2023 #2 Favorite Photo

2023 #2 Favorite Photo

A picture of pioneers

The picture of Albert Gallatin Lloyd and Lois H. Jasper is one of my favorites.  The background is perfect  for this couple.  Albert came west via the Oregon Trail in 1845 when he was 8 years old.  Lois traveled came across the Oregon Trail in 1854 when she was 12 years old.   They are my great great grandparents.

They married in 1858 when Albert Gallatin (A.G.)  was 21 and Lois, was 16 in Benton County, Oregon.  Their first son, John Calvin was born the next year.  Soon after his birth, they moved to Waitsburg, Walla Walla County, Washington and took up a homestead.  

A. G. & Lois were successful farmers in Waitsburg, Washington.  They were the parents of 11 children, with twins dying near birth.  The family had a long history in Walla Walla County and were among the first settlers in that area.  

A. G. died in 1915 and Lois died in 1930.  They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in May of 1908.

I wonder if this picture was taken in 1908

I think the setting for the picture is very unique.   I don't believe I have seen anything similar.  Notice the ground cover!  

Because it is a favorite picture, I used MyHeritage colorization effect.  

It is definitely a favorite photo!

What do you think?

 

2022 Foundations

The foundation of my love of history began with my mother’s love of history.  Although I didn’t realize it at the time how much I would grow to love family history;  I did listen to her stories.  I have always liked history & regret that I didn’t major in history in college.  I grew up in Beaverhead county, Montana where we lived among history,  Living close to Bannack, Big Hole Battlefield, Virginia City as well Lewis & Clark’s route through Montana, we were immersed in history.

Our family visited Mom’s hometown of Waitsburg, Washington often on Memorial Day weekend.  While Mom & her mother decorated family graves, my sister & I tagged along as we waked through 2 cemeteries.  Of course Mom told us what she knew about each ancestor.  Another time I should have listened more! And written the information down!

Genealogy was also mother’s other passion.  I knew she was collecting information but had no idea the extent of the collection until I brought it home when her health declined.  It took 12 hours to sort the box of files and pictures into the manila folders that I created.  Her collection was pre-computer age, so I realized I had to learn genealogy software & computers.  I estimate I brought her collection to my house in 1995 about 26 years ago. 

Lois Heath 1787-1878

Lois is my third great aunt, a sister of my third great grandmother.

The handwriting is my mother's.

Mom's collection was started by her great aunt on her paternal side.  Her Aunt Gilla collected information from her father & mother, Albert Gallatin Lloyd and Lois Jasper Lloyd.  Albert crossed the plains to Oregon in 1845 while Lois crossed in 1854.  

Gilla Lloyd

Gilla Lloyd researching in Tennessee at her grandfather's grave on

 17 October 1927

My mom added to the Lloyd Family collection with newspaper articles, funeral cards and pictures.  She even collected quilts made by ancestors.   She was born in 1924 and her first scrapbook was created in the 1930’s.  During Mom’s life she created scrapbooks, one is of her first year of college.  She also created scrapbooks for my sister as well as for me.

I would be the 5th generation to have the collection and add to it.  Although much of the information has not been documented, I attempt to find the source for the facts.  So far, I’ve only found 1 mistake in Aunt Gilla’s collection.  

 My Grandfather (my Dad's father) lived to be 103.  He also had a love of family history and wrote stories of his life, labeled pictures as well as inheriting the Family Bible, which has information pre-1850.  And yes, I inherited more family history pictures and stories.

My dad with the Shaffner Family Bible

I began collecting information on my husband's family when we married nearly 50 years ago.  His paternal line did not have much information since they were Germans from Russia.  Beginning with collecting obituaries, death certificates and marriage certificates, I tried to connect Gabel families.  It was worth it when I was able to connect his family to census records and families in Frank, Russia.   

Will the collection ever be complete?  At this point in life I wonder who will be the 6th generation to continue the family history?

#10-2020 Strong Women. The Heath Sisters

#10-2020 Strong Women.  The Heath Sisters

I have always admired the story of Mary Heath and her sister Lois.  

They were the daughters of William Heath (a Revolutionary War veteran) and Polly Heath.

Lois Heath was born 1787 in Pendleton County, South Carolina.  

Lois never married

Mary “Polly” Heath (my 3rd great grandmother) was born on 14 October 1807 in Somerset, Pulaski, Kentucky.    

The birth dates are from family information, not confirmed yet.  

 Mary was married to John McHenry Jasper on 27 March 1828 in Somerset, Pulaski, Kentucky.   Seven children (Elizabeth, Andrew, Nancy, William, Thomas, Gilead and Lois) were born to Mary & John in Kentucky before they followed the trail to Missouri in 1841.  Lois Heath Jasper (who was named for her aunt)  born in 1841, was a baby when they journeyed to Missouri.  Another daughter, Minerva was born in 1844 in Missouri. 

Family story indicates that Lois joined the Jasper family after her father had died in 1829.

Tragedy struck the family when John Jasper died in 1845 near Whiteville, Missouri.  Mary was left with  8 children, the oldest, Elizabeth was 16.  In 1848, two daughters, Elizabeth and Nancy (age 16) married on the same day in December.  

In the 1850 (4 November 1850) Census, Mary was living in Tremont Township, Buchanan County, Missouri.  Mary was the head of the household at age 39 but she can not read or write.  The children living in the house were Andrew (19), William (16), Thomas (14), Gillard (11), Lois (8) and Minerva (6).  I have yet to locate her sister Lois in 1850 census.

In 1851 Mary's oldest son, Andrew as well as his sister Elizabeth Jasper Ownby & her family crossed the plains to Oregon.   Another daughter, Nancy Jasper Langston, losing her husband on the trip, crossed the plains in 1852.  Andrew came back to Missouri and escorted his mother Mary, her old maid sister Lois, and his siblings to Oregon in 1854.  The wagon load consisted of  Andrew, William, Thomas, Gilead, Lois and Minerva along with Polly and Lois Heath.  

Mary carried this tin of scrap material and notes in her pocket across the plains.

The family story is that after enduring many hardships and privations, much of the stock having died; when they reached Green River, Wyoming; the family stayed there while an older son went on to obtain food and supplies.  These he got from other members of the party who had gone in advance of the train to locate a home for the family.  The Jasper family crossed with an ox team, but not all of the family was able to ride at one time.  Gilead Ann walked the major part of the trip and carried a small baby part of the way.  Gilead would have been 15 and Minerva, the youngest would have been 10.   (I am not sure what baby she carried.) Lois, my Great Great grandmother was 13 years old.  The family settled in Benton County, Oregon where Mary’s daughters lived.

With children to support and feed, Mary often was a housekeeper or operated a boarding house.  

In the 1860 Census, Mary is living in the Butte Precinct of Benton County, Oregon.  The children living with her were Andrew, William, Thomas and Minivera.  The other daughters, Lois and Gillard (Gilla) had married.  Lois Heath is living with her niece’s family, Elizabeth and Jesse Owenby in the Lloyd Precinct of Benton County, Oregon.  

About 1864 Mary & Lois moved to Waitsburg, Washington where Mary’s daughter, Lois Jasper Lloyd and her husband A. G. Lloyd lived.  

In the 1870 census, the sisters were living with Mary’s son, Andrew Jasper in Waitsburg, Washington.  Lois was 84 years old. And Mary was 68 years old.  

Both sisters are buried in Waitsburg at the City Cemetery.  Mary died in 1876 at the age of 69 and Lois died in 1878 at the age of 90.  

The sisters had traveled from one coast to another—Lois from South Carolina to Oregon, while Mary traveled from Kentucky to Oregon—mostly by oxen team.  I can’t imagine the hard life that these women endured throughout their life.  But they survived.  The hard work these women did is the reason that their descendants were successful.  They did not know the word "quit".