Violet Smedley Jensen Memorial

I lost one of my aunts recently and I wanted to do a little memorial for her. I wish that I had more to tell about her. My memories only include gatherings at grandma's house during my childhood. I can only hope that one of her children will write up a history about her.


It seems that as we grow and get more involved with fulfilling our own lives we tend to lose touch with those relatives who live elsewhere. Sending Christmas cards every year just doesn't seem to compare with the family gatherings of yore.

I have never made a new year's resolution, but if I did, I think it would be to try and make contact with all of my relatives more often -- phone calls, letters, etc. After reading all the letters and postcards that my great-grandmother saved I find myself wanting to start writing letters again; even postcards. I only hope that they will write back!

Wordless Wednesday -- My First Born

Wordless Wednesday --William C. and Hazel R. Piggott and Little ole Me

Tombstone Tuesday -- Mary Edwards Cannon Taylor

Here is a photo of what is left of the grave marker of Mary Taylor courtesy of Cindy, one of my Piggott cousins.

She is buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery:

Name: Mary C. Taylor
Internment: # 16322
Internment Book: # 14776 - 20,000
Grave: 4E
Date of Death: Oct.7,1890
Date of Birth: Sept.30,1810
Place of Birth: Clauroost, N.Wales
Sex: F
Cause of Death: Old Age
Owner of lot: Charles B. Taylor
Deed No.: 1171

It really saddens me that my 3rd great-grandmother's headstone is broken. I wonder what ever happened to the rest of it. Maybe someday I can round up enough descendants who would care enough to start a fund to replace it.

There is a special place in my heart for Mary and not just because we share the same birthday. On the stone it says, "Friend of the Poor". There must be a few stories behind that and I would like to find them.

Mary had a pretty rough life. She lost her first husband Joseph White after only being married for about a year. She married my 3rd great-grandfather, George Cannon in February of 1844 and lost him in August of that same year. She was about 3 months pregnant with my 2nd great-grandmother, Elizabeth Edwards Cannon when he died.

Kreativ Blogger Award

Wow -- I have been awarded the Kreativ Blogger Award! Thanks so much to Sheri Bush at Twig Talk for this honor! The winner of this award is supposed to list seven things about themselves and then pass the award along to seven other bloggers.

Here goes, seven things about me ==>

1. I am addicted to genealogy (I admit it).
2. No computer on the weekends. This is hubby time.
3. Just became a first time homeowner!
4. I am an Idaho girl and I miss the mountains.
5. I have five grandchildren and one on the way.
   
6. I collect cow salt and pepper shakers.
7. I crochet afghans and baby blankets.
   

My seven choices to receive the Kreativ Blogger Award are ==>

1. Bayside Blog
2. BENOTFORGOT
3. Conversations of Ancestors Past
4. the Family Curator
5. A Light that Shines Again
6. Cherry Tea Time
7. Crowe's Nest

Wordless Wednesday - Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois, Jan 1958

Monday Madness -- Mislabeled Photos

Boy, have I got some Monday madness going on today! Saturday I received a long awaited box of letters, postcards, photos, etc., that belonged to my great-grandma Piggott. Among these "family history treasures" was a photo of a woman labeled "Oliver Cowdery Bake" on the back. Now I know she is not Oliver! Oliver is my 2nd great-grand uncle.

I know this woman is related, there is a strong family resemblance, she looks like one of my aunts. I was hoping to recruit some opinions and help in trying to identify her. I think it is possible that this might actually be a photo of great grandma Piggott when she was younger, or it could be her mother.

If you could look at the photos below and tell me what you think, I would greatly appreciate it.



UPDATE: The mystery relative now has a name! It is Sarah Ronella "Roie" Madsen, sister of Hazel and daughter of Rebecca.

Introducing My New Blog

Some of you may know me from my other blog "Lost Family Treasures". I am also the ring manager for the "Blogging For Ancestors" blogring.

After being a part of the genealogy blogging community for 116 days now, I think I am ready to start blogging about my own genealogy and family history and experiences in researching and so forth.

Besides my own, I also research my children's ancestors,(sounds better than saying x-husband's), my husband's, my in-law's, and friends. So I may blog about their ancestors as well as my own.

Speaking of in-laws, about a month ago my sister-in-law and her husband were over and he was interested in finding information on his great-grandfather from the Ukraine. His great-grandfather, Frank Ciopryna changed his last name at some point, and his main concern was finding what that name was before it was changed.

Well, I couldn't help with the name change, but when we discovered that Frank was actually born in Poland he had to call his dad right away and tell him that he was a polock! He made me chuckle.

Several years ago while I was still in Idaho I printed an ahnentafel book for one of my aunts. Since then I have found several errors and misguided, or fraudulent lines that I had to repair (we can no longer claim to be descended from Lady Godiva, and that was so much fun)so I have been busy putting a new book together for her.

Along with a 244 page ahnentafel I made a section for histories, documents, charts, and photos. She will probably be getting it for Christmas.

The major line that I had to revamp is the Arnold Line. If you are a descendant of Governor Benedict Arnold 1615-1678, or the Rhode Island Arnolds, I strongly urge you to read this article from Ancestry Daily News ==> NO ARNOLD ROYAL LINE.
This is also a good article to read ==> MYTHS IN YOUR FAMILY TREE.