I think this topic deserves (another?) thread of its own, since I was thinking about my upcoming trip to Lewistown, Montana, near Buffalo, where my dad was born and raised, for his high-school reunion (the 70th!!!). Looks like 16 of my family members will be there, some of whom I haven't seen in years, or ever.

My dad has written his recollections, which are great, because they fill in some gaps and provide knowledge and interesting bits of information about the family (his and my some about my mother's) that might otherwise be lost. I also have the first volume of the Fairbanks Family, which goes from 1455 up to 1897 and includes my father's father. I'm 13th generation English from Yorkshire, and my ancestral home in Dedham, MA is the oldest frame house in the U.S. (1637) and a national historic site. I've visited the house and it is fascinating. I would like to know more about my mother's family...from NC.

Here's a favorite pic of my mom and dad, taken last summer:

 

What a delightful thread idea Thanks for thinking it up, Ms. Perky! My 2-cents worth includes a picture of Daddy and Bridget, taken last Thanksgiving. Daddy is 95 and Bridget (straight from Ireland as a child) is 83... both as 'young and in love' as any you've ever seen. They live separately, on their own... but 'get together' for 3-day weekends as often as they can. Momma died in '88, a week after their 51st anniversary, and has been Daddy's guardian angel ever since. I know she and Bridget would be 'Best Friends' if they had ever met.



Daddy, born in San Francisco (as I was) is Robert the 13th in his family, and a 1st generation American. My mother was born in Denmark... making me a 1st generation American on her side. I talked Daddy into writing his memoirs, and he compiles them on his computer and sends them to me. Yes, he is adamant that everyone should know how to use a computer and take advantage of the internet His stories can curl your hair... while others can make you laugh, weep and wonder.

My grandmother took Daddy and his sister, Aunt Eva, to England in 1911 for an extended visit with family and stayed at the family residence at Pitsea Manor, near Basilton. Truth be known, Grandma and Grandpa were separated at the time, and divorced after the war. Anyway, while they were in England, WWI broke out and they were stranded for the duration of the war. We researched Ellis Island and found the ships' logs of their comings and goings... but Daddy says they came through Hoffman Island - something I really can't find any information on. (If anyone has any information on Hoffman Island, please PM me!)

The second pix is of Daddy's Auntie Vi and Uncle Karl. They used to entertain 6-months a year with their quartet... then vacation around the world the other 6-months. If the pix comes through... you can see that the glasses on the table in front of them are in varying levels of water... and I can only guess that they were used to make music by running their fingers around the rims. Also, they used bells, had an accompanist on the harp, one on the piano (spinet)... and someone played the horns.



I could go on and on... but I'm already blushing at some of the brackground that I know Thanks again, Ms Perky... Great idea... I look forward to reading more input from others.

WHO'S NEXT???

 

I don't know too much about this but supposedly my dad's grandfather was a Portuguese cabin boy who jumped ship in San Francisco (last name of de Thomaso). My dad was born in San Francisco (last name Thomas). My mom was of English and Irish decent and some ancestor of hers came over on the Mayflower. Her mom was from Cleveland, Ohio, I think, but my mom was born in Florida (Steen maiden name). My grandmother's maiden name was Grantham. Unfortunately, divorce is rampant in my family's history. I mean that my mom and dad were married 3 or 4 times each, and their parents were married between 2 and 4 times each. With that kind of history I don't really care to learn much.

On the other hand, my husband's family has no divorces and the old grandparents stayed together till death. His dad's dad lived ot be almost 102. He was Hungarian.

 

I'm using this thread to post about my trip to Montana, since it is really part of my father's family history. I went out there with him for his 70th HS reunion. It was a wonderful time for all - seeing about 15 other family members from my dad's side and the beautiful Big Sky Country of Central Montana. He gave a very interesting talk at the reunion about the history of Central Montana - specifically the towns surrounding his birthplace of Buffalo.

He originally lived on the Little Belt Ranch at the base of the Little Belt Mountains. The ranch no longer exists, but we went up to the land where it stood. He went to the Little Belt School up to the third grade, when the family (Dad had two brothers and one sister) moved a few miles away to the Hastings Ranch. He left MT after high school to attend business school in Spokane, WA, then joined the Marine Corps, where he served for 26 years and retired with the rank of Colonel. My parents still reside in McLean, VA, in the house they have lived in since 1963. The reunion was held in Lewistown, MT, about 30 miles from Buffalo. Buffalo HS was closed in 1962. People from all the classes were at the reunion.

Here are some pics:

The Yogo Inn is where we stayed and is the former train station in Lewistown. Built when the railroad came in 1903. Yogo is the name of a local mine where sapphires come from. Yogo is an Indian name meaning "blue as the sky".


This is a barn (built about 1910) that was moved from the Little Belt Ranch to the Hastings Ranch in the early 50s.


My brother, sister, dad and I in front of the only remaining original structure on the Hastings Ranch - a log cabin built in 1928. The current owners have filled it with artifacts from those early days.


Cousins from my dad's side, including yours truly second from left.


My sister, dad and I in front of the feed store across from the Yogo Inn - also built about 1903 to handle barley and wheat. Notice the grain elevators to the right. We drove through miles of beautiful grain fields.

 

Deb,
Looks like a great trip. It was great that you father could return to the place of his boyhood and you culd meet people that you have so much in common with (family), but have never met.

 

Last summer, my family took my 90 yo mother-in-law back to her childhood farm home outside of Harrisonburg VA. Our tour guide was her 89 yo cousin....still driving his Cadillac Sedan de Ville The farm is still there....barn, fields, house from the 1800s. The house was empty (now rented to James Madison U students) so we were able to stand in the room where she was born 90 years earlier! She went to JMU when it was a 2 yr teachers college with ~200 students....now a power house school with >20,000 enrolled (could be more....maybe Valentine knows more)

Btw, thanks for the great pics, Deb! We love Montana/ Wyoming and visit whenever we have a chance. We have relatives in Livingston and Bozeman

 

Deb, that's awesome!

Being of Jewish descent, my ancestral roots are lost in the background of murky European diaspora. This, despite being from a very small family -- at least as far as the U.S. Suffins are concerned.

I know that three of my four grandparents were from Russia, and the fourth was from Romania. Knowledge of my family only goes back to my grandparents' generation, and you can see how non-specific that is.

It also turns out that my grandmother on my mom's side, particularly, was only interested in burying her roots. Things that my mom thought were true about her turned out to be fabrications. I guess, at the time when she came to the US, her European background was an embarassment to her, and she wanted to be "higher" than she actually was.

I find all of that rather amusing. I do wish, though, that I could reach back in time and really know who my relatives were.

 

When we were in Europe in May/June, I had a chance to visit the southern Schwarzwald aka Black Forest....just a day trip from Switzerland. This is the general area [ "Palatinate" ] from which the Kreiders emigrated....apparently to escape religious persecution as Mennonites in a largely Catholic area. It felt really eerie to think that my forebears may have lived very close to our location

Once my father's family arrived in the USA, I'm very fortunate to have had a spinster aunt [RIP] who did extensive geneological research.....in the 60s and 70s when there was NO Internet, FamilyTreeMaker, online Mormon database, etc. Her hard work (tombstone rubbings, trips to state historical archive libes, etc) resulted in two leatherbound volumes about the Kreider family....and all the other families marrying into the clan along the way. The first two direct-relation Kreider brothers each received 300-500 acre land grants from Wm Penn in 1741. OK....sorry to get carried away....

 

OK...a few more pics from the Montana reunion:

Dad in front of what's left of the Little Belt Ranch house


Cousin Chris and Dad in front of the Buffalo High School (closed in 1962)


Deb and sister Candy flying in style over to Billings


Deb and Bernie (HS sweetheart) in Lewistown (Had my own little reunion - )

 

My complete family history (on my dad's side)

Baber family tree