December 16, 1941

On December 16, 1941 my parents were married in the Scranton, Iowa Methodist parsonage.  My grandmother, Nina Grisso, was their witness and only guest as I understand.

The only other story I know about this wedding was that Mom had purchased her wedding blouse in Cedar Rapids and was riding home on December 7 with her Aunt Ardea and Uncle Steve when they learned of the bombing in Pearl Harbor.

The year I was married, we celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary with a surprise party in their home near Bagley, Iowa.

We celebrated their 40th in Scranton at a hall, but the day is mostly remembered for its bad weather.

Their 50th was a big celebration on the farm. Their 60th was a part of a birthday celebration (Dad 80) and a family reunion for both the Grissos and the Wrights. Again, we were at the farm.

Now they are both gone along with other much loved family members. Maybe the departed are all together celebrating Mom and Dad's 75th wedding anniversary today.

Interrupting this program

Here we are descending the family branch of Hiram and Estella Smith to highlight their children. You have met Merroll, Neva, Ardea, and Myrtice. The three remaining children are Nina, the oldest, Dale and Leah, the two youngest.  Their posts will come, but for now I have some more organizing, researching, and some traveling to do. So, I am interrupting this program to bring you some random thoughts and a post on a famous relative. Watch for these amazing features coming soon. :-)

Since I seem to be in the "teasing" mood, I need to tell you about a treasure trove I am about to come upon.  I received a letter from a friend of my grandmother's first cousin. Are you with me? My grandmother's first cousin was into genealogy and much of the information on the Vorhies side came from this first cousin three times removed. She passed away several years ago leaving no descendants. She had one brother but he died in the 1930's.

The friend who wrote to me has a couple of boxes of letters, documents, scrapbooks, etc. that she has kept that belonged to this cousin. This is such a lucky break. I can hardly contain myself.

More to come on this to be sure.

Myrtice Averil Smith (1913-1913)

From different genealogy classes I have taken, I have learned to question long spaces between children.  There is an expected closeness between Neva and Ardea.  Neva and Ardea were only about 20 months apart in age.  Hiram and Stella's first child, Nina, and her next sibling, Merroll, were only about 17 months apart.  These are the usual spacings in families of the time.  However, from Merroll to Neva, approximately eight years elapsed. I am unaware of any miscarriages and am not sure I would ever be able to find this out.

Hiram and Stella did lose one child. Her name was Myrtice Averil. She was born January 1, 1913 on their 13th anniversary.  She died seven days later on January 7, 1913. When I was first sharing some of my genealogy records a few years ago, I had an uncle who said he never realized he had another aunt.  I have a paper called a Cradle Call from the Scranton Church of Christ in which the Smiths were very active. I have seen the thank you note in an old newspaper written by Hiram thanking the community for their kindness at the time of the loss of their baby. Myrtice is buried right next to Hiram and Stella in the Scranton Cemetery. 

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At some later date, I will review this record for clarity. This record is not currently with me but in storage at another site.

Attention: Has anyone caught my error?  I have a terrific live-in proof reader, and he brought it to my attention.   Leave me a note if you see the mistake I have made.  I will admit to it and try to find the correct information.