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.

That Same Old House

It has been over a month since my last post. I guess the time has come. The following post was written back then as well. However, I had some format problems so just abandoned the blog. I checked my stats and this blog has been viewed 19,999 times. Maybe if I get this post published, I can go over the top. One of my format problems had to do with the information on the last two photos. The first one is me with my Aunt Bonnie in approximately 1946. The second is my cousin, Sue, and I in the early to mid-fifties. I included it to show the house must have eventually been painted.

The last blog The House I Grew Up In is a post I have wanted to write for a long time. It is a house with so much family history. As I said before, it was a brand new house in 1910 for my Great-Grandmother, Estella Smith. While sorting old pictures, I found a few more that I want to share. 

Pictured below:

Grandpa Bert Grisso, Vern Wright, John Grisso
Donald Grisso, Marvin Grisso, Grandma Nina Grisso, Mary Grisso Wright.


Grandpa Bert Grisso, Grandma Nina Grisso, Vern Wright, Mary Wright, John Grisso

Donald Grisso, Marvin Grisso

This photo is labeled 1944.  This is before I was born, but where my mom and dad lived. Notice the old house. It certainly needs paint.




This is probably the summer of 1946. The house looks the same.

Aunt Bonnie and Margie

Margie and Susie

Sometime around 1953-1955

It looks like the house was finally painted.



The House I Grew Up In

I grew up on the sixty as we called it. Actually, I only lived there until I was in the ninth grade. My great-grandmother, Estella Smith, owned the farm and my dad farmed the sixty as well as her other two farms. However, in March of 1959 she died and all of her property was sold.  This house had been built new for her as a young bride. I never really thought about it until I started working on the family stories. There are so many extended family pictures taken in that yard from when my parents moved there in the spring of 1941.  But, I would like to know more about the very early years. After the farm was sold in 1959, numerous families lived there including one of my very dear high school friends. The house was torn down in the fall of 2002.

As I said, there are so many pictures which were taken in that yard. Some with the porch open, some with it after it was enclosed. Sometimes it looks really rough and other times, it looks like it got a little paint.

This is a picture from 1959. It is fun to also recognize my Grandma Grisso's blue 1954 chevy in the photo.



2002

Just before the house was torn down.



 I was thrilled to find the following picture in a pile of photos.



This photo has to be closer to when the house was first built (1910). Could that be Great- Grandpa Hiram Smith with his three oldest kids. Even though his stance makes me think of my Grandpa Grisso, I think it must be Hiram, Nina, Merroll, and Neva. I could be wrong.



 



M.T.A.

     Recently, we attended a music program and heard the well known Kingston Trio M.T.A. song about poor Charlie who couldn't get off the Massachusetts Transit Authority.  "Oh, will he ever return?  No he will never return, and his fate is still unlearned. He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston. He is the man who never returned."
     I am betting that some of my regular readers think I am the family genealogy/history storyteller that will never return. After all, I think it has been about two months since my last post. However, I checked my stats and found I have had about 700 viewers in the last two months. Good heavens, I have a following or there are lots of just accidental hits out there. Now I feel like I need to get back. Can I get off the M.T.A. which seems to be my euphemism for being an absent blogger.
     I was quite excited in January when I accepted the challenge of Amy Johnson Crow, a genealogy blogger who suggests a different topic to write about once per week for 52 weeks.
     The challenge started with "Start".    Then, went on to topics like Favorite photo, Longevity, Invite to Dinner, In the census, Favorite  Name, Valentine, Heirloom, Where There's a Will, Strong Woman, Lucky, Misfortune, The Old Homestead, Maiden Aunt, Taxes,  Storms, Cemetery, Storms, Cemetery.
      My only contributions have been those highlighted above. They are all linked to the post for your convenience if you missed one or just want to enjoy it again. (Happy Face)
      I attempted Valentine and Heirloom. They remain in draft form.
     And then I got busy reading, taking classes, entertaining company, and being sick. Lots of excuses. 

      So there we have it.

      Your guess is as good as mine as to when Charlie might get off the M.T.A or when I might post another blog. I am open to requests if any of the above topics sound like they could be interesting.

     The ball is in your court, as they say.