HAPPY NEW YEAR! ! !

May your New Year be Healthy, Happy, and Prosperous!

2011

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Gage's first Christmas Card

You just have to see this precious little great-nephew of ours!  We got a Christmas card from Krysta and Mark today, which was a picture of Gage!  He's just too cute.  He's wearing the little Elf hat I made for him, too!

You can't tell I'm a proud aunt (great-aunt), can you?!

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Darling Newborn Knitted Hat with Ribbon embellishment link

Happy Monday Everyone! 

I found the sweetest little newborn hat pattern here at Ashley Knits. 


Ashley Knits

Go check out her new blog and give her some well deserved praise.

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Blog Caroling - Mary, Did You Know?

Please join the GeneaBloggers and The Footnote Maven in our annual Blog Caroling!  Here is my very favorite Christmas song.  Listen to the words, let these speak to your heart and soul!  View the video and see the Love our Lord has for each and every one of us!

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has come to make you new?
This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will calm the storm with His hand?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little Baby you kissed the face of God?

Mary did you know.. Ooo Ooo Ooo

The blind will see.
The deaf will hear.
The dead will live again.
The lame will leap.
The dumb will speak
The praises of The Lamb.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
The sleeping Child you're holding is the Great, I Am.

Merry CHRISTmas!!!





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Black Sheep Sunday

Growing up, our Dad told us stories of events that happened on the farm where he was born in Johnson County, Indiana.  This one story was about the time he, at age 6 or so, met John Dillinger. 


Photo source: FBI

This had to have taken place between May 10, 1933, when Dillinger was released from prison after eight and a half years, and July 22, 1934, the night Dillinger left the Biograph Theater in Chicago with Anna Sage and Polly Hamilton.

Photo source: FBI

It seems Dad was outside playing when a car pulled up the driveway to their house on Spearsville Road, just a few miles from Trafalgar, Indiana.  The man inside asked for directions, which Dad couldn't give him, being so young.  Dad ran into the house and got his Grandma 'Omi (short for Naomi).  Grandma followed her grandson back out to the car and gave the man directions.  She also told the man to wait while she returned to the kitchen and made sandwiches for him and his friends.  After the strangers left, Dad wanted to know who the guy was. He was told "John Dillinger."

Dad was so affected by this meeting with John Dillinger, he opened a video store in late 1993 in Port Richey, Florida named Biograph Video.

Dad's other grandma, Jennie, lived in Indianapolis on the west side of town near Washington Street.  At the time, I believe she was working at an auto manufacturer as a battery inspector.  She had one of her daughters and four granddaughters living with her.  Sometime between the time Dillinger got out of prison (May 10, 1933) and March 12, 1934, John Dillinger stopped at Grandma Jennie's home, looking for a place to stay for the night.  Grandma didn't have much, but wouldn't turn a stranger away.  She either had a spare bedroom, or gave up her own in order to allow this young man a place to lay his head that evening.  The next morning, before Grandma Jennie arose, Dillinger was gone, but he had left her a $100 bill on the kitchen table.

The reason this had to have happened before March 12, 1934 is the granddaughters tried to light the wood stove that cold morning and the house caught fire.  Grandma Jennie and the Baby Alice were the only inhabitants to be rescued by neighbors.  Her daughter and the three other granddaughters died in the fire.  Grandma was never the same after that and died about four year later.


Photo source: FBI

John Dillinger was a hero to the common man, similar to Robin Hood.  He personally had never killed anyone, until one policeman stepped in front of his fire.  It was unintentional on Dillinger's part.  However, if you live by the sword, you die by the sword.

John Dillinger died about 10:50 P.M. July 22, 1934 on the sidewalks of Chicago.  His father didn't believe the body to be that of his son, but the body was buried in the Dillinger plot at Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Indiana. 


Photo source:  http://www.findagrave.com/

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SUNDAY'S OBITUARY - Grandfather Hiram Logan

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And the Ancestor Approved Award goes to...

I was award the Ancestor Approved Award by Cheri Daniels at Journeys Past a few days ago.  I still have to nominate my 10 recipients.  So, without futher ado...

...the Award goes to...



1.  Jen at  http://www.jenasmart.com/
2.  Randy at http://www.geneamusings.com/
3.  Amy at http://wetree.blogspot.com/
4.  Grace at http://myfamilyrootsrundeep.blogspot.com/
5.  Grace at http://wanderinggraveyardrabbit.blogspot.com/
6.  Barbara at http://lifefromtheroots.blogspot.com/
7.  Amanda at http://abt-unk.blogspot.com/
8.  Colleen at http://omchorations.blogspot.com/
9.  Paula at http://paulastuartwarren.blogspot.com/
10.John at http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/


The award comes with the requirement that you pay it forward in two ways.  The instructions are listed below:

1. List ten things that you have learned about your ancestors that surprised, humbled, or enlightened you.

2. Pass the award to ten other genealogy bloggers.
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Art of Crochet by Teresa - Free Instructions and Patterns: Diamond Granny Square Variation C

Teresa at The Art of Crochet has wonderfully easy videos teaching stitches used in Crochet.  Here's a picture of one of her Christmas patterns: Crocheted Candy Cane.



photo source: The Art of Crochet by Teresa

 Teresa's instructions are great for beginners, and those of us that need a refresher every now and then!  Please check out the link below for a cool Diamond Granny Square.

Art of Crochet by Teresa - Free Instructions and Patterns: Diamond Granny Square Variation C

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HOMEMADE ICED COFFEE RECIPE FROM MOMMY'S KITCHEN

I ran across this recipe for homemade iced coffee and had to link it back for you!  It sounds soooo good.  Can't wait to try it!

This link will take you to Mommy's Kitchen for the recipe!

Enjoy!

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WEDDING WEDNESDAY-My Parents

Scrapbook page for our parents made by my talented sister, Kathy!

Our parents' wedding invitation.

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TOMBSTONE TUESDAY-Richardson Hensley Jr & Elizabeth Cully Hensley

My G-g-g-grandparents, Richardson Hensley Jr and

wife Elizabeth Cully Hensley

First Settlers of Hensley Township, Johnson County, Indiana



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ANCESTOR APPROVED AWARD!

I'm speechless - I've only been blogging for a very short while!  I have been honored with the Ancestory Approved Award by Cheri Daniels of Journeys Past! 

Thank you so much, Cheri!  When I read your comments, I experienced a most warm feeling wash over my entire body!  Very humbling, indeed.  I've read some of the comments previous recipiants have made, and both humbled and honored DO fit the bill!

The award comes with the requirement that you pay it forward in two ways.  The instructions are listed below:

1. List ten things that you have learned about your ancestors that surprised, humbled, or enlightened you.

2. Pass the award to ten other genealogy bloggers.

The ten things I've learned about my ancestors shouldn't be too difficult (I hope).  The ten other genealogy bloggers to pass this fabulous award on to should prove to be more of a challenge.  I will do my best!

1.  My paternal great-grandmothers died within a day of each other: October 30, 1938 and October 31, 1938.

2.  My paternal great-grandmother, Jennie Meeks Johnston, mother of my dad's mom, lost one of her daughters and three of four grandchildren in a house fire in March 1934.  Jennie and her other granddaughter, an infant, were saved by neighbors.  This took its toll on my Great-grandma mentally and she was never the same again.

3.  My paternal great-grandmother, Naomi Hensley Logan, mother of my dad's dad, was born about five months after her father died of typhoid fever in 1859.  She never got to know her dad!  She was the youngest of 10 children.

4.  This same great-grandmother told my dad the story of her mother, Matilda Tharp Hensley, taking her to Indianapolis in the Spring of 1865 to see the train bearing the remains of Abraham Lincoln home to Springfield, Illinois.

5.  My ancestors were very patriotic, many of them having served in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, and World Wars 1 and 2.  I'm proud of all of them!  I joined the DAR under Richardson Hensley's service during the Revolutionary War.  There are several other ancestors that I could also have used, but Dad was particularly keen on Richardson.  His son, also Richardson Hensley, served in the War of 1812.

6.  My maternal great-grandfather, Adam Finley "Fin" Aultz, was an accomplished musician.  He played in a local band in the late 1800s, played several different instruments.  That was when people got out to socialize in the parks, listen to music, & be with family and friends.  No movie houses, radios, televisions, or video games then!  Wish I'd gotten some of his talent!

7.  Hensley Township, Johnson County, Indiana is name for Richardson Hensley (the veteran of the War of 1812), the first settler of that area.

8.  Jennie Meeks Johnston had a very rough life.  I feel such pity and sympathy for her.  Her parents separated when she was about 14 or so.  Instead of going to an orphanage, she married an older man, my great-grandpa, Holman Johnston.  He was about 29 years old, she about 16 when they married.  Between 1897 and 1910, she was "in the family way" seven times, losing two of the children either at birth or in infancy.  They divorced, and she remarried by 1920.  She had the two youngest with her in the 1920 census.  The older girls were "farmed out" as grandma put it, to families that could afford to raise them.  These were, I suppose, like foster families.  It must have been terrible to not be able to provide for your own children! 

9.  I'm still working on my "brick wall" ancestor, John Logan.  The family Bible stated he was born in Ireland 26 September 1801.  Why couldn't he have listed the town???  We had my dad's yDNA tested, which follows the paternal line, finding we are cousins to General John A. Logan from Illinois of Civil War fame.  My brother looked an awfully lot like him! 

10.  Family lore had it that Jennie Meeks' grandmother was an Indian (Native American for the politically correct out there).  Thanks to a distant cousin, I found that Jennie's grandma was German/Irish or Scots!  No Indian blood, which was corroborated with the mtDNA test Dad had done.  Dad still doesn't believe me, and my second cousin in one of the Carolinas doesn't either.  She had always heard the same stories of the Indian named Storms.  Well, her name was Storms, but that was her last name, her first being Talitha (Aramaic for "little girl").  Her dad was Peter Storm, her mother was Sarah (Sallie) Haynes or Hayes.  Peter Storm was of German descent, Sallie probably Scots/Irish.  Talitha's husband, Abram/Abraham Knapp, could be the one with Indian blood.  He's also a brick wall, born in Pennsylvania between 1834-1838, living with the Nelson Jewett/Jewitt family in Indiana in the 1850 Census.  Abram was listed as 12 years old and his last name was spelled Napp.  Either he was an orphan, was "farmed out," or living with relatives.  One of these days...

I'll have to cogitate some on the ten recipiants...don't know that many genealogy bloggers yet.  Will have to get back to you!

Thanks again Cheri!

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SUNDAY SONG-Christmas songs Amy Grant - Sleigh Ride

Welcome to the last Sunday Song for this year!  Sunday Song will return next year, so please check Natasha's blog for more info.

I enjoy listening to Amy Grant's beautiful voice, especially when she sings Christmas songs!  Here's one, Sleigh Ride, that's so cheery, you can't help but feel good!

Merry Christmas!



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