Family Trees

Thanks to my husband's brother, I have been propelled into the machinery of the online genealogy industry. And I'm digging it! What a great way to document history that too often dies with our oldest family members. I have some family information in my head that my brother and cousins may not, and I have also been googling the names of older ancestors and accessing other people's research to add to my growing tree. I see how easily it could spiral out of control, each tree having so many complicated branches. So many wives and children! My goal is to stop branching out when I get to the family member who immigrated to the United States. Still a lot of work as I look into my Grandma D.'s German roots, the "Sturm" family, who came to Maryland in 1770s . The funny thing is, she told me she was English, and her maiden name is "Storm". After I am done here I will email her about this misinformation! She will be fascinated to know that I am able to gather this information directly off the Internet. Anyway, I pulled out some papers that her brother sent to me a few years ago, before he died. One is a letter that their mom wrote, about a month after her husband (Frank) was struck by lightening and killed in a field with another farmer. My grandma was 4, and her brother was 3.


Lone Tree, Ia
Aug 13, 16

Dear Friends,

I will try and answer your letter I received some time ago. This is Sunday afternoon and a lonesome day for me, but then every day is that way unless I am busy. I am up at Papa's now, have been all week. He hasn't been feeling very well this last week.

Well I suppose you have been wondering what I am going to do. I hardly know my self but think I will spend most of my time with Papa as long as he lasts. Mable and Craig are doing the chores and we get down tow or three times a week, generally.

Well the last four weeks have been the longest weeks I have ever been thru in all my life. Gertie, you say you have tried to imagine yourself in my place, but you never can unless you were there once. I suppose it isn't much use to tell you the whole story over because you saw it in the paper, but I will always think that Frank's watch was the cause of his death. It struck his head and burned a streak of his hair from the top of his head down behind his ear, then down around his neck about where the shirt collar came from, there it jumped across his watch which was right over his heart. It pulled the ring out of his watch and ground the crystal to powder and broke one of the wheels in two pieces and broke off a little peg that the wheel set on. Oh, it all seems like a dream to me. I don't know weather I will ever come to realize it or not. Harold, poor little fellow, he thinks "the Oman's killed his papa." The neighbors brought Frank home in a wagon and he thinks because they brought him home dead that they must have killed him. We washed Frank's clothes that he had on when he was killed and I was putting them away the other day and Harold was standing watching me and he said "Poor Papa." the bible says the Lord has a reason and a purpose for doing all these things and at night after the children are asleep I lay and try to think what I have done that I should have this punishment sent on me, but I suppose "Some day we'll understand."

Well I will bring my letter to a close for this time. Will try and write more next time. My heart aches so just now.

Send my letter to Lone Tree in care of F. J. Atkin.

With Love,

Iva

Request for follow up about the bothersome bird

A friend asked about what happened with the pheasant, so here is my update.

I called around trying to figure out the "right" thing to do with it besides knocking it in the head with a frying pan, which I am not brave enough to do. What I learned was that animal control was my best bet. I posted another message to the board, telling the neighborhood readers who cared that they could catch the pheasant and take it to a nearby wildlife conservation place, or they could call animal control. I retitled the thread "nuisance bird". This was what posted shortly after that:

>
> Please, Kate, be patient.
> The person who raised the pheasant has been alerted to your concerns,
> and a new location will be provided for it, somewhere out in the
> country side. The pheasant is not sick, just very habituated to humans.
>
> I, for one, have enjoyed seeing this lovely creature at our bird
> feeder. It's feathers are magnificent, the way they catch the sun,
> reflecting golden greens, reds and oranges - something few of us
> non-hunters of pheasants ever see. My neighbors agree with me. There
> are those of us who find this taste of Nature reviving.
> Our neighborhood was an edge of prairie city were Nature blended with Man. It
> has become more of an urban area, and I regret that loss.
>
> Anyway, there is no need to panic, a broom will shoe off the bird,
> and soon we won't have his presence to remind us of G-d's wonders.
>


Posted by: "franksmama1"
Tue Aug 14, 2007 9:22 pm (PST)

I'm calling animal control if the bird comes near my family again. Any animal who is biting
and diving at people is a danger and a nuisance, and should not be left to roam around
the neighborhood.

Hopefully his trip to the countryside will allow someone to be reminded of G-d's wonders
at their Sunday dinner table.

My post to the neighborhood yahoo list

Wild Pheasant? Turkey gone mad?

Hi,

I have a crazed pheasant ( I think, but I know nothing about birds)
that is making itself at home in my yard this afternoon. The trouble
is that it is also chasing my kids around the yard when they go out,
and even trying to peck at them! Then after I pulled the kids
inside, the bird has been jumping up and trying to perch on the
windowsills around our porch, pecking at the windows!

Anybody know anything about such birds in our neighborhood? Should
I call someone like DNR to come get this thing out of here?

Thanks,

Kate

IMing is how we talk

you want to go to the dentist one of these days?

tim mcg:
yes. what made you ask?
franksmama1:

I could sense it .
I will make an appt for you.

tim mcg:
you mean with your sense of smell?

franksmama1:
I am sensitive in many ways.
did you know that most married men perform better and get paid better at work than their female counterparts
because the men have a wife at home
or at work
making their dental appts for them, as well as cooking and shopping and buying their underwear
the working women need a wife to take care of their shit
so that they can get paid better and perform at work with fewer family life related distractions
did you know that?

tim mcg:
(I am currently idle)