It all started with a Prince

I’m going to take a somewhat broader approach to "What the Timeline Shows" today. For decades, my mother-in-law had a display of watch fobs and watches hanging on the wall just off her kitchen. When something has been part of your surroundings for that many years, it’s easy to take it for granted.  As her health began to decline about 15 years ago, I began to inventory all that she had as she had told me about specific items that she wanted certain persons in the family to have.  I began taking pictures of the items and then put together a spreadsheet that she spent months looking at and writing in names for those that she wanted to have an exact item.  Many items she gave to them while she was still living and I'm sure they appreciated what was handed down to them personally. I enjoyed the time I was able to spend with her. Those visits gave us the opportunity to talk without interruption, and I loved hearing her tell stories about her family, her childhood, and the peop...

By June 27, 1864, Nathaniel Gates Dillingham had been a soldier for nearly two years. When he enlisted in Company E of the 74th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, he was just twenty-four years old. His first months in the army had been difficult. Illness had kept him away from his regiment for a time, and he had been treated at Murfreesboro in the spring of 1863. But Nathaniel recovered and returned to duty. By the summer of 1864, he had followed the 74th through Tennessee and into Georgia as General William T. Sherman pushed southward toward Atlanta. Now, after weeks of marching, skirmishing and fighting, Nathaniel and his comrades found themselves facing the heavily fortified Confederate positions at Kennesaw Mountain. Nathaniel's regiment was part of the first brigade to attack.  The morning of June 27th dawned clear and cloudless and the Georgia heat quickly became oppressive. There had been considerable rain for a few weeks, but now the sun beat down, and the dampness made the heat ...

Often, when family news wasn't written down, you learned it almost by accident. Sometimes someone would mention a story in passing, or a conversation would uncover a little piece of information that had never been recorded. Other times, the discovery came while researching. Those unexpected discoveries are some of the most rewarding parts of family history. Just when you think you know the story, another clue appears and opens the door to a whole new chapter. My grandfather Harry Edward 'Ed' Porter was a quiet, cheerful man who could often be seen in his enclosed front porch rolling a cigarette with a red can of Prince Albert sitting on the bench beside him. That is the way I picture him back in the 1960's when I was a kid. Grandpa always seemed to be outside, and Grandma always seemed to be sitting in her chair in the house.  Ed Porter was the oldest child of William and Carrie (Barnhart) Porter. His siblings were Forest, Maudie, Raymond (Casey), and Arthur.  Young Art...

What happens to property when there is a second marriage and the 1st wife dies and then the man remarries to another woman who then outlives him? Richard Kinnan & Margaret Porter 2nd marriages for both September 2, 1889 - Tipton, Iowa And the second husband doesn't leave a will? Would the property go to the 2nd wife, and she could do as she saw fit with the residue? What if the husband didn't leave a will? Would his property automatically go to his children from the first wife? That is exactly what happened in our family. My 2x great grandmother Margaret (Matter) Porter Kinnan outlived two husbands. She and my 2x great grandfather John J Porter were married for 27 years when he died at the age of 67. Margaret and John had a small farm, did okay on it, but it was sustaining, not elaborate. In 1880, John was listed as a retired farmer due to severe rheumatism. Five years later he would be dead leaving a widow (who was 15 years younger than he was) and six children of which th...

My mother-in-law (Doris Ann (Daly) Conner Williams) was born December 7, 1933, in the small town of Columbiaville, Deerfield Township, Lapeer County, Michigan.  She was the oldest child of Margaret (Smith) and Kenneth J Daly. She had a younger brother Joseph and a sister Patricia. The family lived on the small 'Daly farm' that Ken and Margaret owned located on Miller Lake Road in Columbiaville. The family moved from the farm to Barnes Lake in the late 1950's. Doris attended Lapeer County schools, and in grade school she attended Sweet School located on Barnes Lake Road, a one-room schoolhouse and then went into Lapeer for her high school years.  Sweet School During the school year 1948-1949 she played basketball and even received a 'most improved' special award ribbon. This was via the Girls Athletic Club.  Girl's Athletic Club   Lapeer, MI Special Award Basketball Doris Daly Most Improved Noon Basketball Player Winter Season 1948-1949 Competitive varsity sports...

Often certain names bring to mind good people, good memories or good times. This prompt has been a tough one for me this week. I'm not sure why. But I struggled to find a story that was a good fit. Today, I thought what about my name. And my sister's names. There is a story in each of us. We are all more than a name. Carolyn was going to be a different name. Carol Lee? I remember hearing that mom had picked out the name, and then a friend had a girl a few months ahead of her and she named her daughter the name that mom had picked out. So, Carolyn she became. As the oldest, she has always herded us up and taken us with her even when she was a teenager. When she spoke, we listened. Maxine was named for a sister of my dad. Not the Maxine, but her middle name. But when the Polio virus affected her, my grandpa Sheridan stated, 'Oh the poor little Mick' and the name Mickie stuck. She has always been extremely competitive. Always striving to be able to do what everyone else wa...