Sunday's Obituary - Laura Alpha Neibel Wilson

My Paternal Grandmother

Sentimental Sunday - Happy Father's Day, Dad from your Daughter!

This picture was surely taken within a few days of my birth.  My Dad, Arthur Howard Wilson was only nineteen years old when I was born, but he has been the best dad a girl could ever ask for. He has worked hard all his life, but always taken time for his children,whether it be coaching ballgames, hauling us around to our numerous activities, or just to be there when we needed him.

With a new generation of great-grandchildren coming into the world he has been just as involved if not more. Here he is in 2005 with my grandson Blake.  Happy Father's Day, Dad - I love you!

Sunday's Obituary - Daniel Gale "Danny" Smith

Daniel Gale Smith

Daniel Gale Smith


Daniel "Danny" Smith, 65, of Mt. Vernon, died at 1:20 p.m. Wednesday, April 13, 2011, at St. Mary's Good Samaritan Hospital in Mt. Vernon, Illinois

Danny was born Sunday, Dec. 30, 1945, in Mt. Vernon, the son of Diamond Milton and Doris Charlotte (Wade) Smith.

Danny is survived by two sons, William Smith of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and Daniel Nabors and wife Yvonne of Navarre, Fla.; a daughter, Shannon Thomas of Atlanta; six grandchildren; two special grandchildren, Chase Chelf and Alanah Chelf of Mt. Vernon; two sisters, Pat Wilson and husband Art of Mt. Vernon and Sue Stewart and husband Dwight of Mt. Vernon; several nieces and nephews including David Gale Smith, Jeremy Diamond Smith, Ted Wilson, Todd Wilson and wife Stacy of Mt. Vernon, Robert Thomas, Jennifer Clevenger and husband Ray of Centralia, Jamie Houle and husband Derek of Mt. Vernon (Danny made his home at Jamie and Derek's house, Teresa Rogers and husband Jim of Plantation, FL, and Tracy Hawkins and husband Lyndon of Apache Junction, AZ, Wade Stewart and wife Lauren of Edwardsville,IL, Paul Stewart and wife Patty of Buckner, KY and Danny Warner and wife Melissa of Chattanooga, TN; and two lifelong friends, Jeff Roberts of Sebring, Fla., and Kenny Rogers of Okeechobee, Fla.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a sister, Yvonne Warner; a twin brother, David G. Smith; and four nephews, Joshua Smith, Trent Wilson, Derek Warner and Donnie Warner.

Danny was a self-employed carpenter, and accomplished cabinet maker and woodworker, was musically talented and was a cherished brother, father, grandfather, uncle and friend.


Funeral services were held at 7:30 pm on Saturday, April 16, 2011 at Hughey Funeral Home in Mt. Vernon, Illinois.  Mr. Marty Mills officiated.  Cremation following the funeral service and inurnment of ashes will be held at Williams Cemetery in Jefferson County, Illinois at a later date.

Williams Cemetery, Jefferson County, Illinois

Note:  This obituary was created using the original obituary from the Mt. Vernon Register News, the Hughey Funeral Home Register and my own additions.

Ancestor Approved

 As is usual these days, I am running way behind, but I was pleased as punch when in December Shelley from A Sense of Family gave me the “Ancestor Approved Award.” The award was started by Leslie Ann of Ancestors Live Here in March 2010.  Thank you Shelley for your recognition of my fledgling blog!

Recipients are asked to make a list of ten things they have learned about their ancestors that have humbled, surprised, or enlightened them. Then they are to pass on the award to ten other bloggers who are doing their ancestors proud.

It's kind of hard to know where to start because it seems like everything I learn about my ancestors surprises me.  Just when you think you know what to expect they knock you for a loop!  And I think it goes without saying that the lives our ancestors led are very humbling to us all.

Where to start, what to say!  Well here goes:

1.  When I first started researching back around 1994 I expected to discover that my ancestors immigrated to the United States within the last one hundred years or so.  Imagine my surprise to find most of them had been here much longer than that, in fact, many coming here in the 1700's and some in the 1600's.  I only found one ancestor, who emigrated for certain in the 1800’s from Germany, my 2x great grandfather Sarillas Lofink Neibel.

2.  It was humbling to me to realize that my ancestors were flesh and blood people with real lives, problems, loves and hardships.   Somehow I had this cartoon picture in my head, perhaps from watching old movies where the people looked and acted silly.  This truly has been one of the most mind-boggling things to wrap my head around.  These people really existed and because of them, I am here.

3.  When I first started genealogy in 1994 I was more concerned with how many names I could put on my chart and how far back I could go.  Now I care more about what I can learn about the lives of the people I discover.  I am obsessed in learning who they were, how they lived, what they thought, what they experienced.  This sea change in my thinking has been truly humbling and enlightening.

4.  I know that some people start their genealogy research hoping to find some famous and rich ancestors.  Even though I have a couple of very "minor" celebrities, I find I am more proud of the everyday, working people in my family.  I come from a long line of farmers, coal miners, mechanics, plumbers and laborers.  These are the people whose hard work made America great and they truly humble me.

5.  I was amazed and awed to learn that I had ancestors on several lines that fought in the Civil War.  Some survived, some did not.  My 3X great-grandfather, Daniel W. Sewell came from a family of five brothers.  He and one brother fought for the South; their other three brothers fought for the North.  I can't imagine a more difficult situation than fighting a war knowing that you might end up facing your own brother on the battlefield!  Unfortunately, Grandpa Daniel died in battle at the age of 23 before ever seeing his first child.

6.  The wife of Daniel W. Sewell, Amanda J. Martin married two more times, had six more children and outlived all three husbands.  Somehow she managed to persevere and keep on going.  By all accounts she was a real "pistol" who really enjoyed life.  This is humbling.  I don’t know if I would have that much gumption.

7.  I was equally amazed and surprised to learn that I had several ancestors that fought in the Revolutionary War, one of those being my 5X great-grandfather Samuel Thompson Clemmons.  How wonderful to know that my family was part of the undertaking to secure our independence and create the wonderful country that I have been privileged to live in.

8.  I was shocked by the number of ancestors who were divorced.  Somehow I always assumed people "back then" didn't get divorced.  Well I'm here to tell you that yes they did!  Besides two sets of great-grandparents that I know of, it was always assumed that my great-great grandfather David J. Wilson's parents probably died sometime before 1850.  However, records now show they divorced and his mother remarried.  He went to live with his grandmother as a small boy and lived with her until adulthood.

9.  When I first began researching in the early 1990's I was very surprised to learn my great-grandfather Fred Ulysses Neibel first married Martha Ann Hunter in 1891 and they had one son Andrew Jackson in 1893.  Martha Ann died just one year later and Fred married Martha's sister, my great-grandmother in 1898.  They had twelve children, one of which was my grandmother, Alpha Laura Neibel Wilson.

10.  And finally, I am always surprised to find that I can still be surprised.  Just when you think you seen and heard it all, you haven’t!  There is always some new and exciting discovery that knocks your socks off!

Stay tuned for my list of ten deserving bloggers to pass the award on to. 

Sunday's Obituary - Otis Greene Wilson

My Great-Grandfather Otis Greene Wilson
Born:  23 Apr 1872 Mt. Vernon, Il
Died:   16 May 1958 Napa, CA
Father:  David Johnson Wilson
Mother:  Anzonetta Carolina Daniels

Otis Greene Wilson 1872 - 1958

Sunday's Obituary - Howard Mathis Wilson

Howard Mathis Wilson

Advent Calendar Day 3: Christmas Ornaments & Triggered Memories

Me (Teresa) Ted & Tracy Christmas 1968

I don't remember us ever having any special ornaments when I was growing up, but when I was perusing old Christmas pictures I noticed a few things about this picture of Christmas 1968.  One is that I am sure this was another artificial tree, but it was bigger and it was green!  The second is that there are two garlands on the tree, one is made out of popcorn and the other of interlocking construction paper strips.  This triggered a memory of sitting at the kitchen table with my Mom, brothers & sister, making these garlands.  Funny how you forget these things, but they are still there buried somewhere.

 

Me & My 2 Brothers, Sister & 4 Wilson Cousins

I remember other things about this Christmas; I was in the eight grade and was excited because our cousins from Ohio were coming for the Holidays.  We lived in what we thought was a really cool house on a hill on Stanley Avenue in Mt. Vernon, IL (looking back that house was a nightmare - maybe more stories about that later).  My Mom was busy cooking and getting the house ready.  We always had a wonderful time when our cousins came for a visit.  Christmas is always special when spent with family. 

Advent Calendar Day 2: Chocolate and the Christmas Elf

Amazingly enough with all the wonderful family Christmases we celebrated when I was growing up, I don't remember any special foods.  I think we just always had the typical - what I call mid-western fare - turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, green-bean casserole, cranberry sauce (yuk), etc. to name a few.  But, the one thing that always sticks out in my memory is the big platter of Brach's chocolates that my paternal grandmother Alpha Wilson always had at her house in Bonnie, IL.  She would buy bags of just about every kind of Brach's chocolate and the platter had divided sections for each type of chocolate.  She placed this on her coffee table and it was oh, so tempting to little, budding chocoholics!

Teresa Christmas 1958 Age 3

Here's another picture of me, at three years old, in costume like a Christmas elf, slyly sticking my hand in for another chocolate caramel after being told I couldn't have any more.  Are you starting to see a pattern here with me in the holiday get-ups?  This was totally my mother's fault! She obviously had some sick obsession with dressing her only child up in cutesy Christmas garb for the entertainment of others.  I don't miss the costumes, but I do miss my Grandma and her chocolates!

Advent Calendar: Me and The 1960 Christmas Tree

Me (Teresa) Age 5 December 1960

Not a great picture, but I wanted to show off the scrapbook page I made of myself in front of our small tinsel Christmas tree in December 1960.  For some reason we almost always had artificial trees when I was growing up, I'm not really sure why, but it didn't take away from the magic of the season.  This particular Christmas I remember vaguely.  I had a new four month-old baby brother, Ted who I was not too fond of since I had been the only child for five years.  I remember the house we lived in - it was a small, new, two bedroom house.   It is still there on the outskirts of town and occasionally when I go home to visit my parents I will drive by it, but I don't really have a lot of memories from that house.

I'm sure my Mom probably put up the tree as my Dad worked a lot of hours, maybe that is the reason for such a small, artificial tree.  Every year we followed the same tradition; Christmas Eve we went to my maternal grandparent's house -  Grandma and Grandpa Smith to open presents.  Then on Christmas day after opening our presents at home we would drive out to the country to the old family farm in Bonnie, IL to my paternal grandparent's Grandma and Grandpa Wilson.  There all my cousins would converge and we would spend a grand day opening presents, playing games and eating a big dinner.

I guess in a child's mind it's not the size of a tree or how it's decorated, but the promises of treasures to come and the memories it leaves behind.

Tombstone Tuesday - Otis Greene Wilson - Jefferson Co, IL

My paternal great-grandfather, buried next to his ex-wife (my great-grandmother), Dora Hayes Wilson Moore and their son Leslie Wilson.  Otis was born in Jefferson County, IL on 23 Apr 1872 and died 16 May 1958 in Napa, CA.  Dora was born 20 Sep 1873 in Jefferson County, IL and died 19 Jan 1941 in the same county.  Their son Leslie was born 18 Sep 1906 and died 14 Jun 1938, both in Jefferson County, IL.  They are buried in South Hickory Hill Cemetery.

Military Monday - WWII - Howard M. Wilson - Of Great Character

My paternal grandfather, Howard Mathis Wilson, was a kind, quiet, hardworking man who was born on a farm in Bonnie, IL on 12 Apr 1909.  He held a number of jobs in his lifetime including farmer, deputy sheriff, and security guard.  He raised his family in Bonnie and when World War II began he wanted to do his part.   In 1943 at age 34, even though he had a wife and four children, he enlisted to do his patriotic duty.  He entered the service as a Private First Class and was assigned to duty clearing roads.  According to an interview with my cousin, Vickie Kane, he felt that he wasn't doing enough, so he lied about his age and tried to get in the paratroopers.  He was turned down and sent to Burma, where he cleared roads and built bridges, an honorable and necessary service.  He told my cousin that he never saw action, but heard gunfights close by.

Joining the service was a hardship on his family; they had to leave their family home and stay with relatives while he was away serving his country.  He never talked much about his war service, but after his death his my aunt related this story to my cousin about his character.  He observed his Sergeant beating one of the native workers who helped out the American troops.  My Grandfather, who had a very strong sense of right and wrong, stepped in to stop the abuse and for this he lost his stripes.  He died on 11 Nov 1994 and his family remembers him with great love and remains very proud of his service and caring attitude.

Funeral Card Friday - Trent Howard Wilson

In Memory of My Brother, Trent Howard Wilson,           2 Dec 1961 - 15 Oct 1988

This is a hard post for me, my brother has been gone for twenty-two years now and it still brings tears to my eyes.  He would have been  forty-nine this December.  He was energetic, fun-loving, loved cars and motorcycles and was well-liked by everyone who knew him.  He is greatly missed by his friends and family. 

Wedding Wednesday - Howard M. Wilson & Alpha Laura Neibel

Howard Mathis Wilson & Alpha Laura Neibel 

My paternal grandparents, Howard Mathis Wilson and Laura Alpha Neibel who married in Kankakee, IL 17 May 1930.
 
Howard was born 12 Apr 1909, a son of Otis Greene and Lily Dora Hayes Wilson, in Bonnie, Jefferson County, IL.  Alpha was born 30 May 1910, a daughter of Fred Ulysses and Lucy Jane Hunter Neibel, in Harrisburg, Saline County, IL.  Both were working in the Chicago area when the married.  They later returned to the family home in Bonnie, IL.

Sunday's Obituary - Diamond Milton Smith

My Grandfather - Diamond Milton Smith 1910 - 1997

My Personal Family History Blog

Well, this is my second blog - I'm sure most people would start their first blog on their own family history, but as I never do things in the usual order, I started my first blog on my husband's family history -  Rogers Family History.  This blog will primarily be to help me sort and document all the information I have on the Wilsons and Smiths, my paternal and maternal surnames and all the other names that are therefore tangled within these names.

My children, my two sons, have up to this point, absolutely no interest in their heritage; however I hold out hope that someday they will appreciate what I have done.  If not, oh well, I have enjoyed the journey!