Between the Lines: Family History and Quirky Stories From Our Forgotten Past

       It is funny how things converge, and how a thousand, thousand decisions happened to bring each of us here, to our particular time and place. Consider this:  In 1880 –   One of my great-grandfathers was living in Pierceton, Indiana. (Clyde) His future wife lived on a farm in Fawn Creek Township, Montgomery County, Kansas. (Melissa) One great-grandmother was still in Bavaria. (Francisca Maria) Her future husband was in Canada. (Stewart Neil) One great-grandmother was working as a domestic servant for elderly widow, Mrs. Lucretia Sang, in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. (Mary Savilla) Her future husband was leaving Mulfeld, Germany to immigrate to Pittsburgh. (John Casper) Two great-grandparents were still in Sorkil, Norway, in the “Land of the Midnight Sun.” (Sigurd Hilmar Pedar and Huldah Karoline Matilde)            Thirty years later, in 1910: Clyde and Melissa Barbour farmed just outside of Len...

   I have no first cousins. All my life, people have been stunned and confused when I told them that. I've even had people respond, “That’s impossible.” Unfortunately, it’s not. My parents were both only children, which means I have no aunts or uncles. Yes, I had great-aunts and great-uncles, but think about it. If both parents are only children, you have no aunts, uncles or first cousins. It is a serious loss.       Like everyone, though, I have many second, third, fourth….etc. cousins. We are all related to, and connected with, so many thousands of people without knowing it. I am in touch with a few of my second cousins. What is amazing is that I am in regular contact with a fifth cousin, Wendy. Or is it sixth? It gets confusing. Wendy and I share the same fifth great-grandparents, Israel Taylor (1769-1841) and Mary Blair (1774-1834). That we connected at all is a miracle of the internet, something possible through family history sites.  ...

       P oor Bird Suttenfield. He seems to have had a complicated love life, and a horrible death. He was also the recipient of an amazing gift. Bird was born in Fort Wayne in November 1865, the son of Asa More Suttenfield and Louisa Bennett. He was the baby of his family, and probably was named after his uncle Ochmig Bird, who served in the Indiana State Legislature.      When Bird was born, his family had returned to Fort Wayne after more than a decade in Missouri. Soon they uprooted again and Bird’s early years were spent in Osage County, Arkansas. By 1880, if not earlier, the family returned once again to Fort Wayne where both Bird and his parents would live for the rest of their lives.       Asa More was the son of early Fort Wayne settlers William Suttenfield and Laura Taylor. He farmed and worked as a wagoner and teamster. Bird followed in his father’s footsteps as a teamster.   ...

    A set of combs used to process wool   In 1846 William Patchett made an extremely good decision. He and his family - wife Sarah, children Thomas, Hiram, Mathew, Mary Ann and Enos - left their home in Bradford, Yorkshire and boarded the Condor in Southampton. The destination was New Orleans.      William was my fourth great-grandfather, and Enos, age two at the time, was my third great-grandfather. William was a woolcomber, a trade essential to fabric production, but one that was extremely unhealthy and soon to be obsolete.      Before wool can be spun into thread, the fibers have to be untangled and straightened out, all facing the same direction. This was accomplished with a set of combs that were heated on small charcoal or coke stoves. The stoves were kept heated night and day to maintain the right temperature for the combs. The constant presence of the burning cha...