1930's Poor Man's Sandwich

 I recently read on the internet sandwiches that helped people get through the depression. Two of them my mother, Millicent Wiedrich Moore spoke about. She would talk about the really poor kids in her one room schoolhouse would bring black bread and lard sandwiches. If you're hungry, you'll eat anything but though sandwiches gag me. My mom spoke about sandwiches she would take - onion sandwiches. That sounds bad to me. This was in Genesee County NY which grew a lot of onions. She liked those sandwiches.

#Depression food, #lard sandwiches, #onion sandwiches, #Genesee County, NY

A Rose By Any Other Name

 

I’ve been thinking about the nicknames I’ve used for people in my family. In my adult life I always called my mother “mom”. I’m sure when I was little, I called her “mommy”. My brother still sometimes refers to her as mommy. I called my brother “Terry” but when we were little, he was “bubba”. I was “sissy” to my mom and dad. My brother and cousin called me “Ardie” or “RD”. That was because my brother couldn’t say Arlene. My own sons called me mommy when little but as adults one calls me “Mother” and the other a short sweet “MaMa”. My father’s sister, who was 21 years older than him was like a grandmother to me. Since she was not my actual grandmother I called her “Nannie”. This complicated what I call my actual grandmother, my mother’s mother. All of my cousins called her Nannie but that was confusing for me so I caller her Grandmom. One of cousins, whose name was John Edward was called “Skipper”. I even have to think what his real name was because no one used it. Another cousin, whose name is Leo is called “Buster” because that’s what he did when he was a child. Now it’s hard to remember to call him Leo when in the company of non family. My granddaughters are Zabrina and Dezaree but are called “Bean” and “Dezi”. My mother-in-law called my step son Billy: “Duke”. I’m sure there are others I’m not remembering.

#nicknames, #family nicknames

Elizabeth McLaughlin Baker

 

This is the story of your great grandmother, Elizabeth M. McLaughlin Baker. She was born in January 1886 in Delaware. It may have been in Wilmington as this was where her father was born but it’s not known for sure.  Her parents were William James and Mary Elizabeth (McFadden) McLaughlin. No surprise there since William seems to be the most common name in your dad’s family tree. Her siblings were Leo, Mary, Francis, Julie, Virginia, Regina, William and Cecilia. All were born in Pennsylvania except Virginia who was born in Delaware.

The Northeast US was starting to boom when she was born, the population

was increasing and the NE saw many factories being built. Electric lights were starting to be used. National railroads were starting to cross the country as most railroad companies adopted a standard. Coca Cola was invented that year as medicine (it had cocaine in the formulas at that time). Grover Cleveland became the first and only US President to get married in the White House. A large earthquake struck Charleston, South Carolina. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated that year.

According to the 1900 US Census Elizabeth was attending school. She was 14 at the time so her family must have valued education since many children quit school to work before that age. In that year the family lived at 4 Falls Place in Philadelphia. Except for Regina all the other children were living at home. It’s not known what happened to her although the census says that Mary gave birth to 11 children and only nine were living. Elizabeth’s father, William, was a barber.  The 1900 Census also says that both of Elizabeth’s grandparents were born in Ireland.

Elizabeth married William W. Pullen in Philadelphia on 2 August 1904 when she was 18 years old. Of course she married a man named William. She had children named William, born in 1906 and Bertha born in 1909. Her son John W. Pullen was born in 1911 and Catherine in 1914. It’s possible that Elizabeth and William were living in New York as both John and Bertha were born in New York. William died in infancy and Bertha may have died before 1915 as she is not listed in the NJ Census that year. Sometime between 1914 and 1915 her husband William died.

Life would have been difficult after William’s death. A single woman raising two young children would have been a challenge. Poverty was widespread at this time. War broke out in Europe in 1914. Wealthy people vacationed in Europe. Some were aboard the Titanic when it sank in 1912.

But Elizabeth then met William Walter Baker, and they were married in 1915. In the 1915 NJ Census the couple were living at 1114 Cooper St. in Camden, NJ. Elizabeth was 28. Living with them in the house were John 4yrs-old and Catherine 1. The house may have been an apartments since another couple, George and Emma Sisson and their daughter, Dorothy are listed as living at that address.  Then on May 25, 1916, shortly after 5PM their son, William, was born in Philadelphia at 2137 N. College Ave. in Philadelphia, PA at the residence of a doctor. Life in 1915 Camden, NJ, was defined by booming industry (New York Ship, RCA Victor, Campbell Soup), massive immigrant influx (Italians, Eastern Europeans), rapid growth, and distinct ethnic neighborhoods, all centered around factory jobs, but also facing segregation and the growing urban challenges of a rapidly growing industrial city, with communities building social structures like churches and schools among the industrial landscape near Philly. These groups formed ethnic neighborhoods (Italian in Bergen Lanning, Polish around St. Joseph's), centered around their own churches, synagogues, and social clubs. The growth fueled new residential areas like Parkside, which grew with the trolley lines, offering new amenities like indoor plumbing. William was working as a varnisher and Elzabeth was keeping house.

Five years later the family was living at 1133 Penn St. in Camden. Joining the other children was their son Leo age 2. William is working as an “erector” in a shipyard as reported in the 1920 US Census. The shipyard may have been the New York Shipyard in South Camden although there was another one in Camden at that time.

Many things happened in Camden during the 1920s. It was a major city in NJ at that time. The slogan "On Camden's supplies, the world relies" reflected on the manufacturing occurring in Camden at that time. The Delaware River Bridge (later renamed the Benjamin Franklin Bridge) was under construction. Its completion in 1926, linking Camden to Philadelphia, symbolized unlimited potential, envisioned to make Camden a "second Brooklyn," according to the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. (Joe Baker later told us about shoveling snow on this bridge a few years later. He also said he would show up in the morning, then disappear only to show back up to collect pay.) Improved trolley lines connected Camden to South Jersey, facilitating movement within the growing city. (Arlene’s grandfather Charles Moore was an engineer constructing some of the trolly bridges going south from Camden). The city was also home to Walt Whitman (who lived across from the current Camden County jail) in his final years, where he wrote about its vigorous growth. 

The family was still living in Camden in 1930 but now at 1019 Cooper St. The only children listed in the home in the Census were John, Catherine and William. I don’t know where sons Leo, Thomas (later taking the name Chris) and Joseph were living, all of whom were younger than 14-year-old William. Catherine and William were attending school. William Sr. was a “ground man” at an electric company. This census confirmed that he was never in the military.  John was working in the printing industry. The fact that both William Sr. and John were working was significant since this was the beginning of the Great Depression and were able to provide for their families.

In the year before the start of WWII the family now lives at 2308 Carman St., in Camden. The 1940 US Census reports that the highest grade Elizabeth completed was 8^th, better than most people her age. She is now 54-yrs-old, William is 53, William Jr. is 23, Leo 22, Thomas (Chris) 19 and Joseph 18. I’m sure she had hopes for her children to gain higher education than she and two did. William Jr. and Leo completed 11^th grade. Thomas (Chris) and Joseph stopped after 8^th grade. William Jr., Leo and Joseph are all unemployed seeking work. William Sr. is a lineman with Public Service and Thomas (Chris) works in a printing factory. WWII will soon draw in the USA and some of her sons will go into the service.

After WWII Camden was an industrial giant, a center for industry, shopping and vibrant neighborhoods like Cramer Hill. Life gathered around Catholic parishes. By the end of the 1950s Camden would see a decline in all of these areas.

In 1950 the family is a blended unit. According to the 1950 US Census William Jr., his wife Miriam and children William age 8 and daughter Miriam 4 live with Elizabeth and William Sr. They still live in the Carman St. house. William Sr. is a ground man in a transportation company (probably Public Service). Miriam is an operator in a leather factory. William Jr. is out of work but previously worked as a carpenter in construction. Other information in the census revealed that William Sr. attended 8^th grade but did not finish that grade. He earned $2600 in 1949, and Miriam earned $900 in 1949.

Elizabeth died in January 1954 at the age of 67 in Camden, NJ and was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Cherry Hill, NJ.

I wish I could share personal memories of Elizabeth, but I don’t remember any that your father told me. He said one of his grandmothers made good pies. I think it may have been Elizabeth. Also, he said his grandmother had her hands full with very active sons.

  

 

 Elizabeth Baker and Edith Baker (her daughter-in-law

Elizabeth McLaughlin Bak                                                                                                                                                                                                       Elizabeth McLaughlin Baker and granddaughter Miriam Baker

    

 

 

 

1113 Penn St. Camden today                                  1019 Cooper St., Camden today

 

2308 Carman St., Camden today

#Elizabeth McLaughlin, #Elizabeth McLaughlin Baker, #Elizabeth Baker, #Camden, NJ

 

 

Polio

Today we never think about polio. Thanks to vaccinations we do not have to think about it. But when I was a young child people needed to think of it. We didn’t have those vaccinations yet. They began in 1955. My mom would tell me not to play in puddles because she was afraid I would get polio. I don’t know if you could get polio playing in puddles but it reflects the fear my mother and others had about polio. You could see pictures of people, especially children, in iron lungs. How frightening it was to think if you contracted polio you might have to spend your life trapped in one of those horrendous contraptions. When I was older, I learned why my mother was so afraid. Her sister Connie had polio as a child. Fortunately, Connie had spent the summer swimming in the creek at the back of their property and her muscles were well toned. The doctor said that was why her leg was only minimally affected. It would be wonderful if polio could be eradicated like smallpox but many people in third world countries do not get vaccinated. Now we are experiencing a decline in many types of vaccinations here in the United States. I hope that once again mothers will not have to tell their children not to play in puddles.

#Polio, #Vacinations, #Connie Wiedrich

My Female Ancestors

Remembering my mom, Millicent (Midge) Moore. God blessed me with a great mother. It got me thinking of the women I descended from. I like doing genealogy and discovering those women. Going back 200 years every one of them except for one was widowed but they carried on. They were strong and survivors.

Earl Moore Orphaned at 6-yrs-old

 Was thinking of my dad, Earl Moore. This is a picture of him at 6 when in an 18 month period his father, mother and oldest brother died. He then went to the PA Masonic Children's Home in Elizabethtown PA.

Are We There Yet

Are We There Yet

Traveling with children is a challenge. I don’t remember too much about me as a child going on vacation, just a few snatches here and there.

Every year we went to Batavia, New York to visit family. We went by car and many of those trips were before interstate highways. It would take all day to travel from Gloucester City, NJ to Batavia. My brother and I must have had some entertainment. For me it was probably books or coloring books and crayons. I remember that all radio stations were country/western. We would always stop for a picnic lunch about halfway on a not busy road. I remember sometimes it was next to railroad tracks and sometimes a stream. We would have sandwiches, if made at home - cheese (mom didn’t want us getting food poisoning). There must have been coolers, I just don’t remember. If we made sandwiches at the rest stop it was canned meat – spam or deviled ham. Of course we had to have baked beans, cold right from the can. This was mom’s favorite and the first word she spoke as a baby – even before mama or dada. I don’t think I’ve had cold baked beans since for no particular reason. We would be excited for progress when we passed Painted Post and knew we were close when we reached Geneseo.

About every two years or so we went to Tampa, FL to visit my grandparents if they hadn’t been to see us in a couple of years. Today people routinely go to Florida but in the 50s and 60s rarely. It took Disney World to make Florida a destination for those of us in the northeast. I don’t remember driving to Florida that often back then. There was no I95 so small roads through towns for a 3 day trip. One time during a winter trip my brother was a baby, and he came down with chickenpox and the doctor said no problem going but keep him warm. My mom kept him in a snowsuit during the day and a different one at night while the daytime one aired out.  By the time we got to Tampa he was covered with pox from head to toe. Usually, it was a trip by train or bus with my mom. Dad used his vacation week to go to Batavia with us. Once when I had cereal for breakfast on the train it was awful – they put cream on the cereal. Another time at one of the stops it was pouring rain, and a boy came on selling peanuts. We bought a bag and didn’t think anything of the bag being wet since it was heavy rain. To our surprise they were boiled peanuts, something I never had and haven’t missed since. Some of these trips were during segregation or the civil rights era. Having not experienced segregation it was a surprise when crossing into Virginia and the bus stopped and all Black people were told to move to the back of the bus. At a bus stop somewhere in the south we got off the bus to go into the station food counter and stopped when all eyes were turned on us. We went into the side for “colored”. That’s when we noticed the water fountains on the platform were labeled “white” and “colored”. Then after protests started on another bus trip my mom and brother sat in the front seats and I behind them. I was about 10 or 11. A Black woman came on and sat next to me. She was very nice. The thing I marveled at was she had very large feet. Little did I know that my adult feet would match hers. I was too little to realize that her sitting in the second row of the bus and sharing the row with me, a white child she was making a statement. My family was fine with the situation but I’m sure there were some on the bus who didn’t like the changes happening. Another time when we went to Tampa on the train, the trip started out with some drama. My brother, Terry was preschool age and terrified of large buildings. We got on the train at 30^th St. Station in Philadelphia. My mom had to drag him through the station with him screaming at the top of his lungs.

My children’s first trip out west was when Travis was 18mos and Sean 4. It’s a long car trip. The places we visited were fun and sometimes with surprises but the drive itself was torture. Impossible to count the “are we there yet” and how it seems like the kids need to see every bathroom on the route. Coming home Bill said “How about I pull into the next airport and you, and the kids fly home? I’ll drive the rest of the way by myself.”

Traveling with kids definitely makes us want a vacation from our vacations.

#traveling with children, #Batavia NY, #Tampa Florida, #Segregation, #Civil rights protests, #Arlene Moore,  #Arlene Baker

Surprise Prayer Ending

 

Surprise Prayer Ending

Often when our children are small, we teach them prayers they can say at mealtime and bedtime. Many years ago, when my son was about kindergarten age, he would say one of those prayers. One day he added another request. Before saying Amen, he added “God Bless Chuck Norris”. This karate aficionado caught his attention. For months he always added that request. If we said Chuck Norris, he would correct our pronunciation even though it sounded the same as his. Recently I reminded him of this. He had forgotten it and was amused by his boyhood prayer.

#Prayer, #Children’s Prayer, #Humorous Prayer, #Chuck Norris

Earl and the Swimming Hole

 

Earl and the Swimming Hole

My dad, Earl Moore was orphaned at 5-yrs-old. His oldest sister was an adult but unable to raise him, so he was sent to the PA Masonic Orphanage in Elizabethtown, PA to live. The orphanage was a good place unlike most in the 1920s (think Lil Orphan Annie). A retired Army colonel was in charge, so it was fairly regimented. The houses were new and quite nice, made from gray stone. There were underground tunnels so that you could travel from building to building underground during bad weather. They had a basketball court in one of the buildings’ basements. There was a music room and more. There was also a small pond. I’m don’t think it was for swimming but instead for the crops and animals. The children’s and senior homes complex were totally self-sufficient, raising crops and animals for food.

When our family went to reunions there, I would hear stories about how they got a swimming pool. Apparently, my dad was skinny dipping one day in the pond and was caught. The home decided it wouldn’t do for the boys to be swimming naked and get caught out by one of the girls or seniors. So, it was decided to put in a regular swimming pool that the children could wear bathing suits and go for  a swim. Dad also had a nickname of Bertie or Birdie that may have come from this incident.

#Earl Moore, #Pennsylvania Masonic Home, #Swimming, #Skinny dipping

Christmas Cookies 2022

 

Christmas 2022

It’s December 24, 2022 and I am making my first Christmas cookies of the season. Not going to have many made this year. This first batch is “Aunt Ernie’s Sour Cream Cookies”. This is my boys’ favorite cookies but not until I stopped calling them Sour Cream Cookies and just said Aunt Ernie’s Cookies. Names make a difference. Each time I make this recipe I’m reminded of my Great Aunt Ernestine Wiedrich. She died several decades before my sons were born and I wish she would be more than a cookie to them. She was very personable and raised a large family in Oakfield, NY. My great   grandmother, Sarah Wiedrich loved visiting her. She would say how enjoyable it was.

Aunt Ernie’s Sour Cream Cookies

By Ernestine Schramm Wiedrich

1 c sugar

½ c shortening (margerine or butter)

½ c sour cream

2 eggs (beat in one at a time)

Mix at medium speed for 2 min.

Add

2¼ c flour            ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp nutmeg    1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt             1 tsp lemon extract

nutmeats (1/2 – 1 c chopped walnuts is good) or coconut opt.

Mix well. Drop by teaspoons onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle tops with sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 min.

Pictured Ernestine and Sarah Wiedrich

#Ernistine Wiedrich, #Sarah Wiedrich, #Christmas 2022, #Christmas Cookies, #Sour Cream Cookies

Veteran's Day in Washington 2022

 

I had an amazing Veterans Day weekend. Reporting to Fort Meyer at 6AM to be Covid tested and go through 2 security checks. Then boarded a bus with others to the White House for breakfast. Another security check before entering.

A military orchestra was playing in the foyer.

A buffet was spread in the State Dining Room with Lincoln’s portrait looking over me. The food was lovely.

I also had a picture taken with Chief of Staff General Milley.

Then I went to the East Room to eat beneath the portraits of George and Martha Washington and hear remarks by the President (taped), First Lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. 

I sat next to two charming young Navaho brothers who were in the New Mexico National Guard. I was also so honored to have a picture with Medal of Honor recipient, Thomas Payne. 

Guests were then taken to another room but first another security check and leave our possessions (mine was a wallet and camera). In the next room each of us was introduced individually and had a picture taken with Jill Biden, Kamala Harris and her spouse (Joe Biden was in Egypt for the G20). Don’t know if I’ll ever get the picture – last year’s guests didn’t get theirs. Then it was back to the buses and on to Arlington Cemetery. White House guests were escorted to the rear of the amphitheater to see the Vice President lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was torrential raining and people on both sides of me had umbrellas that they kept aiming their runoff on me.

After that ceremony myself and about twenty t other “VIPs” were escorted to the stage in the amphitheater for the national ceremony. Each of us was introduced to the audience and later when I watched the video of the ceremony on CSPAN my name was scrolled on the screen. It was very exciting. Vice President Harris gave the main address.

Then, as National Commander of the Army and Navy Union I laid a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

After this we rode busses back to Fort Meyer for my car. I was staying in a hotel in Fairfax with the rest of the Army and Navy Union members. The next day ANU spent the day doing ceremonies and laying wreath at ten monument/memorials throughout Washington and Arlington.  

Great weekend.

#Arlene Baker, #Veterans Day 2022, #Arlington National Cemetery, #Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, #White House Veterans Breakfast, 

Video from Arlington www.facebook.com/ArlingtonNatl/videos/1939139263144596

www.c-span.org/video/?524171-1/vice-president-lady-participate-veterans-day-observance-part-1

www.c-span.org/video/?524171-101/vice-president-harris-veterans-day-remarks-arlington-cemetery

 

The one-room school where my mother, Millicent "Midge" Wiedrich Moore went to school in the 1930s. It was on the Creek Rd just outside of Batavia, NY. My mom is 1st person on the left in the 3rd row up. Her sister, Bonnie Wiedrich Selb is the 1st person on the left in the bottom row. Her other sister, Connie Wiedrich Davis may be the small girl 2nd from the left in the 2nd row up. Later when the school was closed the teacher bought the school and converted into her home.

#Creek Road School, #Batavia, NY, #One Room School, #Millicent Wiedrich, #Millicent Moore, #Midge Moore, #Bonalyn Wiedrich, #Bonalyn Selb, #Constance Wiedrich, #Constance Davis

 Abel Bristol

When Abel Bristol was born in June 1749 in New Haven, Connecticut, his father, Aaron, was 34 and his mother, Ms. Abigail, was 35. (1) He married Mary Norton on January 24, 1775 (some sources say 1774), in Harwinton, Connecticut. Where they resided for a time. (2) About 1776 they moved to Albany, New York. (3) Abel Bristol served in CPT Amos William company  and later COL  Gay’s 2^nd Battalion during the American Revolution when he was 28-yrs-old. Both he and his brother lost their guns in the York Island retreat of 1776.  In later years the DAR records him attaining the rank of CPT with the Columbia NY militia. (3) In 1778, the couple lived in Ontario county, NY. (4) He was elected "Supervisor" at the first town meeting of Lima held in the "Brick School House" on 4 Apr 1809. (4) He had four children: Lois, Miles, Abel and Norton. He died on May 11, 1827, in Lima, New York, having lived a long life of 77 years, and was buried there. (5)

(1)     Ancestry.com, Connecticut Town Birth Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection) (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006), Ancestry.com, Database online. Record for Abel Bristol. Bristol Genealogy, vol 1 p.27.

(2)     Ancestry.com, Connecticut, Town Marriage Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection) (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006), Ancestry.com, Marriage date:  24 Jan 1774  Marriage place:  Harwinton  Residence date:    Residence place:  Harwinton.

(3)     New York in the Revolution as Colony and State,, Vol. I - Extracts; Publication Place: Albany, New York; Publisher: J. B. Lyon Co.; Publication Year: 1904; Page Number: 237. Also listed in the DAR and SAR records.

(4)     History of Livingston County New York

(5)     Ancestry.com, U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012), Ancestry.com, Record for Lois Warner. http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=FindAGraveUS&h=12537881&indiv=try. and Bristol Genealogy p.27

#Abel Bristol, #Bristol family, #Lima, NY history, #NY men in the Revolutionary War

Most Unusual Source – Court Martial

 

While researching my great grandfather, Charles S. Moore, I went to the New Egypt, New Jersey city clerk’s office. I asked if they had any wills or deeds for him or his father. They were busy but said they would get back to me after tax season. A few weeks later they called saying someone else was looking for the same person. They gave me that person’s name and phone number. It turned out that the person, Fran Born was also a great granddaughter of Charles. We got together and had a nice visit that started collaboration of our research. They had Charles’ original discharge papers from his service in the 4^th NJ Infantry during the Civil War. They also had a transcript of his court martial for disobeying an order. The order was “ stop shooting the mules with dry corn kernels”, which he was doing for fun. As soon as the sergeant turned his back he shot them again. Thus, his court martial. The transcript was like being there and listening to him speak. Another fact that came out was that he was late for a battle due to bad feet. That explains why my dad and I had feet as flat as pancakes and bunions. The punishment he received was being docked $10 of his $13 a month pay. Another revelation was that he had left his company in Virginia without leave to return to NJ when his father died. Several siblings had died too, and the house was being repossessed. On his return to Virginia, he was arrested as a deserter. But since Abraham Lincoln had made a proclamation that said any deserter who was returning of his own volition would not be prosecuted. All of this told me so much about my great grandfather who died almost eighty years before I was born.

#Court Martial, #Charles S. Moore, #Civil War Court Martial, #New Egypt, NJ, #4th New Jersey Infantry

 

In the Kitchen

 

Every generation probably has its kitchen stories. My story is one of disaster. My kitchen has no cabinets. The floor is in disrepair and the ceiling looks up to the floor above. Someday perhaps I may get a new kitchen.

My mother’s kitchen was large, but it was not always so. The previous owners had made changes. The original kitchen was L shaped with the furnace and washing machine in the L. They added a utility room and moved the furnace and laundry to the utility room. They then opened the center of the L to make a square room but then put a wall to divide the room into two rectangular rooms. The rooms were narrow and if people sat on both sides of the table they were wall to wall. My mom hated it and asked dad to get rid of the wall. Dad kept putting it off. One day when dad was on the 4-12 shift, Mom and I knocked the wall out except for some 2x4s. I was only about 8 or 9 years old. When dad came home was he surprised.

When my mom was little her family would go to the Colby farm and camp out. She made it sound like they were going to a summer camp, but I suspect that my grandfather was really helping on the farm and my grandmother was working in the kitchen tent. I have a picture of her sitting in front of the tent.

This is one of my favorite photos. My granddaughter, Luna meets Santa for the first time. Not yet 1-yrs-old she is fascinated by this strange person.

#Santa and me picture, #52 Ancestors Favorite Picture, #Christmas pictures

 

Namesake

 

Some of my ancestors were named for other family members. I wrote of some of these in another blog post “Same Name”. But there were some others I didn’t mention. My mother and here sisters first names were from characters in a book my grandmother read. They were Yvonne, Bonalyn, Millicent and Constance. I wish I knew the title of the book. My mother’s middle name was my grandmother’s sister’s middle name, Arlene. The only problem was the doctor misspelled it as Arline. When I was born I was given my mother’s name reversed, Arlene Millicent. As for my grandmother, her name was Hazel, and she said she’d come back and haunt anyone who named their child Hazel. He sister’s first name was Mabel. I don’t know if those names were unattractive in the 1890s, but they would not have been choices my mom and her sisters would have chosen in the mid twentieth century.

My grandfather, Edward Wiedrich may have had a middle name. I’ve seen some evidence that his middle name was McKinley. Was he named for the president? My paternal aunt, Carolyn Moore’s middle name was Grover and I wonder if she was named for Grover Cleveland.

My son, Sean was named for John Wayne’s character in the movie “The Quiet Man”. It was a favorite movie of both my husband and me. We had decided that if we had a girl next we would name her Mary Kate after Maureen O’Hara’s character in the same movie. Mary Kate turned out to be a boy and so he was named for the commander of the Alamo, William Travis. Travis’ middle name is Earl after my father.

#Namesake, #52 Ancestors, #Hazel Bristol, #Edward Wiedrich, #Caroline Moore, #Sean Baker, #Travis Baker

Girl Scouts

 

I was a member of the Girl Scouts for about 18 years. I began as a Brownie in second grade which was the youngest you could join in the 1950s. My troop was #430 and Mrs. Davidson and Mrs. Moen were the leaders. The meetings were after school in the basement lunchroom of Highland Park School in Gloucester City, NJ. We wore our brown uniforms to school. One of the things I remember doing was making butter in a screw top jar. It was a revelation to learn where butter came from. We also cooked out one day in the school yard. We made sit-upons. Hopefully yours was waterproof since you might be sitting on wet ground. In those days you were a Brownie from grades 2 through 4.  Then in a crossing over ceremony you became an Intermediate Scout. The crossing ceremony included literally crossing a small little bridge that signified growing up and now being a Girl Scout instead of a Brownie Scout.

Intermediate Scouts was from grades 5 through 8. My troop was #298 and we met in the basement of the Lutheran Church on 4^th St. in Gloucester City, NJ. My leaders were Mrs. Kimmey and Mrs. Williamson. We worked on badges although I never earned many. One of our Halloween parties was especially fun. The lights were dimmed, and opaque bags were passed around for us to feel what was in them. A story went with it. One bag was supposed to be eyeballs. Another was intestines. Then we would try and guess what they were without looking. Eyeballs were peeled grapes and intestines were cooked spaghetti. I can’t remember what other things were in the bags. On Girl Scout Sunday we attended the Lutheran church since they were our sponsors. My mom didn’t let me go on the on the camping trip when I was in 5^th grade. She was afraid I would get hurt or lost or something. In 6^th grade though I was allowed to go camping. We had to prepare by planning meals, going shopping and compiling a list of the things we should take. We camped at Camp Inawendiwin in Burlington County. At that time there was just three campsites with cold water and outhouses. We had a great time. We sneaked into the leaders’ tent and took one of their bras. We may have taken one of the 8^th grade girls’ too. Then we ran them up the flagpole so that in the mornings when everyone got up they saw the bras.

The next year the Girl Scouts reorganized, and Brownies were grades 2 and 3 and Intermediates  was dropped. Grades 4 to 6 became Juniors, grades 7 to 9 Cadettes and grades 10 to 12 Seniors. So, I was a Cadette. Mrs. Jean Hubbs McLaughlin and Mrs. Lois Reader were the leaders. We met in the Church of God basement. We had some trips. One was to NYC to see the sights including Radio City Music Hall. Another time we went to the Camden County Music Fair to see West Side Story. We went camping each year. The best scout in our troop was Miki Baile. She had the most badges and became a First-Class Scout. She also had an award for saving someone from drowning. Four of us went to a Camporee at Inawendiwin. I completed training to be a camp counselor and was a councilor that summer at Inawendiwin. In tenth grade I was supposed to be a Senior Scout but there was no troop in Gloucester City. Another girl, Cathy Moss and I went to a troop in Camden. The girls in that troop were kind of rough. In 1966 not many girls had tattoos but several of the girls in that troop did. Also, they smoked in the meeting. Cathy and I decided we were not interested in joining that troop.

In tenth and eleventh grades I helped with my mom’s Junior troop and also spent almost every weekend in the spring helping troops on camping trips. In twelfth grade I became an assistant leader of a Junior troop. Carol Henry was the leader. Then I became the leader of a Cadette troop at the Lutheran church. It was hard because I had no assistant leader. I did that for a few years and then when I was a teacher several of my scouts were in my class. I had allowed them to call me Arlene at scouts but when they were put in my class at school they had to call me Miss Moore. Of course, they pushed the envelope and called me Arlene at school. Eventually I gave up being a leader.

Girl Scouts was a great program for me. It gave me confidence and led me down the path to maturation.

#Girl Scouts, #Gloucester City, NJ

 

Family Legend: Murder of Sarah Norton

 

My great grandmother, Sarah Wiedrich would tell the story of her grandmother, Sarah Norton who was murdered. She was elderly and was raped and murdered by a local farm hand named Thomas Quackenbush. It was the winter of 1875 in western NY State. She managed to crawl to a nearby farmhouse but died. The murderer was one of a handful of criminals hung in Genesee County. When we went to visit a local museum, the director asked my great grandmother who was in her 90s by this time if she wanted to hold the rope used to hang him. She declined. Years later on a trip to that local I drove by the museum and there was a large banner across the front of the building for a display of the hangings. The admission ticket as a reproduction of the ticket to view the hanging of Thomas Quackenbush who murdered my 3^rd great grandmother. They had the scaffold and rope as part of the display.

#Sarah Norton, #Thomas Burton Quackenbush, #Murder, #Indian Falls, NY, #Hangings, Genesee, NY

Hazel Wiedrich and Funny One-Legged Stories

 

Yesterday I was thinking of my grandmother and when she had her gall bladder removed. I only know the story from her telling. In the 1950’s or so she went to the hospital and had an emergency gall bladder operation. Since it was so long ago and as it was an emergency, she had the large incision that wrapped around the lower chest. Also, in those days it wasn’t unusual to have a week’s stay in the hospital. The doctor, Dr. Azmidia, came to check on her every day and at last he told her she could go home the next day. She said, “Doctor, can I us crutches?” He said, “I operated on your stomach. Why would you need crutches?” To this she said, “If I don’t it would be the first time in almost 40 years. I only have one leg.” Dr. Azmidia threw back the sheets and said, “Oh my God, you only have one leg.” This story has given my family quite a few laughs besides a lesson that the doctor only looks at what his job is.

Another funny story about my grandmother’s one-leggedness happened in the 1960’s while the family was traveling the alligator highway in south Florida. My grandfather was driving the old family station wagon. Also in the car were my grandmother, my cousin Pat and her daughter Cindy, my Aunt Yvonne and an old family friend, Mrs. Thorpe. There were no speed limits then or at least not ones that were enforced, so my grandfather was driving like an Indie driver. He strayed to the edge of the road, lost control and crashed. Pat broke her back; Mrs. Thorpe broke her hip and was partially scalped. My grandmother was partially scalped and was thrown from the front seat to the back and was wedged between the seat and the back of the front seat. Having a scalp wound she was covered in blood. People stopped to help. When they pulled my grandmother out they gasped and said she lost her leg, and that people should look for it. Although she was in shock she still knew what they were saying and was laughing because she had that leg amputated almost fifty years before.

My grandmother had such a good attitude and never considered herself handicapped. It rarely stopped her from doing anything and I’m glad she could have a good laugh about those situations.

#Hazel Wiedrich, #Amputation