Sorting Saturday - Newspaper Clippings, Obits, Etc.

I have been busy sorting the newspaper clippings I brought back from my Mom's that I need to scan. I also have to go thru her scrapbook she has had for years. Everything is in there and some of the Obits I scanned the other day she has in there also. Some things are on family, some on friends, some are jokes, some are poems.

It will be a little bit of a challenge since she glued all the clippings into her scrapbook and the pages are bigger than my scanner. Some she has right tight together and others are spaced apart.

I also have some more photos of unknown people I need to scan. I know they are either friends of family that is no longer here or family that my Mom couldn't remember.

The one problem with all these clippings most of them do not have a date, or what newspaper they were in. So sourcing is going to be really challenging. I think some came from up north, some from Flint, some from Lapeer, and some from down state Jackson or South Haven area. Some are real old with tiny print.

Oh WELL. One piece of information at a time. 

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Grandparent's House

I remember as a young girl going to my Great Grandpa and Grandma's house in Fostoria, Michigan.

There house had burned down at some point and they turned their one barn into a house. In the back of the house there was a door that went into where they had a stall for a couple of horses. They had no inside plumbing. The main part of the house that I can remember is where the kitchen and livingroom was at. It was all one room. Grandma was a short heavy set lady and Grandpa was tall and thin. There was just enough room between her counter and the table for Grandma to get through. I remember her table always had the dishes on it ready for the next meal. Grandma and Grandpa didn't have much because they had lost most of everything in the fire. But I remember Grandma making a meal out of whatever she had and it was good.

My Mom stayed with them for a while before I was born when my Dad was in the service. I have pictures of my mom hanging diapers that she made on the clothesline.

I don't remember if they had a TV or not but am pretty sure they had a radio of some type. I remember a big dresser along one wall and it had an opening under it and they kept a few toys under there. One toy I especially remember was a pull toy that was a dog. We used to play a lot with it. Grandpa's chair was not far from this dresser.

Grandma and Grandpa didn't have a phone. So Grandpa had to run down to the neighbors to call the doctor. My sister was born in this house and my Grandma delivered her. She had been a midwife and saved everything for the doctor who arrived after my sister was born.  Grandma didn't even realize she didn't have her glasses on until after everything was over. My sister was breech and the cord was wrapped around her neck but Grandma saved her. We always wondered if that was why my Sister was a little slower catching onto things or not.

This is a picture of my Great Grandma Sewell and my Grandma Gibbs and Whitey on the left side of the picture by Great Grandma. This was taken in July 1952 before I was born.

Whitey was born a few months before me. I don't know exactly when he was born but I know he was older than me.

There was a lot of Clay soil at Grandma and Grandpa's. I remember my Mom telling of my Grandpa trying to teach my Grandma Gibbs to drive the tractor in the field. She never did learn how to drive.

I remember us going out to visit Grandma and Grandpa and playing in the dirt. We sure would get dirty. A little soap and water cleaned us up pretty quickly. I wish I had a picture of the house and the barn that shows how the place was set up. But I don't have one. I remember the house was on the right side and there was the outhouse, and on the other side of the driveway was a big barn. I wonder what ever became of the place after Grandma and Grandpa passed on. I know it was in probate for a long time but don't know if it ever got settled or not.

Lucinda Josephine (Botsford) Sewell

Not sure if this is considered a Funeral Card or not. I thought it was quite elegant. It does not mention a Funeral Home or anything except her name, date of death, and age. It is printed only on one side of heavy cardboard.


Lucinda Sewell
Died July 10, 1925
Age 77 years.

This was my Great-Great Grandma Sewell. She married my Great-Great Grandpa Sewell March 21, 1869 in Locke, Ingham, Michigan, USA.


This is one of the treasures I was able to scan that my Mom has in her possession.

Wordless Wednesday - Farmers Picnic Crawford Co, Michigan Sep 2, 1902

I'm not sure who all is in this picture. I'm sure there is probably some Sewell's in there. This is a picture my Mom has in her possession. No one is identified in the picture. Maybe someone out there can help me find out who this folks are. Don't know the location only that it was in Crawford County, Michigan.

I'm Back!!!

I had a great visit with my mom. Got a lot of pictures scanned. Still have quite a few to scan. She let me bring home 2 of her photo albums and her scrap book that she has Obituaries and some other newspaper clippings in, along with Funeral Cards.

I noticed she is having a little trouble staying focused on things at times. She also gets a little confused when doing projects. But we got thru it. The one drawer that I had put a bunch of genealogy related things in when I was there for 3 weeks in December 2009 she had taken everything out of and I have no idea where she put it. I didn't run onto some of the things I could remember putting in that darn drawer.
She had emptied out the 6 or so boxes of stuff she needed to sort through that I had removed from all the drawers and commodes in her new room. Hard to tell where she put it all.

Spent 2 days on her checking accounts. Luckily she only has two. She had not recorded nothing since Feb 2010 in her check registers and couldn't find the paper she had been keeping track on. She had taken her register and checks out of the checkbooks. So I got them all back together for her. Got both checking accounts all balanced out.

It will take me a few days to get my thoughts together and figure out who and what I want to write about. I have the pictures all linked up to at least one member of a family that had more than one person in them.

Looking at SAR Records

I have been looking at the SAR records on ancesty.com. So far I have looked at Pember, Sewell. I need to finish looking at Sewell. I need to look at as many as possible before the free offer ends.
ancestry.com has a lot of great records. I know I will not get thru them all but have to give it my best shot.

Well I'm off on my search. See ya all later!!!

Happy 4th of July everyone!!!