Friday's Feature- Doris Tolsdorf

I had been hanging around my mother-in-law since I was fifteen. She wasn't my mother-in-law yet just my boyfriend's mom. She went out of her way to be welcoming to me. When I was younger, I was a very picky eater. At Easter when she fixed the traditional ham dinner, she would fry me a hamburger. Now really, that was above and beyond. When I was in high school and my snow covered black dyed shoes, bled onto her new carpet, she didn't show any concern. It did come out, but I felt horrible.

Her funeral was attended by children and grandchildren from Iowa, California, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Florida, Colorado, Arizona and Massachusetts. The church was full. She lived for 97 years within 10 miles of where she was born. Her memory was sharp and she was considered the unofficial town historian. One grandson shared his memories of Grandma which all the grandkids had experienced. The shared memories among those cousins-the grandchildren of Doris- are a treasure they will always cherish.

Earlier this year, one of Doris' sons-in-law, suggested she do some autobiographical writing. As we have been going through her remaining belongings, we came across a couple of notebooks. She didn't write much, but what wonderful insight those early memories give us about her life.

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February 16, 2015

The first day I remember was a sunny day in September when Mrs. Bryant and Huldah Ott came driving a horse and big buggy up our lane.  Of course at the time I didn't realize they were coming to help my mom give birth to my brother, Edward.

I was from May to September past three years old. 

Also on this day, I had an infection called "ringworm" on my elbow & Huldah said the best way to cure it was to paint it with iodine! It really stung so I went down to the horse tank & stuck my elbow in the water.  It was cool & made it feel better. Don't know what the adults thought about that- they were busy elsewhere!!

It was probably the next summer I remember a day Mom's cousin from Des Moines came to visit & she had a daughter, Vivian.  We had the baby outside in a big wooden buggy & we had to keep the hood up because if he knew Vivian was pushing the buggy he would fuss. So I had to look as if I were pushing it.

Don't know if some of these memories are in sequence but I was pretty young.  I loved to "help" Dad take care of the horses. In the evening Dad would sit in a rocking chair. I'd crawl up on his lap & we'd sing. "K K Katie", "The Old Mill Stream", "My Old Kentucky Home" etc.

We practically went to one or the other Grandparents on Sunday.  Grandpa & Grandma Augustus lived in Scranton by the time I remember them & Grandpa and Grandma Reeder lived on a farm south of Jefferson.  Sometimes in summer we would drive over to Spring Lake and go swimming.  We spent several 4th of July there but I also remember one or two in Scranton with parades, band, speaker & dances.

Then I remember my 1st day of school.
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Well, readers, you will have to find out about that first day of school in another post.

News to me!

You know my goal is to share the family stories, facts, and details I already know.  However, yesterday I stumbled upon a couple interesting pieces of information that were new to me and that I wish to share. Discovering new family details is exciting for a family historian.

Since I was already in the area, I decided to stop by our local genealogy library and look at the index of  Greene County deaths. I wanted to confirm the death date of Myrtice Avril Smith, the 5th child of Hiram and Stella Smith. Sure enough, she died May 19, 1913 as her gravestone says. Out of curiosity, I decided to go to the Court House to further check some facts on this death. The cause of death was listed as pneumonia and whooping cough. She was 4 months and 19 days and had been sick for five weeks. I also found an error in the record. It says she was buried in Glidden. This is not so. She is buried in The Scranton Township Cemetery next to her parents.  Of course, in reality they are buried next to her. Stella's parents, John M and Ginevra Vorhies, both of her brothers, Eugene and LeRoy and families are all buried in close proximity. After all the years I have visited these graves, I never realized little Myrtice was the first internment in this grouping. ( The Withrows are in another section. Aurilla would have been the very first family internment.

As long as I was at the courthouse and had found these huge books of records so fascinating, I decided to look up a couple other death notes.  What could I learn about Bert and Nina's first born child Lena?   She was born on October 31 and died the same day. Interestingly enough, she was also buried October 31. The record shows that the baby was premature, only seven months developed. Now the really interesting question. There is a column in these records that lists the funeral home/mortuary involved. In this column the words "none called" is recorded. Now what does this mean? I know where Lena and her brother, who also did not survive infancy, are buried. Who dug the hole? Was there some sort of box used or not? I am so curious about this.

Lastly, I discovered something that really surprised me, and I think it is an important piece of information for all my female cousins in this familial line to know.  Great Great Grandmother Ginevra Withrow Vorhies' cause of death was carcinoma of the uterus.

Meet Sarah's family

    

     In November of 1875, John Mac and his father-in-law, Joseph Withrow, went to Greene County, Iowa,  and made a purchase of 160 acres of land.  In February of 1876, the family all moved to the new homestead leaving Mary Kate behind buried somewhere I have yet to discover. Sarah, Joseph, 5 children, and married daughter Ginevra, now eight months pregnant with her first child, and son-in-law, J.M. Vorhies, undoubtedly traveled together.
     Estella Mae Vorhies was the first born child of Ginevra and John Mac Vorhies, and the first grandchild of Sarah and Joseph Withrow. She was the first of our family born in Greene County, Iowa, and she was my great grandmother. Can you imagine the trek in 1876?  Did they move then because rivers would be frozen? Can you imagine being pregnant on the trip? Was great grandma born in the wagon when they got there? There couldn't have been time to build a house or was there? Did they even have a wagon?

     I will have more to say on the land when I write about the grandfathers. For now, I want to introduce Sarah and Joseph's children.

    As is the case in large families, the older children of the second generation might be older than the youngest children of the first generation.  Such was the situation with the Withrow and Vorhies family, Estella (1876) and her brother, Eugene (1877), were actually older than the last child of their grandparents. Joseph and Sarah's youngest child named Sarah Jane (26 Aug 1879) was born just a month or so before Ginevra and John Mac Vorhies's last child, Leroy (2 Oct 1879).

    So, Sarah and daughter, Ginevra, were busy having babies those first few years in Greene County.  What were the other kids doing?

    Anna Josephine was about 19 when the family moved to Greene County and Aurilla was 17. Wedding bells were probably in their futures. Yes,  Anna Josephine married William Cromwell 3 October 1876 according to her obituary. Anna Josephine will have her own post later.

    The 1880 census shows Joseph to now be 49 and his wife, Sarah Jane, to be 46.  The only children still at home were Viola Emma age 12, Joseph Jr. age 5 and baby Sarah Jane.  Joseph's occupation is listed as farmer.  Viola Emma and Joseph Jr. are list as "going to school".  Their school was in the southeast corner of Section 16 in Greene County. 

     Their oldest living daughter, Ginvera, is now 25 and John Mac, her husband, is 29.  Their children, Estella, Eugene, and Leroy are ages 4, 3, and 6 months old.

     Anna is now married to William Cromwell but their first child has not yet been born.

     Aurilla at age 20 is married to Mat Frederick. 

Getting Started

     Time is running out for many of my planned writing projects ( I just had a big birthday). It is already 2015, and I have discovered genealogy blogs.  Maybe I have just enough time to share my genealogy discoveries with cousins near and far, geographically as well as biologically, through a blog just for them, other relatives, and especially my grandchildren.

    Many blogs give helpful hints, suggestions, and resource guidance to their readers.  This is not my intention since I am a novice genealogist. However, I am the oldest cousin on both my mother and father's sides of the family tree.  Of course, this gives me a familial advantage.  I have memories many of my cousins do not share.  I grew up surrounded by great aunts and uncles, second cousins, and other extended family. Some of these cousins ( not to mention my grandchildren) did not have that same experience.  So, I have appointed myself family historian.  I am very interested in this task and anxious to share my discoveries. So, this blog is for my family that they might know from where they came.  If anyone else finds the desire to follow my mumblings, I would be thrilled.  Eventually, I plan to delve into my husband's family and that of my grandchildren's other grandparents.


     I have a few other interests such as gardening, travel, and reading.  Don't be surprised to find a page or two here and there on these topics as well as some random thoughts and other useless information.

     As I said before, this blog is for my family.  I hope you enjoy it.  If you have any specific questions, please contact me. I will be happy to try to answer your questions, or I might even research it for you.  If at anytime, you feel I have made a mistake, contact me so I can correct the information.

Your self appointed family historian,
Margie