Saturday, May 31, 2014

#17 - Maria Margaret Haueisen

Maria was born 19 Jul 1827 in Poppengrun, Bavaria to Frederick Haueisen and Schoefer (maiden name as listed on death certificate).  She married Henry F. Reisner circa 1847 in Poppengrun (Popengrin).  She and Henry had 10 children.

Maria died 23 Oct 1912 in West Union, Fayette County, Iowa.  Her husband preceded her in death.


Maria had at least one sister, Margaret, who was born in 1830 in Doebra, Bayern.

Friday, May 30, 2014

#16 - Grades 10 & 11

Sophomore & Junior years.  Sophomore year one of my classes was Bible as Literature.  What a great class!  A different perspective when reading the stories.  Mrs. Bluhm was a fantastic teacher.  Everybody had a different version but we had a great time learning.  Another class I had from Mrs. Bluhm was Shakespeare Literature.   We read various plays including acting out some of the scenes.  We actually did a play and put on a show at a couple of Elementary Schools (one of which was my “alma mater” – Oakview).

Science classes were the pits.  I took Chemistry and almost failed.  Why did I stick with it?  Well, my intentions were to go to a 4-year college and get a degree to become a Registered Dietitian.  I did go to a 4-year institution but majored in Accounting.

Math classes were another bug-a-boo.  I had the same teacher all four years (Mr. Sines).  Geometry was rough – I struggled with it.  The way the class was graded was not fair.  He had our names on 3x5 index cards.  They were shuffled every day and then drawn from.  If your name was drawn, you were assigned a problem from the previous day’s homework.  You had to write out your work on the blackboard and that was your grade for the assignment.  Invariably, my name was chosen for the one problem that I had difficulties with.  So, needless to say, the daily work grade was almost failing.  However, I redeemed myself on the tests that I ended up with a “C” grade in the class.  The 2nd Year Algebra classes (taken my Junior year), were better because we were back to “normal” grading of assignments.  One of the things, Mr Sines did in class was to have the TV on and showed Monty Python episodes (Geometry class only).  I hated them – guess because it was not my type of humor.

I had a foreign language class as well – Spanish.  Lots of memorization.  One of the fun things we did was to do a news broadcast completely in Spanish.  We even taped it!  I think my role was weather.  We were a very small class at that time (I think there was about 6 of us).

I had fun elective classes as well – took classes in Home Economics (because of my intended career path) and Business (as a fall back).

Driver’s Education was another class I took (Sophomore year) then I went to work after-school my Junior year at a local hospital (worked in the kitchen to get hands-on skills). 


Monday, May 26, 2014

#16 - Christian Ahrend (t) (s)

Another of my 3rd greats.  I don’t have a lot of information on Christian except that he was born circa 1798 and that he married a Maria.  I do know that there are at least 3 children, all born in Mecklenburg, Germany.

I have Chr., Maria, Dorothea, Joh., and Wilhelmina Ahrends listed on a New York Passenger list.  Indicates his occupation is farmer.  Unfortunately, I don’t know the ship but can estimate the year as Dorothea was 17 and she was born in 1836.  So that makes the immigration year to be approximately 1853.


#15 - A Special Song


I was raised listening to Country/Western Music on the local radio station – KELA-FM (now known as KMNT on the FM dial).  However, rock & disco was the rage during my teen years.  I did listen to it (rock) but have reverted back to my roots of Country Music.

The band that was all the rage during my high school years was Kid Blast.  Went to several of their concerts.  Chicago was another favorite band of mine.  I liked Neil Diamond’s song “Song Sung Blue”.

Those that I memorized and sang to included Tanya Tucker’s “What’s Your Mama’s Name, Child” and “Delta Dawn”.  I also liked Charlie Rich’s “Most Beautiful Girl” and Donna Fargo’s “Happiest Girl in the USA”.

Another favorite of mine was Bob Lumin’s “Lonely Women Make Good Lovers”.



Sunday, May 18, 2014

#15 Sarah Elizabeth Sparr (Spawr)

Sarah is my 3rd Great Grandmother.  She was born 17 Nov 1826 in Ohio.  She married Joshua Swinehart on the 8th of January 1846 in Wyandot County, Ohio.  She died 29th Aug 1895 in Noble County, Indiana.

According to Alvord’s History of Noble County, Indiana, the Swineharts moved to Noble County in October 1847.  Although the 1850 Census still has them in Ohio.

Resources to validate the above information:


I would like to find out who Sarah’s parents are and if she had any siblings.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

# 14 - Grade 9 - Love it or Hate it?

We were back at the Centralia Senior High School.  It was like our old stomping ground.  First day of school started out with an all-school assembly.  Interesting thing about school assemblies in the gym.  All the bleachers were opened up.  On one side sat the Juniors and Seniors and on the other were the Freshmen and Sophomores.  We sat in the same spot every time.  No mixing between grades.  That first assembly, they had us Freshmen stay behind.  What did we do?  Well . . .  they basically said that they expected better behavior out of us.  Guess we were too rowdy of a class.  We were also the largest (by our Senior year we had over 230 students).

I was transported to the high school by a bus (I think – for a while we had a station wagon as there were only about 4 of us).  School started at 8 am and we got out at 2:30.  Afternoon route was definitely by bus.  We were picked up at the high school then we went to Ford’s Prairie Elementary School to pick up the first thru third graders.

Grade 9 is when I started going to church again.  I attended football games with my next door neighbor and she invited me to church with her and her family.  I continued going to that church for about six years.  Loved going to the basketball games . . . Dad took me to those.  What’s funny was that we didn’t sit together.  He sat in the visitors section while I sat with friends.  I went to a few dances that were held after ballgames.  Only recall one – that was the homecoming dance that was held in the fall after a football game.  I danced with a Senior that was a hunk!  Another memorable dance was the Christmas Tolo.  I asked a classmate that I was hanging out with but he turned me down.  Then I asked another.  We ended up double-dating with his sister.  I had a beautiful red dress that my mom made.  I wonder if there is a photo still around of that time.

The classmate that I had originally asked was the first death in our group.  It was a sad time.  It was right before Thanksgiving.  Services were held the weekend afterwards. 

This was also the year that I joined Explorer Scouts involved in Search & Rescue.  My dad was one of the advisors.  What a fun group!  For a while I was the only female.  Thank you, Mike Tomasheck, for asking me to be involved.  My dad would never have thought of it.

I think that was also the year I joined Rainbow Girls.  Had a great time with them too!  I was still involved with 4-H and Girl Scouts.


#14 - Daniel Brown

Daniel Brown is my 3rd great grandfather on my mother’s side.  

Daniel was born circa 1819 in England and died 18th of September 1863.  He was married to Ann Barge.  Daniel and Ann had at least 4 children – Esther, Arabella, William & Edwin.

I have the following documentation:

1860 – page 74, Dundee, Township of Dundee, Kane County, Illinois.  Daniel is identified as a painter.  Lists entire family.

Assumptions – Since the girls were born in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey in 1850 and 1854, Daniel & Ann either met and married there or in England and immigrated at that time.  Need to locate the following information:

New Jersey State Census 1855
New Jersey Federal Census 1850
Marriage record of Daniel & Ann
Immigration record for Daniel & Ann


Sunday, May 11, 2014

#13 Broken Bones & Other Accidents

I don’t recall ever having a broken bone.  However, when I was a very little girl, I did have my arm sprained.  We were at my grandparents’ house and Dad and Papa were twirling me in the doorway.  I don’t remember much about the incident but I do remember them taking me to the local hospital (at that time, it was located in downtown Centralia).

 I’ve had several traffic accidents.  My first was in my first car – it was winter, snow on the road.  I was driving to college, when a neighbor’s dog came out at the car and I hit it (evidently not hard enough to do any injuries but enough that it wouldn’t go near the road again).  My second car, a Toyota Corolla, had a couple of accidents – one was a hit-and-run when I had the car parked at my apartment complex on the Westside of Olympia.  Another was when I was backing out of a parking spot in the garage under the building I worked at and scraped the cement pole.  (I did it again with a different post with a different car).  Now, I’m leery of parking near posts.  The Subaru was a different story.  People wanted to hit it.  I had people back-up and hit my front-end.  I’ve had people not stop and hit me in the rear-end.  I’ve had dogs run-out and damaged the car (and the dog didn’t survive either).  We replaced that car with a Nissan Altima.  That car had its moments as well . . . all seem to be snow related.  Slid into another vehicle and damaged the front end; hit black ice and did a 180 into the ditch (this was the final moment for the car).  Actually, the car survived the accident – it was the vandalism that occurred afterwards that killed the car.  Although, we have kept it for a back-up car for my husband to drive.  I’ve had a learner (just got his permit) hit me head-on as well.

I had a sprained arm from an accident when the pick-up truck my husband was driving also hit black-ice and went into the ditch head-on.  That was a bummer because I was scheduled to bowl in a local tournament the next weekend.  Had to reschedule it.  It also made it difficult to do things at work.


Monday, May 5, 2014

#13 – George Young

George is my 3rd great grandfather.  He was born 25th Dec 1820 in France.  He married Barbara Klein and they had 12 children all born in Indiana.

I have the following records:

1860 – Crown Point, Hanover Township, Lake County, Indiana lists George as a Farmer.

1870 – Brunswick, Hanover Township, Lake County, Indiana lists George as a Farmer and cannot write.  Does not list daughter, Clara, who should be 6 years old.

1880 – Crown Point, Lake County, Indiana lists George as a farmer and his parents born in France.  Lists only two daughters, Lena & Katie.

1846 – US Circuit, Crown Pt, Indiana Naturalization Index shows date of arrival in US as Aug 1836 and date of Naturalization as 2 Sept 1846.  Vol B P-123.

There are queries indicating that George died in 1899 in Crown Point, Indiana.


Sunday, May 4, 2014

#12 - Gardening


As I was growing up, we had a very large vegetable garden.  I can remember spending lots of summers weeding and harvesting.  Some of the vegetables were lettuce, carrots, chard, onions, corn, potatoes, squash, cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes, broccoli and cauliflower.

We also had flower beds – carnations, dahlias, pansies, sweet peas, and marigolds to name a few.  Some of these were also planted in the vegetable garden.

Our farm had a couple of old orchards – one had several apple trees and another had pear trees.  We also had cherry trees and Italian prunes.  Oh, there was some hazelnut trees on the property as well.  And lots of blackberries and huckleberries.

My grandfather (we called him Papa) also had a large vegetable garden that contained rhubarb, raspberries, and strawberries.  We also had these on our farm. 

We also had indoor plants like Christmas cactus and an Elephant Ear plant (I don’t know if that was it’s real name but that is what we called it).

When I left home, I had several indoor plants – philodendron, praying mantis, Zygo Cactus (Christmas Cactus), and another cactus plant.  They all died when I moved into a home in Tumwater.  They were put in a room that had lots of light but we forgot about watering them.  Not only my plants but my husband’s as well.

My husband & I had a vegetable garden for a few years – we grew tomatoes, carrots, beans, peas, corn, zucchini, pumpkin, potatoes, lettuce, and some flowers.  With working full time, I just didn't have the time to weed it in the evenings.  We also had strawberry plants and rhubarb.  All we have now are a couple of apple trees and a cherry tree.  I also had a flower bed but that has long since been grown over by grass.  Again, because there wasn't the time to weed it.

One of these days I will plant perennials along the road that I don’t have to worry about (by that, I mean wildflowers).  We do have some volunteer daffodils and wild bluebells.