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