Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Family Milestones: December 1st

My maternal 4th-great granduncle, Henry WARDLAW, married on this date in 1836 in Brown County, Ohio to Mary L. PURDUM.  Henry was the son of Samuel and Elizabeth (NESBIT) WARDLAW, and the older brother of my Anna.  Henry was born May 12, 1812 in Brown County, Ohio.  Mary was born circa 1817 in Ohio.  They lived out their lives in Brown County, Ohio, where Henry was a farmer.  Henry died April 1, 1886 in Brown County, Ohio.  They had a family of 7 children.

My paternal 6th-great grandaunt, Susannah CHEW, married on this date in 1756 to Savil WILSON.  Susannah was the daughter of Jeffrey and Amy (DRIVER) CHEW, and the older sister of my Jesse CHEW.  Susannah was born in 1735 in Gloucester County, New Jersey.  She died in 1789, probably in Gloucester County.  Nothing further is known at this time.

My paternal 4th-great grandaunt, Judith PHILBRICK, was born on this date in 1788.  Judith was the daughter of Deacon John and Sally (JEWETT) PHILBRICK, and the younger sister of my Joel PHILBRICK.  Judith died in October 1782.  Nothing further is known at this time.

My maternal 3rd-great grandaunt, Sarah Wilson LAMBERTSON, was born on this date in 1835 in Warren County, New Jersey.  Sarah was the daughter of John and Sarah A. (WILSON) LAMBERTSON, and the older sister of my Carey W. LAMBERTSON.  Sarah married on February 22, 1855 in Butler County, Ohio to John W. LYST.  John was born February 14, 1831 in Fayette County, Ohio, the son of John W. and Nancy Agnes (________) LYST.  They moved their family to Madison County, Indiana and had 10 children.  Sarah died in 1881 in Madison County, Indiana and is buried in the Elwood City Cemetery, Elwood, Indiana.

My maternal grandfather, William Lee WRIGHT, was born on this date in 1919 in Alexandria, Madison County, Indiana.  William was the son of Virgil Lee and Edna Muriel (PIERCE) WRIGHT.  William married on June 7, 1941 in Madison County, Indiana to Bonnie Mae LAMBERTSON, the daughter of Clemon Beals and June Kirk (DAVIS) LAMBERTSON.  Bonnie was born February 18, 1924 in Elwood, Madison County, Indiana.  William died July 9, 1973 in Anderson, Madison County, Indiana.

Tombstone Tuesday: John William and Ellen (King) Wright


My maternal 2nd-great grandparents, John William and Ellen (KING) WRIGHT, are buried in the I.O.O.F. cemetery in Alexandria, Madison County, Indiana.

John William was born February 21, 1860 in Brown County, Ohio, the son of Joseph W. and Rebecca (HEATON) WRIGHT.

Ellen was born August 24, 1888 in Frankton, Madison County, Indiana, the daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth (SHAW) KING.

John and Ellen were married on May 13, 1888 in Madison County, Indiana. They lived out their lives on the family farm in Monroe Township, Madison County, Indiana.

Children of John and Ellen (KING) WRIGHT were:
  • unnamed WRIGHT; the 1900 census lists Ellen as the mother of 3 children with 2 living
  • Virgil Lee WRIGHT (1894-1972); married Edna Muriel PIERCE; 3 children
  • Chester Arthur "Mike" WRIGHT (1896-1955); married Erma Violet HAYES: 1 child
  • unnamed WRIGHT; the 1910 census lists Ellen as the mother of 4 children with 3 living

Advent Calendar - December 1 - Christmas Tree

Growing up, our family usually had an artificial Christmas tree, although I do remember the time when we tried to have a live tree.  I believe that the mess and the cleanup it caused was the reason that we were back to an artificial tree the next year.

As an adult, in my family we've always had the artificial tree at Christmas.  Starting out in my married life, I even used a tree or two that was 'recycled', ie. it had belonged to my grandparents or parents.  Talk about a tree that had seen a better day.  Those trees looked a bit like the old Charlie Brown tree by the time I was done with them.

Traditionally, we would put up our Christmas tree after Thanksgiving, though not necessarily right after the turkey was put away.  Mother's birthday was in early December, and as I recall, the times the tree went up seemed to be closely tied to her birthday.

My brother, sister and I would help mom and dad put up the tree and decorations, and that is a tradition that continues at our house today.  Somehow it seems better to make the tree decorating a family project.


Christmas Tree, 2003 model