the ocean.

Every decent weather day we spent from about 10:00 until mid afternoon at the ocean. We never stayed near the beach, so lugging all the equipment blocks and blocks away was a chore, but who cared…..the sand and waves were always awaiting our arrival. We cut our chops in that ocean….learning to swim, body surf and ride a raft and a board….but body surfing was my favorite…it still is!

We had cute little kids sayings as we would float up and down the growing waves….”Whoa Nellie” and “Going up” could be heard until we finally caught the right one and road it to the beach. Ah, the thoughts of all this is beginning to tug at my heartstrings.

As an adult I never enriched my own two boy’s lives with Stone Harbor. Instead we took our one week summer vacation down in Duck, North Carolina….out on the Banks. I know that they have the same heartfelt family memories of their childhood summers in Duck as my brothers and I do of Stone Harbor. At family gatherings each of them has regaled the listeners with their ocean side adventures. Both would like to go back.

I would like to go back to Stone Harbor sometime….but then again, maybe not. Perhaps the memories are better.

My always humorous blogging buddy, Lori E, over at Family Trees May Contain Nuts, has bestowed upon Flipside the coveted award...Atta Girl....and all I had to do was eat and pay an outrageous amount for a very nasty steak dinner to get a blog in from my vacation.

What I neglected to mention was that for $2.00 a half hour, I could have used the computer down at the administration building in the Treasure Lake complex, but that would have meant downloading the photos and blog onto a thumbnail....too much trouble when on vacation...don't ya think!

Nope, instead I paid about $15.00 just to use my notebook. BTW, I also also had enough time to catch up on a week's worth of e-mails, but not enough time to catch up on by blog reading.

Thank you Lori for this recognition!

Jones'n for some WiFi

Almost an entire week with no Internet connection! And I survived ;-)

Last night, Friday, my brother and I went to a restaurant in town for dinner. It was probably the worst meal I have eaten in some time, BUT there was FREE WiFi connectivity. It was worth the $35.00 tab for an almost inedible meal to get my e-mail and have an opportunity to post a blog. It's amazing what lengths we will go to.

We are back from the Allegheny Mountains and Treasure Lake. I'm happy to report that we had great weather and some very exciting finds....blogs will soon follow. Perhaps the most excellent time of the entire week was Thursday and Friday.....two warm and sunny days. Through one of my brother's old high school friends we were able to meet up with one of his Treasure Lake buddies who lives on the lake. Right up near his deck was a kayak.

Now I have to tell you that it has been, whew.... almost 35 years since I sat in a kayak....but I loved every minute of maneuvering it down a small stream up in the Allegheny National Forest near a small village called Westline. I have wanted to try it again, however life got in the way as it often does.

This year, as part of my non verbalized 2009 wish list, I wanted to do some kayaking. Thursday and Friday, I got my wish and loved it. No foolin, it's like getting back on a bicycle! I also gave wind surfing a try.....not so successfully.