Tag: Family Stories

Posted in Sunday Report

Out of the garden and up the Family Tree

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

I harvested the last of this year’s edibles this morning…

Before
After

I need to trim the Peace/Bird Garden, especially after this week’s storms, but we’re still inundated with droves of hummingbirds, so there’s rarely a moment to sneak out and work there. We’ve got another streak of humidity and heat this week, but forecast says we’ll cool off in time for the Equinox, as it should.

With summer chores winding down and Autumn projects still weeks away, I’ve turned back to my genealogy research, compelled by a picture of my maternal great-grandmother and grandfather. While I’ve compiled a tree for Mom’s family, I don’t have access to any records or pictures, only one, taken late in their lives. They were from Crawford County, Indiana, the home of the whitecaps, precursors of the KKK, who were active during the days my greats were younger. I’ve always been afraid that I’d find out one of my ancestors was involved with that kind of hate, and would prefer to not know. Just a perfunctory search of newspapers of the time gave me information that proved that at least one of them was Not…

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-vincennes-commercial-halleck-needs-t/205817518

Turns out there’s this article from 1889, telling the story of how the whitecaps had pulled a young “wayward” woman from her bed, tied her and her lover to a tree and whipped them with 40 lashes. I should explain that this hate group didn’t just lynch black people, they were “moral police” who did these things to anyone who broke the commandments.

After the whippings, the mob gave a warning to four other men and a woman, telling them the same thing would happen to them if they continued to “cut their capers”. Haven’t heard that phrase, but it seems a little light for a threat. The article also goes on to print an “opposing view”…

Anyway, one of those men who was warned was my great-grandpa Halleck Goodson, and another was my great-great-grandpa, North Goodson. !! I confess to a bit of relief – I had already suspected he was a scoundrel.

That incident happened a year or so before he married, so I’m looking at my great-grandmother’s story with new eyes. There’s plenty of research to be done — my favorite part of genealogy! I’ll let you know when I get that published over on Family Stories.

We’re going to take advantage of this last week of summer to float around the pool. Hope you’re staying cool in your neck of the woods.

Peace

Posted in Family Stories, Sunday Report

Weekly Wrap-up & Part 4

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

Oh, my. We Evillians are not accustomed to snow that comes to stay and this 12-inches of accumulation is intimidating as it thrives on these ridiculously low temperatures. I’ve lost all sense of what day it is and the kids have been out of school all week, so they must feel the same. I’ve ventured into the outdoors a couple of times to pick up essentials, but mostly we’ve continued clearing un-essentials from the attic. Since the trash guys couldn’t do any pick-up this week, we’re filling up the shed with weeks of throw-aways. There’s another large collection for charities waiting until we can get out and about.

With all this snow, the birdfeeders are in constant use with never less than 50 birds in the mornings and evenings.

We have to chase off the blackbirds if they start bullying, but under the current circumstances, we’ve no choice but to leave everything available to everyone. I’ve tried to get you some pictures or videos, but the sunshine causes a glare that even the smart phone can’t fix.

Inside, my plants keep me company.

I’ve got several basils growing on the kitchen countertop.

Writing is another excellent distraction from the cold and glare, and I’m keeping up. On Thursday, I published Part 4 of the Robert Horatio Story over on Family Stories blog. We’re almost to the end and I’m going to miss those folks. The final episode, Part 5, will be published this coming Thursday.

Part 4 -1898-1901

I hear we’re supposed to have some melt this week, but with lows in the 20s, that doesn’t sound so great. I still have a Lot of boxes to sort through, so it’s as good a time as any to stay home. Seems like the whole USA is under a blanket of sh***y weather and there’s no place to run. I must confess that these archives are making me feel a bit on the old side, and some recollections aren’t so rosy, but my gratitude persists.

February is Birthday Month and as soon as I dig out from under these memory boxes, we’re going to start celebrating. I do like a pre-celebration celebration, don’t you? Until then, take care of yourself!

Peace

Posted in Sunday Report

The Purge is on! & Part 3

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

Snowbound today- looks like 9 inches and still coming down. It’s a lightweight kind of precipitation that can be “easily” blown, so Casey says. He actually misses driving the plows in this kind of weather, or at least waxes nostalgic about it. Though I warn him that he’s an old man now, he will have our driveway cleared asap. Not right now, though, as it is still accumulating.

Inside, all snug and warm, is a big mess that I’ve made going through attic boxes. I’ve reduced so far from 19 boxes to 9. We’ve mostly moved out of what is technically my kids’ stuff and on to what is “our” stuff, and it should be easy to do away with.

There are some Great Stories to tell, memories that were triggered (in a good way), and I can hardly wait to get it all done and cleaned up so I can write them down.

Part 3 of The Robert Horatio Walker story moves us through those years when Robert and his kin were raising their children, years that all parents experience, but I doubt they hoarded their offspring’s mementos. I do wish they’d taken more pictures!

Part 3 – 1869-1898

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This storm is a booger, isn’t it? I’m thinking warm soup, fuzzy socks and sweat pants, work on more attic boxes. Hope you’re cozy in your neck of the woods.

Peace