As we approach Autumn, it has become my habit to embark upon some out-of-state research. It's a good time for road-tripping for many reasons. Hubby Marty "the Droid" is usually deeply embedded in a busy work season that starts in September and ends about mid-November. There are fewer vacationers on the interstates and in the campgrounds (have tent, will travel!). The weather cools down a bit and is not too stormy yet.
This year, before heading very far east, I'll be meeting Marty's mother Aida and sister Lisa, along with some friends who are more like family, at a cabin near Virginia Lakes in the Eastern Sierras, off Hwy 395 between Lee Vining and Bridgeport. It is a tradition to camp out there at the end of every Summer in celebration of Aida's birthday in late August. We spent Aida's 97th birthday this year closer to home, at Drake's Bay with a lovely beach picnic. Age has slowed Aida down a bit, but we still cannot keep her out of the woods, and we are all happy to follow her there!
Aida Link Brenneis, in her natural habitat!
Once I get Dad back to his home in Barstow, I can immediately hop onto I-40 and start the eastward trek, heading toward my sister Denise's house in Arkansas for a visit/rest stop.
Here's a quick run-down of current projects, for which I will be doing some foot-work for the next few weeks!
Mom's Memphis Connection
Before my mother's Pryne family moved to California in 1951, they had lived for some years in Olive Branch MS, just below Memphis TN. Since Memphis will be on my route from Denise's place to Kentucky and Ohio, I'll stop there to look for traces of their life in the Memphis area. There is a Genealogy Center in Germantown, a suburb of Memphis. Of course, I'll spend an evening on Beale St soaking up some blues music!
Cluster Studies In Progress
As part of my current of cluster studies of Pleasant Hill Cemetery and Straight Creek Baptist Cemetery in Ohio, I'll be attending a course in cemetery preservation in Dayton and also lectures in Columbus about medicine in the 19th century. I'll discuss these studies a bit more later, but you may be wondering what I mean by "cluster study." In genealogy, it's basically the study of a specific neighborhood through a period of time in history. A cemetery is a type of neighborhood (permanent neighbors, you could say). A cluster study of a region of Owen Co KY is ongoing, as well.
World War I Commemorations
The year 2019 marks the centenary of the close of the First World War. It is also the 100th anniversary of the founding of the American Legion, of which I am a member of Wilkins Post 37. Our Post also celebrates its centenary this year, because in 1919 we were the first Legion Post to be founded in Marin County CA. Our namesake, Marin County native Marine Corporal James Hepburn Wilkins Jr, was killed in France in 1918. There is also a street here in San Rafael named Wilkins, near the location where his boyhood home stood.
Corporal James Hepburn Wilkins Jr
Two younger brothers of my great-grandmother, Daisy Romans Marksberry, also served in WW1. Their names were Elmer Durestes Romans and Alvin Thomas Romans. (If you read my post from last June entitled A DNA Breakthrough and Conference News, you are already acquainted with my studies of their family, particularly their father J.T. Romans.) The Romans brothers joined different services--Elmer the Army and Alvin the Marine Corps--but they ended up in some of the same battles in France. They were both wounded several times, but they made it home. Elmer lost a leg. Alvin was able to accept a commission as 2nd Lieutenant in the Reserve Infantry. Tragically, they both died young of tuberculosis they contracted in France.
Army Private Elmer Romans with youngest brother Carl and maternal grandparents
Durestes Lafayette Petty (a Confederate vet) and Elizabeth Hudgins Petty (family photo).
Marine Private Alvin Romans (family photo).
Along with an in-depth study of these two heroic great-great-uncles, I am working on securing for them Veteran's Grave Markers. Their grave sites are both known but have never been marked. Updates about this project are forthcoming!
Sites I will be visiting to learn more about the Romans brothers include the Kenton County Library in Covington KY, the National Archives in St Louis MO, and the World War I Museum in Kansas City MO. (More great music to be found in Kansas City, too!)
Gotta finish packing, as I leave tomorrow. Marty the Droid will hold down the fort at home, keeping the cats fed and their box sifted.
Blessings,
Annie
"For all the astounding growth in man's power, there had been no parallel increase in responsibility. The caveman with the club was now a caveman with a machine gun." -- John O'Farrell, An Utterly Impartial History of Britain (2007).
Sites I will be visiting to learn more about the Romans brothers include the Kenton County Library in Covington KY, the National Archives in St Louis MO, and the World War I Museum in Kansas City MO. (More great music to be found in Kansas City, too!)
Gotta finish packing, as I leave tomorrow. Marty the Droid will hold down the fort at home, keeping the cats fed and their box sifted.
Blessings,
Annie
"For all the astounding growth in man's power, there had been no parallel increase in responsibility. The caveman with the club was now a caveman with a machine gun." -- John O'Farrell, An Utterly Impartial History of Britain (2007).
