Mary Kate

I have looked for Mary Kate Withrow for years. She was the oldest child of Joseph and Sarah Jane Withrow. Prior to moving to Greene County in 1876, the family lived in Jasper County, Iowa. Mary Kate’s next oldest sibling was Ginerva, my great great grandmother. They were only about a year apart in age. They were both born in Ohio before the young family started west. Ginevra was married  27 May 1875 age 20.  Her just older sister, Mary Kate, died of consumption 29 March 1875, age 21. The Withrow home must have been on a roller coaster of emotions. 

The family left Jasper County and arrived in Greene County in February 1876 just before Ginevra delivered her first child March 23, 1876. ( This was my great grandmother Estella Smith who I have mentioned often).
What happened to Mary Kate? I assumed she was probably buried on the farm where they lived, lost to eternity.

One of the thrilling parts of genealogy study is discovery. A couple of my most thrilling discoveries were finding the manifest for the ship Oldenburg with the name of my husband’s grandfather and family who arrived in Baltimore on 27 May 1892 from Bremen. Germany. Another exciting find was the identification of Carrie Platt. She was my maternal grandmother’s first cousin. I have a great picture of them together. I spent a good year trying to figure out who she was, maybe more.

And now I have located the grave of Mary Kate. She has a lovely stone marking her grave in a little country cemetery called Bethany Cemetery near Sully, Iowa. It has been renamed Dairy Grove Cemetery for what reason I do not know.

Meet a Few of My Cousins

In honor of National Cousins Day I want to share a few photos of some of my many cousins. 

Grisso Cousins in Maui

Wright Cousins in Oregon

Christmas long ago with second cousins.

Favorite Cousins in Favorite Photo

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I don't even know what to say.

July 24, 2020

Happy National Cousins Day.

Here We Go Again

Dear Blog Readers,

     It is the middle of July in the middle of the 2020 Pandemic. If there was ever a time to get back to blogging, it should be now. It has been over two years since I wrote about This Old House where I grew up in my Cousins blog. So what happened you might ask. The first reason is a normal one. I just got out of the habit, temporarily lost interest, the dog ate my computer. Pick one.

     The truth is I haven’t really been disinterested that long. Since the beginning of this blog in 2015, I have enjoyed the process, the family discoveries and the chance to get acquainted with other bloggers. When I finally decided to get involved again, I couldn’t find my dashboard. This is the second reason for this long hiatus. The dashboard is the management site of the blog where posts are written, corrections made, pictures added, fonts changed, anything that needs to be done before publishing. I could see my blog in its finished state that readers see, but I couldn’t add anything. Well, this went on for at least a year. I finally brought the problem to my son-in-law who got me headed back to where I needed to be. Thank you, Marc. You are the best!

     So, I am back.

     I was thrilled to find many comments to read which I will respond to soon. Also, I am hoping the readers who automatically receive this blog each time I publish will still receive it. Please, let me know if this is the case.

     Until next time. Stay safe. Wear your mask.