ANDREW MOORE'S WILL (PART I)

Andrew Moore arrived in 1723 at New Castle, Delaware, with his sons, James and Thomas, and daughters, Mary and Margaret, children of his first wife, Margaret (Wilson). They settled in Chester Co., Pennsylvannia, where he was a co-founder of the Sadsbury Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and owned property, including a mill. Andrew, a widower, married again, Rachel Halliday, and had eight more children who survived to adulthood. 

Andrew wrote his will February 1, 1753. He died July 5, 1753, and his will was proved August 14 1753.   Andrew was a wealthy man giving generous amounts of money to his heirs and providing for his youngest children. If you have read any wills, you know that one of the first orders of business is to express that all debts be paid.  Not so Andrew.  Apparently, he had no debts. His concern for his younger children is evident in the stipulations that the three youngest sons learn a trade at about 16 or 17 years and that the bequests would be halved if, before coming of age, they married outside the Society of Friends or exhibited bad behavior.  He names his wife, Rachel, and eldest son, James, as executors.

Daughter Margaret married Alexander Love, who was not a Quaker, which caused Margaret to be “disowned” from the Society of Friends. This meant that she was no longer in "unity" with the beliefs of the Society, not that she was shunned by family or other Quakers. She was still included in her father’s will.  Margaret was given £5 plus an amount to be determined after the appraisal of Andrew’s property in 1760. Margaret and Alexander’s oldest son, Andrew, was to recieve £40 when he came of age at 21 (2 other grandsons named Andrew were given £5 each).

While the inheritance given to the older children is pretty straight forward, the provisions made for the younger children were more involved.  Rachel was to have the income (and expenses) of the mill and plantation to support herself and the youngest five children until David, their youngest son, turned 16 (1761).  At that time she would get 1/3 of the income from the mill and plantation plus continue to have rooms in the house and other privileges (her dower rights). And an appraisal was to be made of the mill and land to settle the estate.  After all bequests had been paid out, including £200 to Rachel and £50 to each of the five youngest children (Robert, John, David, Rachel and Sarah), the remainder was to be divided between any living children. John and David were each given 1/2 of the mill and property plus £200 (presumably at age 21). 

One might think that the estate would be settled once the appraisal was made and monies paid out as directed in Andrew’s will.  However, John eventually decided he did not like the arrangement and sought to have it changed.  This involved lengthy negotiations that were finally settled December 17, 1789, (Andrew Moore’s Will Part II).

Transcription in Chester County, PA, Will Book C, Vol 3 (1747-1755), pp. 430-433

p 430

p 431

p 432 

p 433

Source Citation

Wills, 1713-1854; Index to Wills, 1713-1923; Author: Chester County (Pennsylvania). Register of Wills; Probate Place: Chester, Pennsylvania.

Source Information

Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Wills and Probate Records, 1683-1993 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015

Accessed 14 Jan 2019

THE WRECK OF FAVORITEN (THE FAVORITE)

One of the first bits of advice you receive when beginning your genealogy journey is to be wary of family stories.  Passed down from generation to generation, family stories may be true, but more often they contain a kernel of the truth and sometimes they are mere wishful thinking (doesn't every family want to claim a First Nation "princess" or King Harald Fairhair in its bloodline?).

A story I heard from Grandma-the-Great was that her grandfather, Hans 

Rasmussen, and his son "went down with his ship", that his wife (on her first sea voyage) and older daughter survived the wreck while younger daughter and young son, Hans Gabriel (G-the-G's father), were in school and had not been on the voyage.

I was able to fill in the details: Captain Hans Rasmussen's wife was Ane Gurine Gaudesdatter, their children were Rasmus, Serine, Olava and Hans Gabriel (another son and daughter died in childhood).  The ship was Favoriten and sank on 19 January 1869. One source said the ship went down in the Korsfjord (near Bergen); church records said only that Hans and Rasmus died along the Norwegain coast. A letter from Olava's daughter to G-the-G confirmed the story of Ane and Serine surviving the wreck and added that grandmother Ane never recovered from the experience and died a few years later.

So our family story was true, but don't you wonder how it happened, where, how did Ane and Serine survive, were they alone or did others survive with them, how many people were lost?  A story like this must have generated a newspaper account, at least in Stravanger. 

It did. And it took a trip to Stavanger to find it. While visiting the Stavanger Maritime Museum, I happened to see a book in the gift shop entitled, Skipsforlis i Bergensleden fra Bømlahuk til Holmengrå (Shipwrecks [roughly, on the way to Bergen] from Bømlahook to Holmengrå). Paging through the book, I felt I had found treasure, when I saw the account of the last journey of Favoriten, The author, Erik Bakkevig, used information from the book Stavanger Maritime History and an article in the Stavanger Amtstidene and Adresse to tell the heart-wrenching tale:

Favoriten

11 men lost.

The brig was home based in Stavanger and was owned by the trading house, J. A. Kohler & Co.

Description/History

Favoriten was built of wood at the Kjerringholm shipyard in Stavanger in 1848 under the leadership of master shipbuilder, Peter Gjesdal.  The ship's capacity was 187 kl, about 383 net registered tons. The ship was commissioned by the renowned merchant J. A. Kohler in Stavanger and was one of the city's largest. To the tune of Sons of Norway the ship slid into the water on March 17th 1848.  The incident was something of an event in the city and is featured in the book Stavanger Maritime History.  Many onlookers had turned up both on land and in hundreds of small boats outside the yard.  The ship was praised for its light and elegant construction and excellent sailing characteristics. It was said the company spared no expense.

The ship's first master was captain J. S. Westergaard and the crew consisted of 13 men besides him. The ship's maiden voyage was to the Mediterranean bringing a load of salt on the return trip. In May 1849, the brig sailed from Stavanger to New York with 187 emigrants and also made a similar trip the next year with 225 passengers. In July 1852, the ship had an accident sailing from Stavanger to Stockholm with a load of herring. For an unknown reason she ran aground at Hå rocks and had to return to Stavanger with a large leak. Two years later, Favoriten was traveling from Stockholm to South America. The captain was H. Henriksen and on this trip he and 3 other crew members died of yellow fever. The master papers were then given to J. J. G. Kielland. Later masters were Peter Kaurin, A. Svendsen and Hans Rasmussen. 

Favoriten was a good long distance ship. She traveled to China, Australia, East India, North and South America as well as the Black Sea. She was their hometown pride and one of the most famous Stavanger ships in the mid 1800's.

Shipwreck History

On December 12, 1868, Favoriten sailed from Trapani (Italy) with a cargo of salt for Bergen.  Captain Rasmussen had with him his wife, a daughter of 15 and son of 18 years*.  The journey went well until they approached the Norwegian coast where they met a tempest. At 2100 hours, 19 January 1869 the ship went aground on the island of Løno on the west side of Sotra.  Immediately a smaller boat set out and in it went an officer, 3 sailors and the captain's wife and daughter and all these arrived safely ashore.  The rest of those on board, 11 men, proceded to put out a larger boat, but this failed and all were lost including Captain Rasmussen and his son.

The Officer's Report

Styrmann Ellingsen, who was the only ship's officer who survived, told of the dramatic shipwreck in the Stavanger Amtstidene and Adresse newspaper on 1 February 1869.  Here we get a glimpse of what windjammer sailors had to contend with when the rigging failed in a storm and they had no propeller to push them safely forward.

Sunday, 18 January the ship made landfall off the Norwegian coast at Hidra outside Flekkefjord and here a course was set for Egerøy where there had been a lighthouse since 1854.  The wind was now coming up in a storm from the SSW, the evening drew near and it was hazy.  Like many of his contemporary navigators, Styrmann Ellingsen complained about the lack of lighthouses along the coast.  A lighthouse here would have made it safe to follow the coast northwards at a suitable distance.  In Obrestad came such a light in 1872, in Kvassheim, first in 1912.  In storm and darkness therefore, Captain Rasmussen chose, with greatly reduced sail (lowered topsails) to sail westward to keep clear of the coast.

The ship fared well for a time in inclement weather, but then accidents started to happen. First the bobstay jerked in such a way that the bowsprit broke and was dragged by the ship.  Several stays snapped and the sails began to blow out of line.  Portions of the rigging went overboard.  The main sail was set on what was left of the rig.  All night and much of the next day was spent in cutting away the damaged rig. They were now turned eastward toward land again, but with the distressed rigging there was little speed and poor maneuverability.  Worse was when the control line broke but with much hard work it was repaired. They now steered ENE hoping to hit Skudefjord but the wind aft caused them to make only 5-6 knots.  It was again evening and dark, but fortunately visibility improved.  The course was now changed to ESE and this was maintained for some time.  One now had a desperate need to get a lighthouse in sight to determine the ship's position and reach safety. Using contemporary means and without certain accurate observations it was pure guesswork.  As we shall see the brig came considerably further north than expected and sailed toward destruction.

At 2100 hours 19 January, it was suddenly discovered breakers ahead on the leeward and aft.  An effort was made to turn into the wind, but it was too late.  The ship had already passed several shallows which, according to the officer, broke at 18 fathoms.  The waves would have been enormous.  Captain Rasmussen saw where it would now end and decided to set out the boats before the ship hit and was crushed. A small gigg (jig) hung ready in the davits and this was immediately lowered.  On this the captain ordered his wife and daughter, the officer and three sailors.  The son was also sent to the boat, but he climbed aboard again to be with his father. The officer rated chances to get safely ashore in this shell of a boat so small that he gave his watch to those who remained behind.  He assumed they would be safer when they got the larger boat in the water.  Today such an act is obviously ridiculous, but once a gold watch was a precious asset.  The waves were soaring and to the officer's horror the plug was missing so that water rushed into it (the gigg). A bucket was thrown from the brig but missed and floated away.  Without being told, the 15 year old girl started to bail with her sou'wester while the sailors rowed toward the shore and kept lookout.  The brig had already disappeared in the dark.

In the east the dark barely alight, they rowed therefore a bit west and then north for over an hour before they sighted an island.  After some difficulties and with the boat half full of water, they managed to get in the lee behind the island with the current so heavy that they dared not land there, but continued inward until the little boat was washed up on the shore of a small bay.  The place seemed to be completely uninhabited. Wet as they were and with their teeth chattering in their mouths, the castaways huddled close together in an attempt to keep warm.  The captain's wife had just a stocking on one foot.  At daybreak they found their way to the nearest settlement and were able to enter a house.  It turned out they had come ashore on Algrønya (Algerø) on the west side of Sotra.  Here they were warmly greeted and the officer particularly commends a Ms Garman who showed them kindness.  In the morning the officer went out with people in a passenger boat to look for the rest of Favoriten's crew.  In a cove on the west side of Løno island they were met with a pitiful sight, the wreck was broken in two pieces and debris floated everywhere.  The main mast and pieces of wood had drifted ashore. They saw nothing of lifeboats nor the people on board.  Two dogs which had also been on board were not found.

Wreckage

Divers at Løno about 10 years ago found a mangled ship's bell with the name Favoriten.

                                                                            

*Ane Gurine Gaudesdatter, Serine Hansdatter and Rasmus Hansen.  Rasmus was likely part of the crew.  This was Ane's first trip sailing with her husband and probably Serine's as well. Two other children, Olava and Hans Gabriel, were left at home to attend school.  Ane's nephew, Tønnes Gaudesen, 24, was also one of the lost crewmen.

Skipsforlis i Bergensleden fra Bømlahuk til Holmengrå by Erik Bakkevig, self published Haugesund, 2005, pp 65-67. Translation and added notes by C Love, 2017.

Now we know exactly where Favoriten lies. Løno, no longer inhabited, is a rocky barren looking island that must bear the brunt of Atlantic weather.  We know the tragic circumstances of the crew's last hours and the heroic effort made to bring the ship safely to land and, later, to rescue the occupants of the little boat.

Recent contact with an historian for the Fjell Kommune, who has written a history of Fjell from 1700-1910 published last fall that includes a chapter about the wreck of Favoriten, has added more information. He has identified the Ms Garman as "probably Georgine Garmann daughter of a local merchant and innkeeper on the island Lokønya". The bell retrieved by divers is in the Maritime Museum in Bergen (how disappointing that we did not include that in our visit). And he has kindly sent some newspaper articles that mention the incident including one (awaiting translation) of items that washed ashore from the wreckage. 

How fortunate we are to find our family story is true as well as to have documents that fill in some of the details.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS - YVONNE LOVE

Seventy years ago, on 14 August 1945, the Japanese surrendered--VJ Day--ending WWII in the Pacific.  Yvonne and Vince had taken the train from Madison, WI, after their marriage in April, to California. Yvonne wrote this letter to Grandma-the-Great.


August 16, 1945

Dear Mom,

Well, it's finally over.  I was making dinner when it was announced over the radio. No one else was home - so there was no shouting, all I did was sit down and cry.  Vince had duty that night so when he didn't come home I didn't expect to see him until the next night.  But I went down town yesterday morning and when I was mailing some letters, I saw him standing on the corner waiting for a bus.  Everything was closed up so we came home. After Vince ate he went to bed, as he had been up most of the night. We had an early dinner last night and went to a movie.  There were only 3 or 4 restaurants open and there were lines of people waiting to get into every one. The streets are a mess of paper.  There were piles and piles of milk cartons - guess that was about all people could get for food.

Vince is supposed to have 3 nights off and one on, but it was just announced that all sailors are to return to their ships or base (within 100 miles from Frisco). I guess there was really lots of damage done there - thousands and thousands of dollars worth of goods stolen or destroyed.  The paper said every window within a three block area was broken.  I didn't get to see any celebrations at all but there were lots of accidents so maybe it was just as well.

I sure hope they don't keep Vince in for three or four days. I had a telephone number I was going to give him so he could call if anything like this happened, but I forgot about it this morn before he left, so know I just have to wait until he comes home.

He said his ship is going to be finished so he'll probably ship out in a few months.  I'm sending my ticket home, so you can get the refund.  All you have to do is take it to the station, I believe. If you need anything in my writing to say it's OK - This letter should be enough.  You can send the money with my next allotment check.

Well that's about all that's new for now.  We didn't have any mail delivery yesterday or today so I should have a letter by tomorrow.

Love,
Yvonne

Dad did not ship out. He was discharged a few weeks after this letter was written.

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.

APRIL 18, 1945

Seventy years ago on a spring day in Madison, WI, Yvonne Carolyn Cairns and Petty Officer Second Class Vincent O. Love got hitched! 

Wisconsin State Journal
18 April 1945
page 8

They met by chance at a party celebrating the birthday of one of her classmates...she was still in high school. He, sent to Madison by the Navy for radio training, was invited by one of his classmates and later stated he never would have gone if he had known it was a dance! But, dance or no, he met "the prettiest woman he had ever seen" (who for him, 69 years later, she still was).

Like other couples engaged in long-distance romances during World War II, they sent letters and photos and hoped for a safe return home so they could start their lives together.  Looking through the photos from those years, gosh, they were young and innocent.  She was barely out of high school, he was a farmboy from the Bootheel of Missouri scratching out foxholes in the coral rock of Peleliu and Bouganville in the South Pacific. But when you look at the photos, you see such joy and love and sweetness.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad.

Fattigmann

A few weeks ago we had our last Norwegian Language class (eight weeks, non-credit). It was a small class and most of the students were there to learn enough of the language for their trip to Norge. Some year soon I hope to venture to Norge, the land of our Rasmussen, Wesnes, Sunde, Gjerding, -sen, -datter relatives, also. And I will know how to say hello (hei), how are you? (hvordan er du det?), please (vaer så snil), thank you (takk), you're welcome(vel bekomme) and, the all-important, I don't understand (jeg forstår ikke).

For the last class our assignment was to bring traditional Norwegian foods. I had several recipes from Grandma-the-Great in my collection, one of which was a cookie called "Fattigmand".  I had never tried it because it involved deep frying and I figured it was heavy on the calories.  Here was my excuse to try them and have someone else eat them. So I followed the recipe (G-the-G was very explicit in her instructions), but had no clue as to what "make a slit in the center of each (diamond shape) and pull one corner through" was meant to look like. I pulled the top point through the slit.  All in all it went well. 

Had I looked on the internet under "fattigmann" (spelled a little differently from my recipe, but the "d" is silent so it sounds the same...fattigmann[d] means "poorman"), I would have seen what the cookies, traditionally made at Christmas, should have looked like.  You can even buy a fattigmann cutter that makes the diamond shapes.  Who knew?  They look sort of like a bow tie, but mine looked like hearts. I think I like hearts better anyway.

Fattigmand Cookie Recipe

Gabriel Rasmussen's Dumpling Recipe

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: HANS GABRIEL RASMUSSEN

In 1921, Hans Gabriel Rasmussen, went back to Norway for the first time since emigrating to America in 1884. He visited his sisters, Olava and Serine and his nieces, Anna and Elina. These were his remaining immediate family. We can guess he saw many other extended family members and hope he saw the many places familiar to him.  He spent the whole summer there, returning September 20th on the "Stavangerfjord".

(For this trip, he applied for a passport which gives his date of birth, date of emigration, and date of naturalizaton. His occupation is "painter", his purpose is to go to "Norway and return" to "visit relatives". It includes a physical description and a photo. H(Harley) W(illiam) Oldenburg (his son-in-law) was there to identify him as a person he has known "for 10 years". Hans swore an oath of allegiance to the United States at the time he applied for the document. It also says he intends "to leave from the port of New York sailing on board the "Stavangerfjord" on May 27, 1921".)

"Hans Gabriel Rasmussen 7 A. M. 1921
Just ready to leave for Norway
Taken by Mildred Rasmussen
at Mazomanie Wis"

City College, New York City

"May 26 - 21

Dear Mildred and Jennie

Ta day I have been (catt?)ing about N.Y. and took the Ferry Boat over to Brooklyn and seen the Stavangerfjord That is some Boat Them Ships I used to sail in was Playthings against this Will write the Ballance (?) hven I ga abord tomorr?

May 27- am leaving Hotel for Boat had a god Nights Sleep and fel fine with love

Dad"

Haugesund Strandgaten (Strand Street)

"June 9 - 21
Dear Children
I have been in Haugesund for 2 days and have a fine time Lava (Olava) and Elina are fine  had Telephone from Kristiania (now Oslo, where Serene and Anna were living) and am going there next week  with love from all.  Dad"

Elina and Hans Gabriel

"Aunt Serina, Hans Gabriel Rasmussen's sister in Norway. Taken when he was visiting Norway 1921"

Olava December 14, 1923, and Serine December 3, 1931.  Anna died November 1949. Elina and Mildred exchanged letters for several years after WWII. 

Alexander Love: What We Don't Know

The "brick wall" for descendants researching Alexander Love is his birth.  Who were his parents? Where was he born? On what date? What about the "5 Love brothers"? Other researchers have provided speculation or specific answers, but no solid evidence.

His parents? Looking at on-line family tree submissions to Ancestry and Family Search (LDS), James Love and Margaret Miller are the most popular. James, born in either county Tyrone or Antrim, Ireland in 1670, 1678 or 1684 and dying in Antrim or Lancaster, PA in 1721, 1751 or 1753. Margaret, all agree, was born in county Antrim in either 1688 or 1689 and died in Antrim in 1715, 1719 or 1751.  1715 is the most popular date of death which makes it pretty unlikely that she gave birth to Alexander in 1718. This just points out how error ridden most of the trees are and that the errors multiply as people add them to their own trees without doing any research of their own.  On Ancestry these submissions become "proof" for the information. Serious genealogists beware!

The discussions I have seen suggest James, John or Robert as the name of his father. One Robert often mentioned was born about 1679 possibly in County Antrim, IRE.  He came to America about 1700 and died in PA in 1741. His will named the children of his 3rd wife, but it is assumed he had children by his 2 earlier wives. It has been suggested that Alexander is one of these. If so, Alexander's birthplace would be Pennsylvania.  We submitted DNA to the Love family project. While they were processing the DNA, I received a letter giving names of direct descendants of this Robert to look for as a close match.  Unfortunately, we discovered our DNA was not a close match.

There is a John who arrived in PA in 1682 receiving a grant from William Penn.  I believe this John was a merchant from, Bristol England. If Alexander is Scots Irish as we have assumed, then this John would not be his father.  Also Alexander does not name a son John which would be very atypical for that time.*

I lean toward Alexander's father being a James.  He names his second son James.* Traditionally Alexander is thought to be the brother of James, "the weaver" who was born in Antrim about 1704, the eldest son of five. The direct descendant of this James is a close DNA match (at least a lot closer than the above Robert). Also, traditionally, the other brothers were John, born about 1705/6 who died in PA, William, born about 1710 who died in SC in 1780 as a direct result of his Loyalist sympathies and Robert, born 1716 who died in 1787 in SC. There is no proof, as yet, of this relationship.

Where was Alexander born? Some say Antrim, others PA. There is a DAR application which states PA and gives the date of 15 Jan 1718.  We hope to see documentation in the application that proves it. The only real evidence we have of the year of birth is from Alexander's grave marker.

So, how do we solve this mystery?  I assume that most or all of the obvious records have already been gone over by other researchers (that rare serious family historian plus a few descendants trying to fill out their DAR and SAR applications). It's always possible something was overlooked or some new papers have been discovered since the original research.

Since our Alexander hasn't shown up on a passenger list as far as we know, I would try searching any Philadelphia or New Castle, DE newspapers.  They often had shipping news about arriving ships. It might mean getting a list of arriving ships and then checking the departures from Ireland for any records on that end (Road Trip!!). 

Another possibility would be the Presbyterian church records, if they exist, from that time and place.  There were a few congregations in PA, one of which was Fagg's Manor on the Brandywine River.  John Love (1705/06) and James (1704) were deacons. Robert Love (1716 - 1787) was married on the "banks of the Brandywine". If these are Alexander's brothers, there is definitely a connection with Fagg's Manor, although Alexander moved west and was in York County by 1750.  Any old Presbyterian records are likely at Swarthmore College (Road Trip!).  Establishing when Alexander arrived in America would go a long way to answering the unknowns. Locating any early church records of baptisms and deaths would be a treasure. I guess the answer is:  Road Trip!

* Information on naming patterns will be addressed in a future post.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: JOHN VERNON CAIRNS

When he was living in Florida with J and J, I asked Grandpa-the-Great to tell me about his youth. This transcription is from a letter I received on 21 Feb 1989. 

                                                            1

"You asked me to jot down about my life on the farm and the red roadster We sold hickory nuts for 4.00, bushel, the ones cracked in qt jar for 4.00 also.  In Oct 1919 Mom, Dad, Alfred & me left for Cal. Dad made me plant potatoe which I sold before we left, so I wold have some spending money  We stopped at River Falls to see Dr. Rolla Cairns & also at Big Timber, Montana to see my uncle Carl & aunt Lena Schumann  then on to Portland Oregon.  We went on the St Paul railroad, it was electrified for going over the Mts. From Portland we took the Union Pacific to Alhambra Cal. Stayed until next summer & returned to Wis. We arrived there (CA) in Nov, 1919. Bought a Ford Touring car, pd 275.00 for it used  I think it was a 1916 model  When we left Cal sold it for more then we had for it. I drove it must of the time. Dad didn't care to drive in the city The reason we went Cal. was acct of mothers health. She had T.B. Drs thought the warm weather mite help her. They didn't know how to take of it then, as they do now. Dad got me a permit to drive as I was only 17  While there I got a job at a lumber yard, & drove truck. Excuse my writting and spelling, but I 86 yrs young

                                                              2

One weekend we drove up Mt Wilson about 1 mile high.  the brakes on the model T wore out, road was very winding and if you went off the road a drop of a half mile, the model T had brakes different than they do now day.  There were 3 bands that went around a transmission, which ran in oil.  One band for low speed, one for reverse and one for brake. I used the reverse as a brake to get down the mt. It worked real good. While in Cal I met a girl friend, we went to shows, & picnics on week end her mane was Peggy Thompson & her mother was spanish & her father a Norskie. We corresponed when we came back.  She had quit a crush on me. I thought a lot of her too. You will see her picture in the big album. The fall of 1920 I stared my senior year in High School. I had go only 2 months the year before, wanted to gruiduate with on old class, talked the Principal in to taking extra courses and going to Whitewater normal, the next summer so I could gruiduate my old class. make High school in 3 years with extra study. In our class play I had the leading part, "All on acct of Polly", I gave the book, I think. Class of 1921. In 1922 I met Mildred and courted her with the little Red Roadster. Mother died in 1923. More next time.

Grandpa Cairns
Hope this is what you wanted"

There wasn't "more next time" quite likely because I neglected to prompt him for more. I have seen the booklet (playbill?) of "All on Account of Polly" he speaks of, but not recently. I am not sure I have it. He had several photos of Peggy Thompson as well as letters from her. Grandma-the-Great didn't seem to mind having these momentos of "Jack's old girlfriend."

When transcribing there is always the urge to correct mistakes in grammar, spelling and punctuation but then it wouldn't be "in their own words", would it?.  I have put this down exactly as he wrote it although I think age, as he pointed out, was a factor in many of the errors. A younger JV would have had better spelling and punctuation, I think.

John Vernon Cairns
Graduation Photo
Mazomanie High School
June 3, 1921

"Canonball"
"The Little Red Roadster"
JVC taken April 6, 1924
MEC unk date (possibly the same day)

Courting
Jack Cairns and Mildred Rasmussen
Cairns Home in Mazomanie, WI
Saturday, Jan. 26, 1924

The "Passmore Book"

Genealogy being the quest that it is, sometimes you find a treasure.  The first item I found in the stacks of the Wisconsin State Historical Society was The Love Family Historical and Genealogy Quarterly published in the late 1950's.  It contained current information from subscribers along with some data that had been gathered by early Love genealogists in the pre-Internet days.  It was there I found mention of a two volume book called, Ancestors and Descendants of Andrew Moore, 1612 - 1897 by John Andrew Moore Passmore. The Treasure! 
   PassmoreV1 PassmoreV2

And there it was one row over. After Andrew Moore, there were several pages of information on Alexander Love who (we are so fortunate) married Andrew's daughter, Margaret/Margret Moore. Following Alexander and Margret (pp. 39 - 45) the generations were listed from Col. Andrew Love (pp. 59,94) to James Love (pp. 95,212) to Andrew Love (pp. 212,532) to James H. Love (pp. 532, 1052). And there, on page 1052 was "Emery F., b. 7-4-1862. P. O. Ford's Ferry, Ky." my great grandfather.  I couldn't believe my family's genealogy was right there in front of me. How lucky could I be, how easy is this?

Well, it was lucky. Not every novice genealogist has a starting point like Passmore's book. In the late 1800's John A. M. Passmore, another Andrew Moore descendant, started amassing information on his family. He wrote to Ireland to find Quaker records there. He had some family papers (including several letters written by Alexander Love to his brother-in-law James Moore, pp.40 - 42), but mostly he wrote letters to a lot of descendants to gather the names, dates and other information he included in his book published in 1897 (by that time much of the information on current generations was out of date; Emory Love was married and had several children by then).

Unfortunately, he did not include the sources of most of the material (which probably would have filled another volume).  He compiled the material as he received it, correcting obvious errors, and noted that some individuals had more information about them because their descendants sent more. Thus, we have a copy of Alexander's will, a family member's version of "the skirmish at Stallions" involving Andrew and his sister, Sarah (suggesting Andrew shot Sarah by mistake, but an eyewitness account by another member of the militia says the shot came from the rear of the house not in front where Andrew was), as well as a story about Andrew's death in Kentucky (here a source IS given as the Legend of Ford's Ferry, a work I have yet to locate) and the possibility that his son, Robert, avenged his death by killing James Ford (unlikely as Robert was dead by then). 

So even though information on individuals is uneven and stories handed down in the family may be inaccurate, the book is packed with enough material to give us a broad look at the Love lineage from Alexander to Emory/Emery plus a starting point for filling in missing data. It is a terrific resourse for keeping track of the various Love lines and I refer to it often.

The real treasure, I think, are Alexander's letters. They give us a more personal glimpse of who he was...learned, involved citizen, fervent expresser of the role of God in his life, affectionate family man, unafraid to express his opinion. It also gives us his signature. We are most fortunate that these few letters survived the one hundred or so years before Mr. Passmore shared them with us.  I would like to think they still exist in some archive and that it is possible to see them firsthand, but, if John Passmore willed his research papers to some public repository I have yet to locate it.

WESTERN KENTUCKY: A TRIP

Often, we rely on the internet to provide answers to our genealogy. While there are great resources on the web, the best information is still found by traveling to the areas where our ancestors lived and looking for records there.

The first week in March, I met with iLuv in Western Kentucky where our Loves had spent a century of their lives. Col. Andrew Love left SC and moved there with his family about 1804. Emory Franklin (Jeff) and family left for MO in 1904. 

We decided to begin our search at the library in Marion, where we checked out some local cemetery books. We looked through some folders with information found by other researchers. iLuv discovered that Andrew had established a "horse mill." We had to look it up...a horse powered mill...for milling flour perhaps?

iLuv will post about our adventure looking for the Wofford family cemetery. We also visited the Dunn Springs and Love Cemeteries and took the ferry across the Ohio River to Cave in Rock, IL to visit the notorious outlaw hideout.

 

For those of a certain age, think "Mike Fink and the River Pirates," except that the real outlaws were a nasty bunch who operated within spitting distance of lands owned by both the Loves and Woffords. Today the cave is part of a smallish park with picnic shelters. We have  photos of a Wofford family reunion that took place (probably late summer or fall of 1956) in the park. In this photo Grandma (Mary Adams) Love is near the front in a dark print dress: 

Grandpa (Tom Ed) Love is second from the left in front row:

  

The last photo looks like Wofford siblings and cousins:

 Cave-in-Rock today:

During the week, while iLuv was working, I visited the three county seats where I knew there would be records of our Loves and Woffords: Smithland in Livingston County, Marion in Crittenden County and Princeton in Caldwell County. When Andrew and family came to KY they settled in what was then Livingston but later became Crittenden. The early Wofford records are in Caldwell County.  I was able to find some of the land records in Smithland but will need to make another visit to get more. I did find a tax list of 1810 which shows Andrew was taxed for 27 horses (as well as 3 white adult males and 2  blacks over 16 with a total of 8 blacks) which is evidence of the horse mill, I believe.  He has 200 acres on Duck Creek and 500 acres on Piney Creek at that time. I made copies of any marriage records and wills I could locate. I have yet to find a record of Woffords buying land, but did find a couple of transactions selling land.

I discovered that going through old deed/will/marriage books is a tiring business especially when you have to lift the books onto a copy machine trying not to damage the old pages. But it wasn't all work and no play.  We ate some fine food and got a taste of the riverfront at Paducah and hiked in the Land Between the Lakes on a lovely spring day. 

On the way home, I made a slight detour to Murphysburo, IL to get information on our grandmother (my 3 x great), Elizabeth C. Foster who married James H. Love.  After James H. died in 1899 (buried Dunn Springs Cemetery, KY), she lived with several of her children who had moved to IL. She is buried just outside Murphysburo.

All in all, I accomplished a lot of what I had set out to do, but look forward to a return trip to discover more. It was great to share the thrill of the hunt with iLuv and we are anticipating having the opportunity to learn more about Alexander and Col. Andrew when we head to SC in July.

In Their Own Words: "Passing" by Uncle J

Genealogists crave first person accounts of what their ancestors said and did. Rarely, do we get this type of detailed insight into our ancestors' lives; a glimpse of who they were other than the standard birth, marriage, and death dates.

After discovering a few documents written by our ancestors, Auntie C and I came up with the idea for a new series of posts called "In Their Own Words." These posts will include letters, poems, and stories written by the dead as well as the living. Please contact either of us if you would like to contribute.

This inaugural story was written by Uncle J.

Passing

She's dead. That should be the end of the story right there. Its a contract we all sign at birth, a duty to be fulfilled. But no one dies until the memory slips from our collective conscience. Bits and pieces remain. Adopted quotes, mannerisms and rituals. Genetic tags are left showing in the smiles, hair and gait of those left to endure. Then there are scraps of personal possessions scattered to decay in their own sweet time.

I pick up the red covered notebook of recipes and thumb through them. Most are written in Janet's own hand, others cut from magazines or the backs of packages of grain and flour. For over 30 years I experienced these pages in my mouth or watched them spring from her hands. Now I can only digest them visually or recall the running commentary in her voice.

Recognizing a 3X5 card, with my mother's impatience all over it, titled, Gramma Love's Walnut-Date Cake, I pause. Condensed into 15 square inches, I find this great effort by three generations of unrelated women to remember. They conspire to the notion that this is the way you hook a Love.

Janet read the recipe silently, placing herself in rural southern Missouri, during the Great Depression. "These would have been Black Walnuts," She declares, "English Walnuts wouldn't be affordable if they were available at all."

She reads on, "the order you mix the ingredients isn't how they teach now. I bet your sister didn't follow the directions this way…she said it wasn't all that great. You have to follow the directions exactly the way it says." Then Janet looks over her glasses, "I think the soda reacts with the dates, otherwise there's not enough leavening here."

I can envision Gramma Love serving this cake up on a visit back home and my father commenting on how good her cooking was. My mother, thinking mechanically, that taste is about what you physically put into something, asked for the recipe. Gramma dutifully passed the recipe on but I'm sure she was wise to the art and realities of baking. In 18 years, I never recall my mother making this cake, Black Walnuts or no. Along enters Janet, a daughter of the south and keeper of memories. She instinctively understood how this recipe would make the perfect cake of necessity. Something her own ancestors would grow up on.

My mother is losing the memory of those days, so for her, Gramma Love has died indeed. Janet has passed too, yet lives for both of them in the creation of this tradition. As I passed the recipe off to my niece, April, the memory comes full circle, back to Loves. I have been left to make it myself several times over the past 3 years. Thanksgiving was our favorite occasion for this celebration of our ancestors. A seder of traditional foods honoring our connection in spite of time and demise.

I am hearing it now, "follow the instructions as they're written, don't mix it too much, pour the boiling water over the soda and chopped dates." I proceed, "oven set at 350, bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a broom straw can be stuck in and come out clean." And if it wasn't for one of the last things I would ever hear in her voice, to "bring the black walnuts," I guess I could let Janet die too.

 Note: bake in an 8 or 9" square pan.