#52Ancestors - So Far Away

This week I'm going to talk a little about one of my descendants for a change.

My older daughter Donna was married to Micah Simonson.  He was in the US Navy and was stationed in Guam from 2010 to 2013.  If you don't know where Guam is, it is in the middle of the western Pacific Ocean - four hours by plane from the nearest continent of Asia. 

One of Guam's sayings is "Where America's Day Begins" because it is the first US Territory west of the International Dateline.  It is 15 hours ahead of Central Time which meant we had to plan our skype times carefully.

View from the Naval Base in Guam - Donna Simonson, Kimberly Nagy, Amanda Nagy

My younger daughter Amanda and I visited Donna and Micah in December 2011.  While there, we toured the island and learned a lot about Chamorro culture.  Guam was invaded by the Japanese early in World War 2 and there are a lot of battle sites and museums there.  There is still a large Naval Base and Air Force base on the island to help protect our interests in the Pacific.

Guam is a tropical island - average temperature is 87 every day of the year, and it always seems to rain in the afternoon.  It felt similar to Hawaii - the beach is just a few minutes away.  In fact, just as we tend to view Hawaii as a honeymoon destination, Guam is the honeymoon destination for couples from China, Korea and Japan.

I was glad to have the opportunity to visit this tiny island on the other side of the world.

Wisdom Wednesday - Attending #SLIGAcademy

To continue with my pursuit of genealogical learning, I decided to attend SLIG Academy this year.
SLIG is the Salt Lake Institute for Genealogy and is celebrating their 25th year of providing intensive one-week courses.  SLIG Academy is a second week devoted to professional genealogists.

The course I signed up for is "You're Invited: Public Speaking From Concept to Delivery" coordinated by D. Joshua Taylor.  Having heard him speak several times previously, as well as taking a course from him at GRIPitt last year, I knew it would be a great course.

The week opened with a welcome breakfast for attendees in all seven of the Academy Courses.  The entertainment at breakfast was provided by members of the Debra Bonner Unity Gospel Choir.

They provided a rousing start to the week along with celebrating the life of Martin Luther King Jr. on his holiday.  Everyone was moving and clapping along.

Then the coursework started.  Day one consisted of lectures on topic development, marketing, publicity and responding to call for proposals.  And homework....

On Tuesday we discussed preparing syllabi, negotiating contracts, and all aspects of copyright consideration.  Then there was a reception at the nearby Ancestry Progenealogists Office.

Today, we will learn about tailoring our presentations to different audiences, as well as different types of speaking engagements.

We will have opportunities to give a talk to the class - one with slides, and one without.

Later this week, we will work on building presentations and how to survive the inevitable disaster.

#52Ancestors - Favorite Photo

I've been very lazy about blogging lately.  I'm hoping that Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestor challenge will help get me motivated again.

This week's prompt is "Favorite Photo"  - this was hard to choose but I picked a darling photo of 3 children and a goat.

This was taken in 1924 in Toledo, Ohio.  Apparently there was someone who traveled around with a goat and a cart posing for photos.  My grandmother saw the opportunity and posed her three oldest children (the others weren't born yet) with the goat.

Pictured are the three oldest children of  Jessie Marie Hill Ormsby Kern, born 8 October 1895, died 20 March 1963.

She married Harold Basil Ormsby (26 April 1895 - 4 April 1919) in 1916.

After he died, she married James Harold Kern (19 March 1884 - 23 Jan 1944) in 1923.

Pictured are (left to right) -

Wilma Jane Kern, (9 October 1923 - 19 January 2000).

Donald Edward Ormsby, (30 December 1918 - 2 July 1988).

Charles Victor Ormsby, (1 April 1917 - 16 September 1996)

Society Saturday - Honoring our Military

The National Society Daughters of Founders and Patriots is pleased to be able to present awards to our military trainees.

We offer medals to local JROTC and ROTC programs which are presented around the country by individual chapters.

In addition, we present awards to the military academies.  I had the opportunity to present two of these in person this year.

First, was the award at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.  I was the invited guest at the Color Parade.  It was wonderful to see all the Midshipmen march by.  This was followed by lunch and the actual award ceremony.  DFPA awards a sword to the Midshipman that Excels in Knowledge of Naval Tactics.  This year's awardee was Midshipman Yash Khatavkar.  He plans to attend Stanford for graduate studies and go on to become a navy pilot.  He also received an award from the USAA for Community Service.

Midshipman Yash Khatavkar, NSDFPA National President Kimberly Nagy, Presenter from USAA

The following week, I traveled to Colorado Springs, Colorado to present an award to the Air Force Academy.  First, we toured the academy grounds where I saw the beautiful chapel and the visitors center.  We also watched the Thunderbirds practice their flyover for the actual commencement ceremony later that week.  We award an eagle and eaglet statue to the Cadet who Excels in all aspects of Political Science.  Our awardee was Cadet Lucas Beissner who also plans to attend Stanford.

NSDFPA National President Kimberly Nagy, Cadet Lucas Beissner, Colonel Cheryl Kearney

DFPA also presents awards at the Coast Guard Academy, West Point, and the Merchant Marine Academy, but I was unable to attend those this year.

www.nationalsocietydfpa.com

Society Saturday - Wreath Laying for Jennie Hodgers/Albert Cashier

The Jennie Hodgers Tent (chapter) of the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War conducted a wreath laying ceremony to honor our namesake - a unique individual who served her country.

Albert D.J. Cashier in November 1864 - from wikipedia.com

Jennie Irene Hodgers was born in December 1843 in Clogherhead, Ireland.  She emigrated to the United States when she was young but very little is known about her early life.  When the Civil War broke out, she took on the identity of Albert D. J. Cashier and mustered into Company G of the 95th Illinois Infantry on September 7, 1862.  Albert and his unit fought in approximately 40 battles.  He was captured at Vicksburg but managed to escape.  He mustered out on August 17, 1865.

There were over 400 documented cases of women who disguised themselves as men in order to help the Union cause.  The reasons are varied - some felt a patriotic duty, some wanted the adventure, some wanted the $13/month pay (twice what a woman could make).  Because the enlistment physical examination was often cursory or even non-existent, it was fairly easy for the recruit to simply cut her hair, put on a pair of slacks, and talk with a deeper voice.  These women fought bravely alongside their male counterparts, then returned to their former lives as women after the war.

Jennie/Albert was different, though.  He continued to live as a man for the rest of his life.  Albert moved to Belvidere, IL, then to Saunemin, IL where he did odd jobs such as a farmhand, janitor, and lamplighter.  He retired to the Soldier and Sailor home in 1911 but was moved to the Watertown State Hospital when his mind deteriorated in 1913.  There, an attendant discovered his biologic gender while giving him a bath.

When word leaked out that a veteran was actually a woman, the US Government charged him with fraud in order to collect a pension.  Fellow soldiers from the 95th rallied to his defense and testified that Albert was indeed their former comrade and he was allowed to continue receiving his pension.

Albert Cashier died on 11 October 1915.  He was buried in his uniform with full military honors.

The wreath laying ceremony was held in the Sunny Slope Cemetery in Saunemin, IL. 

Taps are played by Master Chief Mary Arvidson USN(Ret)

It concluded with the playing of taps.

www.duvcw.org

Society Saturday - Visiting the Order

As National President of the Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America, I was invited to attend the banquet of our male counterpart, the Order of Founders and Patriots of America.

Virgina DFPA President Wanda Russo, OFPA Governor General Richard Wright, DFPA National President Kimberly Nagy

Both groups have similar membership requirements requiring an unbroken male line to a colonial founder of our country with a Revolutionary War patriot along the line.

Their annual meeting was in Richmond, Virginia.  I took advantage of the location and arrived early to spend a few days at the Library of Virginia to work on a couple of brick walls.

The banquet was at the Omni Hotel in downtown Richmond.  The evening started with a parade of flags representing all the state chapters of OFPA.

Color Guard in Uniform

Following dinner, there was an awards presentation, and of course, opportunities for photos.

The ladies at the dinner - mostly wives plus 2 DFPA members

Representatives of Virginia and National OFPA and DFPA

www.founderspatriots.org

www.nationalsocietydfpa.com

The Governor General of the Order and I are attempting to increase collaboration between our organizations and we are looking forward to future opportunites for joint ventures.

#52 Ancestors - Bachelor Uncle

Lyman Hill was my great-great-Uncle.  He was the brother to Great-Grandfather C.T. Hill.  He never married, and I don't know a lot about him.

Lyman was born on 25 August 1871 in Clark Co, IL.  He was the third son of William Dennis and Sarah Ellen (Forester) Hill.  His older brothers were Harry Oliver Hill, born 1867 and Charles Taylor Hill, born 1869.  He also had a younger sister, Maude, born in 1880.

Lyman can be found living with his parents in 1880 and 1900 in Clark County.  In 1880 they were in rural Johnson township but had moved to the town of Casey by 1900.  We lose track of Lyman after that - until 1913, the Marshall Herald  runs this on November 19 -

So, we're not sure where he has been for 10 years, but family lore states that he was off to seek his fortune - perhaps in the Alaskan gold rush.

At some point around 1917, he was down in Rush, Arkansas with his brother C.T. working at the Red Cloud mine.

I was able to find a couple of newspaper notices about him trading land lots to his sister Maude (now married to William Kimlin) in 1926.  This would most likely be a result of their inheritance from their father William D Hill who died in 1925.  The two older brothers had already died.

Lyman again appears in 1940 where he is living with his sister, her husband and their daughter Doris in Casey.  The census notes that he had been living at the same house - 108 Adams St - in 1935 as well.  Of note, this is the house that William D. Hill owned when he died.  I have been unable to find Lyman in the 1910, 1920 or 1930 census.

The last mention of Lyman in the newspaper is in April 1954 when he quit claims a deed to his sister for land in Johnson Township - the rural land owned by their late father.

Lyman died on 24 May 1954 and lies buried in Slusser cemetery, Johnson township, Clark County, IL near his parents, brother Harry, and 3 of his grandparents.