Wednesday, October 7, 2009

bathing beauties

Yea! Hurray! It's only taken 3 days, but inbetween doctors and surgical procedures, I have managed to find the same 3 photos that hang in my bathroom. I wanted to share them with you. They are so utterly fantastic! Imagine these three women being photographed back in the day when scandalous photos as these just WEREN'T shown. They had to have been strong women. Women to whom I have had as role models. Women to whom I still revere and look up to as I hang on with this cancer. If they could do something so everyday strong as this. I can keep hanging on, too.

Here's my Grandma Helen Anna Sanders Madsen (Mom's mom who with Grandpa, raised 8 children during the depression) - she's in the front & right in this photo at Utah's Great Salt Lake:



This one is my dad's step-mother's mother: Nellie Arnett Cheesbrough. She was a Wyoming school teacher from a wealthy family in Illinois. She married John Cheesbrough and created a cultured haven out in there in the wilderness! This photo must have been taken at one of the Great Lakes


My husband's family wasn't exempt! Here's his great grandma Jennie Eliza Jane Calkins Rickords at Soap Lake, Washington


Hope you love them as well as I do!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Web Page...

Dad and I are working on a web page for Thomas Harward V (1826-1901). It uses a template from "The Next Generation of web pages." Pretty basic, but I'm excited! Every day we get more up and going on it!!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Solved!

Dad solved the puzzle below. He said it's the word "Course" which fits just perfectly in the phrase "Course of four lectures"

Yea Dad!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Ebenezar Chapel Broadsheet


This broadsheet advertising the re-opening of the Ebenezar LDS Chapel in Rugby, England was just made available to me - it's a copy from the Church History Library in Salt Lake. My ancestor was the bishop of this ward and is listed as the last speaker for the series.
I'm wondering if anyone can read the cut-up phrase in the center. Some letters are missing from a word and what is left reads: "_ours_ of four lectures." Being British, the "u" may be extra. The word "series" would fit nicely, but I've never seen it spelled that way before.... Does anyone have a crossword puzzle dictionary that can interpret this for me???

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Back from Salt Lake!



I spent the last week and a half in Salt Lake - mainly for an uncle's funeral, but also to use the family history library.

I stopped in Weiser, Idaho (where my dad's step-mom, Joan Cheesbrough, was born in 1912)

I loved being with family and being at the Family History Library. I was there on five different days (47 hours) and the Church History Library for two days (9 hours.) Dad and I looked at 39 microfilms and perused 12 wills/documents/books. We were mainly looking for Harwards. I had contacted a sweet lady, Cathy, from Mapleton, Utah, who has written a book about my ancestor's (Thomas Harward) brother William. She met up with us and had dozens of documents for us - wills, histories, vital certificates! We also got to meet with one of dad's cousins' wife, Mary Jane. We scanned in dozens of photos - of her father-in-law, Art Harward and her own family. She was a treasure chest of information! We got to meet her son and daughter-in-law who have the recipe for very tasty frozen pops. And lots of ancient genealogy! I took lots of photos of family and the Rockies. I would LOVE to live down that way to have access to all those microfilms. I paid for my trip two times over by checking the microfilms in person instead of renting them at $8 a piece.

Dad and I decided that we want to put together a Thomas Harward web page.
(Thomas Harward photo I got from Cathy.)
I've collected so many documents on the Harwards and I just hate to see people doing research/church work on Harwards using wrong dates, estimated times and places! I want to share them with everyone.

Some of the things we found while down there: Thomas Harward (1826-1901) probated estate(FHL microfilm #1,654,620); some of his children's probated estates including Ozias Strong Harward (1862-1917)& Sabrina Harward Draper (1860-1944)and son-in-law's estates: Jabez E. Durfee (1828-1883). I found some naturalization dates on Harwards, Broadheads, and George Mason who was a good friend of Thomas Harwards. We also found the best microfilm: #577,577 - it has (what is readable, anyway) Harwards and Griffins and Harris' back to the 1500's in Hartlebury, England. This is the church records including births, marriages, burials. It is definitely one that I will be permanently renting so that I can use it frequently! (p.s. If anyone really wants to low-down on Harwards, check out Utah Digital Newspapers website. I got dozens upon dozens of newspaper accounts of all kinds on my ancestors - with plenty of closet skeletons to go around as well! The LDS church's pilot.familysearch.org site is also plentifully filled with actual death certificates of Harwards.)

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

FINISHED! And, computer-literate ancestors...

I finished my History 400 class. It's official title is: Family and the Law in American History. It was a good class for me. I found out where I am in the levels of family history studies. I actually was familiar with everything - self taught - except the probate and court records and how to access them. The course also had us do locality studies where we researched the places where our ancestor lived. This put a lot of things into perspective for me.

But the most exciting thing happened this week. My paper, written about my Harward ancestor, (80 pages when you add in the family pedigrees and my 120 sources and notes!) got 259 of 260 points, giving me an A in the course! Yippee.

Then, 3 days ago I got an e-mail from a distant cousin. She was getting a final count on a book she's written about my ancestor's brother - from whom she's descended. I e-mailed back that I wanted a copy! I asked her if she wanted to see what I had put together in my report. She did. Then, after a few more e-mails, she stopped the press on her book and wanted everything I had. I have gladly shared with her. What is interesting, is that neither one of us can figure out how my name ended up on her mailing list. Neither of us knows the other from Adam! And, after more of my questions, she replied that I obviously hadn't received her first e-mail - the flyer advertising her book. Nope. I'm not on that list. Just this last e-mail to get a final count on her book. So, which ancestor upstairs is familiar enough with computers to have pulled that stunt???

Saturday, January 24, 2009

History 400

I am determined to finish my History 400 class. I started it almost a year ago and left it for a while. I had breast cancer and underwent chemo and radiation. Now I'm getting back up to speed and have actually turned in the assignments for lesson #3. I had been researching my great grandpa Heber Harward and his father Thomas Harward. This class will give me the impetus to dig deeper and get more accurate information on the two of them.

Dad was raised in Wyoming and Utah in part by his step-mother Joan Arnett Cheesbrough Harward and his father Eldon Harward (Heber and Mary Jane Broadhead Harward's 10th of 14 children.) That is, when he wasn't being passed around from relative to relative. He finally was on his own before he was sixteen years old. He worked at Hygia Ice in Salt Lake and attended South High School. He was introduced to Mom at the ice rink and the two of them made a great team - getting to know each other as they skated in flourishes. They married before Mom graduated from high school and Dad joined the army. They were together at Fort Leonardwood, Missouri before Dad was sent to Okinawa for two years. Mom worked at the telephone company as an operator while waiting for Dad's return.

Dad claims that he didn't hear much about his grandparents and great grandparents. Just that Heber Harward was a teamster and freighted supplies back and forth and occasionally took his son Eldon with him. He had heard the ever famous story of Thomas Harward's: that after joining the LDS church, his father disowned him. BUT..... any Harward who will deny the Faith and return to England can claim a huge inheritance. Many stories like this abound. I've read about them in the histories published by members of the DUP - other "cousins" who heard the same stories.

My diggings will hopefully uncover more of the history of Thomas and his families of Harwards from Hartlebury, Worcestershire, England. (There are Harwards in North Carolina, but they aren't directly related to us. Possibly they are related a few hundred years back.....)

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Veterans

I've always been rushed when it came to jotting down a list of family veterans for the kids to take to school each November. To get around that, I usually claimed we didn't know of anyone who served in the military. And, We are off a generation - our parents were too young for WWII and too old for Vietnam. When I've taken time to think about it, though, I realize that there are indeed relatives that I could have been listing!

Start with: My dad. (Surprise!) He served in the Army in Okinawa from 1953-1955. He saw no action, but worked in an office on the island for several years.

My brother: Clyde K. Harward. He served in the Army as a medic during the 1980's. He was in Germany and Texas. He was released early due to his son's health issues and is since deceased.

My 19-year-old son isn't quite a veteran yet. He signed up for the Army National Guard 9 months ago and just completed his "boot camp" training this past October (2008).

My mother's two brothers were vets:
Uncle Harold S. Madsen served in the army in Germany during WWII. The story is told of how he and his buddies were hiding in a cellar while German soldiers were searching the house above them. He attributes their being alive to God's intervention!

Uncle Kenneth C. Madsen served in WWII in the Navy - He told us of how he was sea sick on a transport ship for weeks. Poor guy!

My husband's great uncle served in WWII. We have a photo of him in uniform. I plan to track down some more relatives and list them here...

Monday, September 29, 2008

Re: Rickords

Here are some of my favorite Rickords photos:

These two are of Vernon J Rickords,(17Mar1910-28Aug1980) son of Cecil Bert and Jennie Eliza Jane Calkins Rickords. He worked at a dude ranch 1930-31 outside of Reno, Nevada to earn enough money to marry his sweetheart, Hazel Shockey (14Jun1913-15Dec1998), daughter of Liss Listy and Evelyn Gidney Shockey. They are my husband's paternal grandparents.


This is Jennie Eliza Jane Calkins Rickords 1947 at Soap Lake, Washington. I love that she was comfortable having a swimsuit photo taken of her back in the day!
Below is Cecil Bert Rickords, Jennie's husband from whom she was divorced. They had nine children together when Cecil up and left - returned home to his parents and Jennie had to support the family after this. She was a strong woman whom I definitely admire!

Here are seven of those nine children and Cecil and Jennie. 1930.

A Riot of Rickords

We Rickords are pretty particular about how you spell our name. Yes, we know that it's a misspelling from some other point in time. Originally, it was most likely Records. Some use Rickards, Richards, Rickard or Rickord.

Whatever. It is what it is and has been since Benjamin Rickords (1808-aft1870) from Delaware/Maryland spelled it thus in the early 1800's.

What we know of him: Benjamin Eskridge Rickords m. Sabrina Killpatrick (1811-aft1870) to this marriage were born 11 children all in Ohio: (and where did this Eskridge name come from? It shows up in 3 generations of Rickords...) He died in Broadwell, Logan County, Illinois where many Rickords lived for generations and some still do. If you look for them in census records, be sure to check the various spellings, including ORickords (for the 1880 census taker who heard "William O. Rickords" and interpreted it as "William O'Rickords")


1.Richard Eskridge Rickords (22Oct1830-17Dec1920)m.Christiann Harlow
*2.William Orlando Rickords (7Apr1833-6Nov1919) m.Lucy/Icy Lawson
3.Sarah E. Rickords (2Jul1835-22Oct1905) m. Samuel Watts
4.Mary Jane Rickords (1837-Bef 1865) m. Andrew Lawson
5.Eliza Ann Rickords (1839-1874) m.1 John McNeely m.2 John Lawson
6. Smiley Spencer Rickords (8Feb1842-22Aug1919) m. Eliza Jane Porter
7.John Wesley Rickords (4Feb1844-7Jul1926) m.1 Sarah R. Antill M.2 Mary J. Zimmerman
8. Joseph A or H Rickords (1845-1863)
9. Samuel B. Rickords (Jan1848-15Jan1935) m. Mary Emmaline Harlow
10.Drusilla Rickords (1850- )
11.Rebecca Rickords (Sep18568-aft1930) m. Mahlon Lawson

*2. William Orlando Rickords
and Issy Lawson (interesting that 4 of the siblings married into the Lawson family.)
I have recently become acquainted with Reita who lives in Illinois and has graciously shared photos of her father and grandfather Samuel James Rickords (son of Wm Orlando Rickords) as well as many of the Rickords tombstones in Illinois. This past summer I acquired two more photos of Wm Orlando's children: Smiley Spencer and Emma May. This makes 4 children for whom I have photos from that family!
Their 10 children:

*2A. John Eskridge Rickords (6Jul1858-27Jan1952) m. Anna Mae Shilling











2B. Mary Elizabeth Rickords (8Feb1861-aft 1900) m. Herman Pane Slayton
2C. Benjamin P. Rickords (15Jan1864-1921) m. Cordelia D. Hess
2D. Samuel James Rickords (8Mar1867-13Jun1929) m.1 Hester E. Staggers m.2 Clara Lavona Crayne
2E. Smiley Spencer Rickords (4Sep1869-1940) m. Loretta G. Harper










2F. Emma May Rickords (2Mar1872-23Nov1949) m. Joseph Lucas











2G. Andrew Johnson Rickords (31Mar1874-aft 1910) m. Effie Mae Page
2H. Joseph Alexander Rickords (9Dec1876-aft1930)
2I. William Henry Rickords (25Apr1878-aft1918)
2J. George W. Rickords (11Oct1882-1942)

*2A. John Eskridge Rickords and Anna Mae Shilling had 5 children:

2A.i. Elizabeth Lanore Rickords (14Sep1884-May1961) m. C. Richard Beck
*2A.ii. Cecil Bert Rickords (20Oct1887-24Dec1959) m. Jennie Eliza Jane Calkins
2A.iii. Levert John Rickords (10Jul1893-23Apr1970) m. Anna Messner
2A.iv. Claude Allen Rickords (20Jun1900-31Dec1939) m. Leota Genevia Ryman

2A.v. Jessie Rebecca Rickords (29Apr1902-Apr1997) m.1 Frank Anderson m.2 Gustov Maehl


*2A.ii. Cecil and Jennie Eliza Jane Calkins Rickords had 9 children:

*2A.ii.a. Vernon J Rickords (17Mar1910-28Aug1980) m. Hazel Shockey

2A.ii.b. Hazel Fern Rickords (5Feb1912-24Jul1991) m.1 Tom Chisom m.2 John Anderson m.3 Elling Ytteroy m.4 Josef H. Weidmann

2A.ii.c. Ruth Evelyn Rickords (24Feb1914-2Feb1992) m.1 Art Struble m.2 Bob Hicks m.3 Riley H. Fisher

2A.ii.d. Dorothy Mae Rickords (26Nov1916-1May1973) m. Charles Calvin Powers

2A.ii.e. Kenneth Claude Rickords (16Oct1918-23Jan1993) m. Dorothy Rose Leubke

2A.ii.f. Doris Aileen Rickords (1Jul1921-17Jul2005) m. William B. Hall

2A.ii.g. Cecil Lorain Rickords (27Aug1923-15Aug1997) m. Peggy Lou Dobbs

2A.ii.h. Lindel Bert Rickords (living)

2A.ii.i. Claude James Rickords (22Jul1926-14May2007) m. Valoyce Roxy Elrod

*2A.ii.a. Vernon J and Hazel Shockey Rickords had 3 children:

2A.ii.a.1. Deena Barbara Rickords (5Feb1933-17Jun1988)
2A.ii.a.2. John Vernon Rickords (27Jun1935-24Jan1940)
died at age 5 to leukemia










*2A.ii.a.3. Philip Rickords (living)
Philip has six children. I am married to the oldest. We have 5 children, three of them boys who will carry on the Rickords name.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Favorite Photos


Here's my dad's step-mother - Joan Arnett Cheesbrough as a toddler, her sister Victoria and their step-brother Joseph Henry Cheesbrough. They're sitting on a stuffed ostrich at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition World's Fair held in San Francisco in 1915. The family visited here that year from their ranch home in Wyoming and purchased some new furniture as well.



These two photos are of Nellie Arnett Cheesbrough - Joan's (Dad's step-mom) mother. Can't you just see the joy in her face? I love it! We are so fortunate to have dozens of photos like this of the Arnetts and Cheesbroughs. It appears that they were refined and well-to-do. One of the sisters to Nellie was a doctor.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Della Louise Burtenshaw


Della Louise Burtenshaw Noe Paramour Harward

I've always wanted to know my Grandma Harward. My dad's mother. She died of breast cancer when Dad was five. I'd like to see what was in her mind and what made her "tick." My cousin Susan wrote a book about her mom, including a lot of information about Grandma. It is so fascinating!

Here's the facts that I know about her:
She was born 16 Sep 1895 in Shelton, Bonneville, Idaho to William Burtenshaw and Sarah Alice Clegg. Married George Edwin Noe 9 Dec 1941 in Idaho Falls, Bonneville, Idaho. Divorced. Married 2nd John Franklin Paramour in 1929 in Reno, Washoe, Nevada. Divorced. Married 3rd Eldon Harward 31 Jan 1931 in Price, Carbon, Utah. Divorced. Died 3 July 1941 in Shelton, Bonneville, Idaho of Breast Cancer.

My Documentation includes:
1900 census, Dist. 16, Willow Creek, Bingham, Idaho: Burtenshaw, Della, daughter, white, female, born Sept 1896, age 4, single, born in Idaho, both parents born in Utah.

1910 census, Dist. 51, Willow Creek, Bingham, Idaho: Burtenshaw, Della L., daughter, female, white, age 14, single, born in Idaho, both parents born in Utah. Occupation: none.





William Burtenshaw Family

Back Row: John, Francis, LeRoy
2nd Row: Etta Burtenshaw Moss, Vera Burtenshaw Schmidt, Ora Burtenshaw Snow, Linda Burtenshaw Cleverley
3rd Row: Lorania Burtenshaw Yetter Jackson (Aunt Rainy), Della (Grandma!), Mother Sarah Alice Clegg Burtenshaw
Front: Wilbur Brown (from Sarah's second marriage) and Florence Burtenshaw Miller


1920 census, Dist. 102, Idaho Falls, Bonneville, Idaho: Noe, Della L., wife, female, white, age 24, married, born in Idaho, both parents born in Utah. Occupation: none.

Film #184262 P. 1296 Salt Lake. Divorced.

1930 census, Dist. 31, Reno, Washoe, Nevada: Paramore, Della, wife-H, female, white, age 35, married, first married at age 19, born in Idaho, both parents born in Utah. Occupation: none.

Marriage certificate to Eldon Harward (image is as big as I can get it here)



Here is an e-mail I got from one of my inquiries to cousin Susan:
June 28, 2008
Hi Lisa,

Apparently none of Della's three husbands were angels. A few years ago Carol, Barbara, and I visited with Della's younger--and only surviving--sister, Florence (who has since passed away); and she told us that Della was a 'rescuer' when it came to men. She said Della was attracted to men who weren't very good to her. I don't know how much truth there is in that, but it is the case that all the men she married did, in one way or another, abuse her. I don't know whether George Noe was ever physically abusive, but he did cheat on her. Her second marriage lasted only abut six months, and that husband apparently was very abusive. In the case of Eldon, the abuse came later.

Eldon and Della married in January, 1931, and my mother described their first year together as probably the happiest in her childhood. Eldon was very good to both Della and Maxine, and Maxine called him daddy and loved him like a father. But everything changed with the birth of their stillborn daughter in the summer of 1933. That is when their marriage began to deteriorate. They began to argue frequently, and Eldon left often for weeks at a time to work in Wyoming. There was much unrest and insecurity over mining at the time (conflicts over unionization, etc.), and I suspect their personal tragedy was compounded by economic concerns. Della twice attempted suicide by drinking poison. I suspect she was suffering from depression, and was probably no eaiser to live with than Eldon. Their relationship apparently deteriorated so severely that even the birth of your father--in November 1934--could not salvage it.

In September, 1936, Della had a mastectomy for breast cancer. The incision was held in place by small pearl buttons. (Yes, it sounds bizarre to me too. I have no idea how that actually worked and have never been able to learn more about it.) A few days following her sugery in the mining hospital in Kenilworth, she was transferred to the hospital in Price, where she spent a couple of weeks. Following is the account I wrote in my book about the episode over her buttons. It is based on mother's account:

Two weeks passed, and Eldon brought Della home. She was weak and could hardly lift her one arm. That very night, despite her weakness, the arguments started again and continued as if there had never been a break. One night shortly after her return home, the two got into an especially ugly quarrel; it turned violent and Eldon shoved Della roughly, causing her sore arm to fling backwards. Della cried out in pain. The incision over her breast was not sutured, it was held in place by small pearl buttons, and the backward thrust of her arm caused one of the buttons to rip out. Two more weeks passed and Eldon left for Wyoming, and Della returned to work as a cook at the hotel.

The only other episode of physical violence I know of occurred in the spring of 1937. Della and Eldon were arguing and Maxine got between them and told Eldon to leave her mama alone. He hit Maxine and gave her a black eye.

So there you have it. It's a sad story. But of course, it's also incomplete. I imagine that even throughout their troubled years, they had moments of happiness and contentment as well. And, of course, their was the birth of your dad. Which just shows that even the most difficult and unhappy circumstances can still bring forth something good and wonderful.

Love, Sue