Birthdays – Week 46 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Posted on November 18, 2021 by Jacque

Sharing Birthdays

Want to have a little fun?

Check out the interactive map at https://www.vizwiz.com/2012/05/how-common-is-your-birthday-find-out.html. Just scroll down to the larger map and hover over any date to see the ranking. I was born on May 8 which is ranked as the 276th most common birthday out of 366 possible days (yes, February 29 is included even though it only occurs every 4 years). Gary was born exactly one week later on May 15 (though 4 years later) and his birthday is ranked as the 183rd most common birthday. Gary’s mom, Georgene, and my dad, Bill, were both born on April 1 which is listed at 348.

Birthdays are an opportunity to celebrate another year of life. As such, they didn’t become a special event until calendars were invented. While the ancient civilizations celebrated the “birth of a god,” it was probably the Romans who began celebrating ordinary people. We want to thank the German people for starting the tradition of the birthday cake (“Pump it up Party”).

I share a birthday with my paternal grandmother, Fanny Vandyke Watkins aka Delores Russell who was also born on May 8.

We moved to Coffeyville, Kansas right before I began 7th grade. On the first day of school, I met Janice and we discovered that we shared the same birthday and also a passion for the Donna Parker book series. I had all the books in the series that Janice didn’t have and she had all the ones I didn’t have so we both had the opportunity to read the entire series.

All through junior and senior high, Janice and I celebrated our birthdays together, one year at her house and the next at mine. We usually had slumber parties and her mother was known for her delicious and creative cakes.

I thought it would be interesting to see some of the ancestors who share a birth month with me. (My mother was born in May and shares the same birthday as Gary’s nephew and his niece has a birthday exactly one week after Gary’s so the three of us are stepping stones.) I checked my grandparents chart and found these ancestors who are directly related to me as grandparents with May birthdays (this list is incomplete; I have not been able to find the birth-dates for many ancestors and for others I only have the year ):

  • May 4, 1799 Oriminer L. “Miner” Runyon
  • May 16, 1817 Oliver Liggett
  • May 10, 1823 Otillia Endres Anthony
  • May 24, 1869 John Calvin Watkins
  • May 8, 1910 Fanny Vandyke Watkins aka Delores Russell

Historically, May 8 also has a reputation for extreme weather. “There have been interesting, wild and catastrophic weather events related to hail and other natural phenomena throughout recorded history on May 8 (AccuWeather).” As a tie-in with last week’s post, there was a devastating hailstorm in Winnsborough, South Carolina on May 8, 1784. “Several people were killed and there was great carnage of livestock and wildlife (AccuWeather).”

In addition to crazy weather, on May 8, 1895, “It rained large, winged black ants in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Area roads and sidewalks were covered by the mass of crawling, slippery insects (AccuWeather).”

Here’s hoping this May 8 brings beautiful weather (and no flying insects).

Sources

AccuWeather. “May 8th: A Hail of a Day.” AccuWeather, AccuWeather, 9 May 2012, https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/may-8th-a-hail-of-a-day/227208.

Admin. “Pump It up Party.” Pump It Up, 3 Feb. 2017, https://www.pumpitupparty.com/blog/how-did-the-tradition-of-birthdays-begin/.

Kriebel, Andy. “How Common Is Your Birthday? Find out Exactly with an Interactive Heat Map.” VizWiz, https://www.vizwiz.com/2012/05/how-common-is-your-birthday-find-out.html.

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Wordless Wednesday 11/17/21

Posted on November 17, 2021 by Jacque
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Stormy Weather – Week 45 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Posted on November 12, 2021 by Jacque

Two Memorable Storms, 1970 and 1993

“At Least I Wasn’t Golfing”

We hear these loud and ominous thuds. My mom and I rush to the front door where we watch these huge chunks of ice fall from the sky.

Did you know that there are hailstone spotters just as there are tornado spotters or chasers made famous in the 1996 movie “Twister” with Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton? Hailstone spotters often enlist the help of local police officers who will use their radar guns to determine how fast the larger hailstones fall. “If you are driving through the Great Plains and see a police car with the window cracked and a radar gun pointed skyward, you’ll now know what’s going on – just don’t look up (Warm).”

This unprecedented storm produced unbelievably large hailstones and one was officially announced to be the absolute largest hailstone to ever fall in the world (and yes, it achieved Guinness World Record status).

Coffeyville Hailstone Statistics

Date: September 3, 1970

Diameter: 5.7 inches

Circumference: 17.5 inches

Weight: 1.67 pounds

Speed: 105 mph

After the storm was over, pretty much everyone in town got a new roof. Years and years later, Gary was listening to the radio as we got ready for work on September 3. They had a trivia contest asking where the largest hailstone fell (this was in the days before ‘Google’ was a thing). Gary called immediately and of course responded with the correct answer. He won an armload of prizes (okay, think along the terms of a mug, sticker, and T-shirt).

(***Disclaimer – Coffeyville still holds the record for the fastest falling hailstorm, but on April 14, 1986 Bangladesh ‘won’ the record for heaviest hailstorm at 2 pounds; no other measurements were given. On July 23, 2010, Vivian, South Dakota obtained the record with a stone that was 8 inches in diameter and weighed 1.94 pounds.)

“It Isn’t Raining – How Could we Have a Flood?”

Riverside County, California had a wet December in 1992 with lots of snow in the mountains that resulted in a heavy snowpack. In January Riverside County experienced a two week storm siege. The almost continuous rain combined with snowpack run-off created a disaster in Riverside County. “A bridge over the San Gorgonio River was destroyed near Banning and a dike failure in Whitewater flooded several area roads with mud and debris. Rising waters around the city of Desert Hot Springs cut off roadways leaving the city isolated (“Weather History”).”

Tired of all the rain, we were glad to head off to school with relatively dry conditions. As we were pulling out of our driveway, we noticed Jim, our fellow teacher who lived across the street, standing outside. We pulled up and asked if he needed a ride. He had been waiting for Irene who also lived in Mission Springs Country Club to pick him up, but there was no sign of her. (Okay, she had a reputation for forgetting Jim but that’s another story.) We headed to school but the street to get out of the complex was flooded, so we went to another exit. It was also flooded. We then drove up by the clubhouse but the water was shooting over the road while boulders were rolling across the road. Back home we went, called school, and our principal, Diana, told us school was called off and that they were currently making sure that all students who had already arrived were able to get home safely. We dropped Jim off, went inside, then decided since we were all dressed up with no plans we would drive back up to the clubhouse to catch some breakfast and see what was going on. Lo and behold, the road was mostly clear so we decided to go to the store and pick up some groceries and check to see if there was anything we could help with at school.

Once we arrived at school, everything was under control so we got our groceries, and made our way back home. However, things did not go as planned. The roads were again impassable so we went back to school to wait it out and put our groceries in the fridge.

Several teachers from the Indio and La Quinta area had arrived at school before Desert Hot Springs was completely cut off and were finding it impossible to make it across the freeway. Everyone regrouped back at school. They decided the safest way to continue their trek home was to caravan so that no one would be stranded. They tried all the known ways to get across the freeway, but failed. Back to school they came.

In the meantime, since we were right next door to Vons, a group decision was made that it was time for a DSMS champagne brunch. We got all the brunch ingredients and made sure that there was lots of fresh, hot coffee for the drivers. We turned this disaster into a festive occasion.

One of the teachers from Indio remembered a back way that might have potential in order to cross the freeway. They tried and while it looked promising, they weren’t able to accomplish the crossing. However, with a bit of patience and several tries, they finally were able to make it home.

Even though we lived closer, it looked pretty bleak for us. Eventually we were able to make it to the freeway (though not across) and took I-10 to Hwy 62 where we were able to also get home. This was definitely a unique DSMS memory.

Sources

Dillon, Jeff. Desert Hot Springs Tallies Initial Damage at $220,000. The Desert Sun, 20 Jan. 1993, https://www.newspapers.com/image/748992226.

“District History.” District History | Riverside County Flood Control & Water Conservation District, https://rcflood.org/About-the-District/District-History.

Gorman, Tom, and Susan Moffat. “At Least 5 Killed as Floods Sweep through Southland : Storm: Downpour Swells Rivers and Washes out Roads, Prompting Daring Rescues. Tornado Hits Orange County.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 1993, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-01-18-mn-1344-story.html.

Jones, Jennifer. “5 Largest Hailstones in the World.” Largest.org, 26 Nov. 2018, https://largest.org/nature/hailstones.

Ritter, Ken. “20 Jan 1993, 1 – Emergency Declared in Riverside County.” Newspapers.com, The Desert Sun, 20 Jan. 993AD, https://www.newspapers.com/image/748992130/?terms=%22The+Desert+Sun%22&match=1.

Warm, Luke. “The World’s Heaviest, Fastest and Most Beloved Hailstone.” The World’s Heaviest, Fastest and Most Beloved Hailstone., 20 May 2005, http://www.texasescapes.com/They-Shoe-Horses-Dont-They/Worlds-Heaviest-Fastest-Most-Beloved-Hailstone.htm.

Weather History – National Weather Service. https://www.weather.gov/media/sgx/documents/weatherhistory.pdf.

“West Reels After Series of Storms.” Newspapers.com, The Desert Sun, 20 Jan. 1993, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88400539/20-jan-1993-wed-p-2/.

“World’s Heaviest Hailstone.” World’s Heaviest Hailstone | Coffeyville, KS – Official Website, https://www.coffeyville.com/345/Hailstone.

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Wordless Wednesday 11/10/21

Posted on November 10, 2021 by Jacque
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Voting – Week 44 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Posted on November 4, 2021 by Jacque

Passionate Voting

Voters generally fall into two categories: habitual voters consistently vote in every election out of a sense of patriotic duty; others vote because they are motivated by a particular candidate or issue – their voting may be more emotional and they may believe that their vote truly makes a difference.

My father was a habitual voter. He was a lifelong democrat because he believed that this was the party of the working class. He also believed in the 1960 party platform which stated the importance of “the creation of an enduring peace in which the universal values of human dignity, truth, and justice under law are finally secured for all men everywhere on earth. If America is to work effectively for such a peace, we must first restore our national strength-military, political, economic, and moral (“1960 Democratic Party Platform”).”

My mother, on the other hand, was more of an emotional voter. The first time that this was truly an issue for her was the 1960 presidential election.

My parents in September 1960 shortly before the 1960 Presidential election

John F. Kennedy was the democratic nominee in 1960. While my mother supported the democratic party, she could not support Kennedy because he was Catholic. My mother had conflicting feelings about Catholicism. She had been raised Catholic, though since they moved frequently I’m not sure how regular their church attendance was. At this point in time, my parents had changed their church affiliation to Church of Christ.

My mother wholeheartedly agreed with this statement by Shaun Casey, “The argument was, when push came to shove, a president who was Roman Catholic would ultimately be more loyal to the Vatican because the fate of his eternal soul was at stake (Roos).” My mother believed that he would not only be the leader of our nation but would hold loyalty to the Vatican and not necessarily put the American people first.

Kennedy received much criticism on this issue and worked hard to overcome it. He appeared on live TV and gave a speech which addressed this very concern. He stated, “Contrary to common newspaper usage, I am not the Catholic candidate for president. I am the Democratic Party’s candidate for president, who happens also to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my church on public matters, and the church does not speak for me (Roos).”

Another very emotional election was the 2020 presidential election. My mother had very strong feelings against Donald Trump. By this time, my mother had several health issues and was no longer able to drive. The COVID-19 pandemic complicated matters. Since my mother was home all the time, she watched the news several hours a day and developed very forceful opinions. My mother made the effort to request an absentee ballot and checked that her driver’s license number was still valid. She did not let anything stop her from doing what she believed was right.

For many, voting is a civic duty, but ultimately my mother always voted her conscience.

References

“1960 Democratic Party Platform.” 1960 Democratic Party Platform | The American Presidency Project, The American Presidency Project, 11 July 1960, https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/1960-democratic-party-platform.

Roos, Dave. “How John F. Kennedy Overcame Anti-Catholic Bias to Win the Presidency.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 20 Nov. 2019, https://www.history.com/news/jfk-catholic-president.

Suttie Jill Suttie Jill Suttie, Jill. “The Emotions That Make You Decide to Vote.” Greater Good, Greater Good Magazine, https://www.greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/the_emotions_that_make_you_decide_to_vote.

Posted in Bernal, Genealogy, Watkins | 2 Comments

Wordless Wednesday 11/3/21

Posted on November 3, 2021 by Jacque
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Shock – Week 43 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Posted on October 28, 2021 by Jacque

Tragedy at the Avon Street Railroad Crossing

June 18, 1906

A haunting scream filled the night air. It was 3:47 a.m. We know the exact time because it was the precise moment that Peter Schmidt’s watch stopped.

No one saw the “accident.”

Charles Hilbert who lived nearby heard the scream and rushed to see what happened.

“The switch engine followed soon after the passenger had passed and Edward Webber, a switchman, found the injured man.” (“Leaps from Train” 1906)

Both Webber and Hilbert arrived quickly at the scene. “Webber held his lantern to Schmidt’s face and said, ‘It’s Pete Smith.’ “

The dying man answered, “That’s me.” (“Leaps from Train” 1906)

Peter Schmidt’s “left arm was crushed above the elbow but was not broken. His right arm was broken at the elbow and crushed above it, and the fingers of both hands are badly bruised. His left foot is crushed below the heel and there are two small cuts on the left side of his neck, while on the top of his head, on the left side, there was a cut about three inches long, and no doubt caused his death, as the skull was fractured.” Peter was just 27 when this catastrophe happened. (“Leaps from Train” 1906)

Peter Schmidt succumbed to his devastating injuries and died thirty minutes after he was discovered.

Peter was a machinist for the Burlington Railroad in Las Crosse, Wisconsin. He was well liked by both friends and colleagues.

One theory of how the accident happened was that Peter stood on the step of the train planning to drop off one block from home. “About twenty feet west of the sidewalk there is a footprint in some soft dirt which looks as though he may have stopped there when he got off and slipped. His clothes probably caught and carried him to the walk where he fell and was carried under the coaches.” (“Leaps from Train” 1906)

When the train passed the Avon Street crossing where this horrific tragedy occurred, it always proceeded at a high rate of speed. As Peter was an experienced railroad employee, his friends stated that he was too cautious to risk a jump there. Peter had never before attempted to jump off at the Avon Crossing. Several of his friends denied that jumping here was even a possibility. They claimed that Peter would never even attempt to jump off a train unless it was going very slowly or had stopped.

However, others who knew Peter stated that he had a tendency to fall asleep easily and believed that he perhaps fell asleep and missed the crossing where he normally got off. They thought that he probably didn’t want to continue on to the next stop which was farther from home so he decided to chance jumping off the train at Avon.

This tragedy unfortunately did not end here. Peter’s mother, Maria Christina Schaefer Schmidt, did not recover from Peter’s death. She was still grieving her husband’s death; Heinrich “Henry” Schmidt died in 1903. Additionally, Maria had several health issues and died in 1907 at the age of 59 due to her broken heart combined with ill health.

Peter was buried in his parent’s burial plot; he has no headstone.

References

 “Card of Thanks.” The La Crosse Tribune, 21 June 1906, p. 8.

“Floral Offering.” The La Crosse Tribune, 21 June 1906, p. 8.

Hug, Paul. “Peter Schmidt.” 22 Oct. 2021.

“Leaps From Train Is Killed By Its Wheels.” The La Crosse Tribune, 18 June 1906, p. 1.

“North Side Woman Succumbs Saturday: Death of Husband and Son Hasten End.” The La Crosse Tribune, 22 July 1907, p. 6.

Posted in Anthony, Genealogy | Tagged | 2 Comments

Wordless Wednesday 10/27/21

Posted on October 27, 2021 by Jacque

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Sports – Week 42 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Posted on October 23, 2021 by Jacque

Life as a Spectator

Full disclosure: I am not an athlete. In sixth grade, however, I was on the basketball team. In high school, my favorite PE activity was archery. In college, I took bowling for my PE credit (and I readily admit that my skills were sorely lacking, but I showed up and that’s what counted). My favorite athletic endeavor as an adult was participating for several years in the Desert Springs Middle School teachers dart league (seriously, are darts considered a sport?). This was a really fun social activity even though it got a bit competitive at times.

One of my most memorable spectator events was our trip in 2006 to the Chargers vs Chiefs game. It was the start of Christmas vacation so we were in the mood to celebrate. A group of eight of us decided to rent a limo to travel to the San Diego stadium. We were able to get amazing seats so the adventure was on. On the day of our trip, everyone met at our house for a toast. Gary made everyone shirts so we were in a festive mood.

We put on our “Bill” shirts and our limo journey began. Since we were in a limo, we had a picnic with amazing homemade food (thanks Steve) and plenty to drink. Of course, we were early so our limo driver delivered us first to the Hotel del Coronado. People surrounded our limo to see who these famous people were. Then it was off to the bar to catch the current Giants football game. We were actually approached by complete strangers who saw our milk carton shirts and sincerely offered to help us search for our missing friend (who really was missing in action at that point because he decided he’d rather drink in the limo than join us in the bar). I was impressed that complete strangers would be willing to give up their time to search and support us. Of course Gary’s response was, “Have you read the shirts?” We all got a chuckle as we again thanked everyone. This just reinforced my belief that most people really are good.

Another fun spectator event was a different Chargers game. This time, Steve and Sandy joined Gary and me as we decided to spend the weekend in San Diego and combined the Chargers vs Broncos football trip with shopping. The stadium tickets Gary found included a parking spot in the tailgating parking lot so we decided to do our unique version. Almost everyone around us were doing burgers and beer. However, we went the true California route and created a charcuterie board with quality wine. Some Broncos fans wandered over and said, “Oh, so this is how you really tailgate in California?”

Gary’s parents are huge hockey fans and steadfastly support and cheer for the Colorado Avalanche. When we moved to Vegas, the Golden Knights were the latest start-up team in the league. So a rivalry ensued.

We’ve been fortunate to join Gary’s parents in attending several Knights vs Avalanche games in both Las Vegas and Denver. Hockey fans are great; we always feel supported when we wear our Knights gear.

Other than the Golden Knights, our version of being sports spectators is that we wear the gear of the home team and adopt that team for the evening. Enjoy the video to see some of the home team highlights.

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Wordless Wednesday 10/20/21

Posted on October 20, 2021 by Jacque
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