Aunt Fanny (1873-1956)

Just as I knew my great aunts and uncles that lived in Greene County when I was growing up, my husband and his siblings knew theirs. Families stayed around the same areas for generations, and we have been able to savor wonderful memories of those relationships.

As I mentioned in Another Limb? I want to start climbing around in the Augustus, Reeder, Tolsdorf trees as well as my own family trees since I have a phenomenal resource in my mother-in-law.  I just learned about Aunt Fanny. Like I said, my husband and siblings knew their great-great Aunt Fanny, but my kids, their kids, some of the other grandchildren have likely never heard of Aunt Fanny. She was the younger sister of my grandchildren's great-great-great grandmother, Minerva Jane Marsh Reeder (1860-1953).

According to my mother-in-law, Aunt Fanny was an especially loved aunt by her niece, Ina Reeder Augustus, mother of my living source. I think I would have really liked Aunt Fanny too. She wrote a couple of documents that I think should be shared.  It appears that Aunt Fanny shared my interest in preserving family information. The following is one of  her documents. Fanny is discussing her parents, Richard and Celestia Marsh. Our decendancy would look like this:
Celestia Phillips and Richard Marsh/ Minerva Jane Marsh and Edward Reeder/Ina Marie Reeder and Hallie Augustus.

We have all read similar writing about the olden days. There is really nothing too new here except that these are our people.  Our Aunt Fanny wrote this in 1941.  What a precious souvenir to have her words.

Dedication

     Well, here I go.  But where will I start?  There are Grissos and Smiths, Wrights and Bordens, Augustus and DeHarts, Tolsdorfs and Beiers.  There are Grossmans and Vorhies, Kerins and Reeders.  You get the idea.

      I am starting with the Smith, Vorhies, Withrow line, and I am dedicating these first entries to two family members we lost in January of 2015.  First is my mother's brother, John Hiram Grisso (1924-2015). I was born on his 21st birthday on February 21, 1945 while he was serving in the Atlantic during WWII. This connection made him very special to me.  I felt his absence profoundly this year on our birthday.

     My second dedication is to his first cousin, Jean Stevens Johnson (1929-2015).  In genealogy terms, she is my first cousin once removed. She and my mother were first cousins. On January 2, I called Jean with the news of John's passing.  We had a sad but lively conversation.  I spoke of my discovery of the grave of the parents of my Great Grandpa Hiram Lee Smith's parents in Tucumcari, New Mexico far from our Midwest roots.  George Smith (1842-1932) and Mary Smith (1847-1924) were great grandparents of Jean and John.

     Jean was my go to person for family memories and fact checking.  As happens too often, our best resources are gone too soon.  Jean died four days after her cousin, John,  and two days after our conversation.

     My life is richer because of these two family members.