July 4, 1862

On this day in 1862, Emory Franklin Love was born to James H. Love and Elizabeth (Bettie) C. Foster. He was known as Jefferson or Jeff ever after because, family lore says, that same day Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, rode through the area (most likely on a visit to his home in Fairview, KY). No proof has yet been found that Davis was in the area, but it seems a reasonable explanation for the name.  Apparently none of our direct ancestors participated in the Civil War and, Kentucky being a border state, they might have chosen either side. Was giving Emory this name an indication of family sentiment or a bit of wry humor that, once spoken, stuck?

Jeff was the eldest surving son in a family of eleven children. Five of his brothers and sisters survived to adulthood: Mary Ann (Mollie), Nora Belle, Laura Susan, Harvey E. (Ed), and John (Foster). They were all most likely born in the Ford's Ferry area of Western Kentucky where James H. and Bettie had a farm on Crooked Creek and were members of the Dunn Springs Church.       

E. F. married Emily A.(Angeline) Wofford on December 11, 1883, in Crittenden County, KY. The Wofford family had land adjacent to the Love property so they likely knew each other from childhood. They were both tall, with sharp features, a striking couple.

Jeff and Angie were the parents of nine children. Seven reached adulthood:  Leslie Coin, William Earnest (Earnest), Elizabeth Morgan (Bessie), Raymond, Thomas Edwin (Ed), James Allen (Allie) and Lena Estelle. All the children were born at Fords Ferry and the family moved to Missouri about 1904.

Jeff and Angie continued farming in the Bootheel of Missouri clearing cypress groves to raise cotton with the help of their children and grandchildren. Many family gatherings took place on the Fourth of July to celebrate Jeff's birthday and America's independence.

"Grandpa Emory Love
July 4, 1951
89 years old this day"

Emory Franklin "Jefferson" died on September 28, 1952 at age 90 and is buried in Park Cemetery, Malden, Dunklin County, MO.

Alexander Love What We Know (or think we know)

Alexander Love is the earliest ancestor in our Love line we have found so far. He was born about 1718 which can be deduced from his grave marker which reads, in part, "Sacred to the Memory of Alexander Love A Lover of Mankind and a Friend to His Country who departed this life March 1784 aged 66 years". 

Alexander married Margaret Moore in Pennsylvania, April 6, 1743. They had 11 children that we know of, most of them born in that state: Mary, Andrew, James, Rachel, Jane, Elizabeth, Margaret, Sarah, Robert, Alexander and William.  There are no birth records that we can find.  Any records would be church records.  Margaret was a Quaker and had been  disowned from the Society when she married outside of her faith.  Alexander was most likely Presbyterian but we have been unable to find any records of him belonging to that faith there.  It is possible that they had other children who didn't survive infancy.

We have found no land records for Alexander in Pennsylvania, but he must have owned land of some kind because we find him on jury lists in York County (formed from Lancaster County in 1749), in 1749/1750 and 1763. The following court record of 1749/1750 shows Alexander Love as juror 17. Note that Hance Hamilton was the sheriff.

Clerk of Courts Quarter Session Dockets (1749-1876)
Book 1-3, January Session, 1749, p. 4.
Archives, York County, PA, yorkcountyarchives.org

In colonial Pennsylvania, coroners and sheriffs ran for election together.  Alexander was elected coroner in 1750 with Hance Hamilton as sheriff.

Clerk of Courts Quarter Session Dockets (1749-1876)
Book 1-3, October Session, 1750, p. 47.
Archives, York County, PA, yorkcountyarchives.org

Alexander applied for tavern licenses in 1751 and 1753.

Clerk of Courts Quarter Session Dockets (1749-1876)
Book 1-3, July Session, 1751, p. 81.
Archives, York County, PA, yorkcountyarchives.org

 
Alexander also, on several occasions, put up a sum of money, a "recognizance" on his own behalf (the tavern licenses) or for others as a guarantee that they would appear in court (he forfeited his money in one instance).  In all fairness we have to mention that he was charged with riot in 1750 (possibly for this election riot involving Hance Hamilton), assault in 1751 and for operating a tippling house in 1753 (unless this is an evil twin Alexander in which case our assumption that there is only one Alexander in York County goes out the window as does our research). He is also mentioned as witness to several wills while residing in York Co. He is listed in Straban Township in 1762 on the list of Assessed Inhabitants of York County.  

Sometime between 1763 (he signed a recognizance in April) and 1765 he and most of his family (their daughter, Mary married David Horner and remained in Pennsylvania) made their way down the Great Wagon Road through Maryland and Virginia to North Carolina. In December of 1765 Alexander bought 600 acres on Moses Dicky Creek on the south side of the Catawba River and 250 acres on a branch of Fishing Creek in Mecklenburg Coounty (according to abstracts published by Brent Holcomb. We don't have copies of the originals yet).  One researcher says the youngest son, William, was born in 1765 in South Carolina (at the time North Carolina) which would give credence to the family being in the Carolinas by that year. At some point, when he moved to the south, Alexander became a slave owner.

In 1772 the boundary line between North and South Carolina was finally established and the part of Mecklenburg County where the Love family lived became the New Acquisition of South Carolina. In 1775 Alexander was elected as one of the representatives from New Acquisition to the Provincial Congress that met in Charleston in November.  He also served in the First General Assembly in 1776 and the Second General Assembly from 1776 to 1778. For his service in the Provincial Congress he is considered a Patriot.  He may have contributed in other ways as well.  His homestead on Fishing Creek was very close to the skirmishes and battles in 1780.  He may have taken an active part in the fighting along with his sons.

Alexander wrote his will March 20, 1781, naming his wife, Margaret, sons, Andrew, James, Alexander and William, and daughter, Elizabeth (Miles). In an addition, dated March 21, 1781, he names daughter, Margaret (Stallings), and grandaughter, Sarah (Stallings). By this time, his son Robert and daughter Sarah had died. Perhaps he didn't mention his other married daughters because they had sufficient monies or he had already given them an inheritance. Alexander died in March of 1784 and is buried in Bethesda Presbyterian churchyard.

 
 

Will Transcript, York County (Estate Packet: Case 59, File 2660)
Will Transcipts, 1782-c.1865
South Carolina Archives online, archivesindex.sc.gov.

9 JAN 2013 HANS GABRIEL RASMUSSEN

Hans Gabriel Rasmussen, my great-grandfather, was born 150 years ago today in Stavanger, Norway (9 Jan 1863). In celebration and remembrance, here are some highlights of his life:

He was christened April 19, 1863, at the Domkirken (Cathedral) in Stavanger, the son of Hans Rasmussen and Ane Gurine Gaudesdatter.

His siblings were:  Rasmus (1850-1869), Serine (1853-1931), Anne Marie (1856-1866), Olava (1859-1923) and Andreas (1866-1866).

His father was the captain of the brig, "Favoriten".  He and his son, Rasmus, died when "Favoriten" was wrecked in a storm off the island of Løno (west of Bergen) 10 days after Hans Gabriel's 6th birthday, January 19, 1869.

His mother died when Hans was only 14 years old.  It was said she never recovered from the loss of her husband and son. 

He enlisted as a seaman May 28, 1883, and was discharged December 17, 1884, having sailed on the "Saga" on a voyage to Galveston, TX, (according to the Seamen's List of Stavanger). He arrived in the US    Jun 16, 1884, and became a naturalized citizen in 1892 (according to his passport application of 1921).  There are two stories about how he came to the US.  One cousin says she heard that he was in Chicago and sent money to Alberthine Wesnes and her father, Johannes, so they could join him there.  Grandma-the-Great said Alberthine and Johannes had moved to Chicago and when Hans G. found out where they were he "jumped ship in Key West" and made his way to them.  There is more evidence for the second version.  Alberthine and Johannes arrived in 1882 and Hans in 1884.  There is no record of him on any passenger list.  It is more likely he was a member of a ship's crew.

Hans and Alberthine Wesnes were married in Chicago on August 3, 1886.  Their children were:  Anna Gunhilda (1887-1968), Karen "Carrie" Helene (1889-1977), Mimmer (1891-1894), Jennie Marie (1893-1933), Harry (1895-1974), Albert Carsten (1898-1975) and George William (1900-1902) born in Chicago and Irene Olive (1902-1973) and Mildred Elaine (1905-1986) born in Madison.

He was widowed in 1907 and parented his young children with the help of his older daughters moving from Madison to Black Earth and then Mazomanie.  He was a painter and worked at the University of Wisconsin.

In 1921 he applied for a passport to return to Norway for a summer-long visit to his sisters and nieces. On his passport he is described as 5ft, 6 inches tall with grey hair, blue eyes, a fair complexion, square chin and a prominent, turned up nose.

He died in Mazomanie, WI, on November 2, 1926, and is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Madison, WI, with Alberthine and infant son, George William.

12-12-12 They Say It's Your Birthday

A "lucky day" this year, but also the 110th anniversary of the birth of John Vernon CAIRNS, one-half of the duo known as "Grandpa and Grandma-the-Greats" by later generations and originator of that artery-clogging tradition called "The John V. Cairns Memorial Breakfast" celebrated at LOVE family reunions.

John aka Jack was born in Mazomanie, Dane County, Wisconsin on 12 DEC 1902 the son of Charles Worthington CAIRNS and Caroline Susanna SCHUMANN most likely on the family's Hickory Hill Farm. Grandpa said, there were hickory trees on the hill across the road, the nuts of which they harvested and stored in the attic.  Another memory he passed on was that the family lived in the granary while the new house was being built.  The house and outbuildings are still there, the first residence on Carter Road east of Hwy 78 just north of the intersection with Hwy 14.

John was surely named for HIS grandfather, John Verner CAIRNS who came to Wisconsin from Orange County, New York in 1847. John, his older brothers, Frank Elmer, and George Worthington, and his younger brother, Alfred Charles, grew up farming. We can imagine that their mother, having no daughters to help with household chores, recruited one or more of the boys for help in the kitchen. Jack seemed to be able to hold his own with a frying pan at least.

He graduated from Mazomanie High School having made arrangements to make up the class work missed when he, Alfred, and their parents traveled to California in an attempt to ease Caroline's battle with tuberculosis. Early pictures show him to be rather nattily dressed often sporting a pipe (then there are the later pictures with dropped trou...Grandma always had her camera ready for those).  He worked in auto repair garages early on. His letters to Mildred before they were married (traveling to Rockford, Illinois, in the "little red roadster") are more practical than ardent.  He made bathtub gin, or something like it, and played poker to bring in extra money during the lean years of the 1930's.

He was a partner for many years in Capitol Welding located on Dickinson Street in Madison (nothing remains of the building today). In his profession he was involved in taking up the street car rails in downtown Madison after they were no longer used, securing Blackstone the Magician for one of his escape performances and welding the circular staircase in Woldenbergs, one of the ladies' department stores on the Square in Madison (if I remember correctly, the staircase was made of aluminum and Grandpa was one of few welders who had the skill needed).

Jack was a Mason and member of the Zor Temple in Madison.  He always had tickets for the Zor Shrine Circus in February. He belonged to the East Side Business Men's Association. He took his brand new son-in-law down to Mickey's Tavern on Willy Street where he, Jack, was a returning customer (I think this was some kind of bonding thing or initiation...Dad must have passed muster).

He practiced the after-lunch-20-minute-nap long before it became recognised as an energy booster in studies. He was known to have his hair tied up in ribbons by his daughter and, years later, by his granddaughter during said naps. He also provided wake up service for his daughter with a tuneful, "Little Bonnie Bump-up, time to get your rump up" during his morning shave.  He cried over sad movies and said, "I think I heard a buck snort" when he farted (making grandchildren double up in giggles).

He was an outdoors man.  He camped, hunted, fished, gardened, and built some really impressive wood fires (both inside and out at The Cottage).  He bought The Cottage for back taxes in the mid '40's and, I think, it became his real "home" from then on.  First, escaping there on weekends in a big green Cadillac or Buick with Biffer, the dog, in the trunk, Grandma riding shotgun and a lucky grandchild or two in the back with the food.  Later it was their retirement home.

He lived nearly a century. Perhaps not a remarkable life in the grand scheme of things, but that's ok. He was Grandpa, I smile when I think of him and I'm glad we got to share part of our lives together.