See my original post for details about the photos from my dad's Army scrapbook and please let me know if you recognize anyone in these pictures.
Showing posts with label pictures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pictures. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Serendipity in Genealogy
My ancestors are not generally among the movers and shakers in history. They were average people living average lives. That doesn't make them any less interesting to me; it just means that if they appear in a newspaper at all, it won't be on the front page.
So when I visited the Depot Museum in Batavia Illlinois several years ago, it was to get a glimpse of the work done at the U.S. Wind Engine and Pump Company. My second great-grandfather was a blacksmith there for many years.
The museum was very interesting. The displays were wonderful - I took many pictures of the USWE&P display and was grateful to the volunteer who answered my many questions about 19th century life in Batavia. At the end of my visit, Marilyn Robinson encouraged me to sign the guest book and add the surname I was researching. She said other guests sometimes look through the book and connections are made. I signed the book and wrote the name "Tolf".
A few days later Marilyn mentioned my from-out-of-state visit to another volunteer. The volunteer asked what surname I was researching. Together they looked at the guest book. The volunteer (also named Marilyn) said Tolf looked familiar. When she returned home, (the second) Marilyn looked in the scrapbook created by her husband's great-grandfather Charles Wenberg. He had been a professional photographer in Batavia during the time my family lived there. Inside the scrapbook she found these pictures:
I know I thanked both women at least a hundred times. Marilyn Robinson has since passed away, but her extensive work in the Batavia Historical Society surely guaranteed her a place in genealogy heaven. I will be forever grateful to the second Marilyn who gave me something I would never have seen without her generosity. I'm also grateful to Charles Wenberg who wrote captions at the bottom of his photographs without which his great-grandson's wife couldn't have made our connection.
And to my Tolf, Åman, and Landström ancestors: For putting the two Marilyns and me in all the right places at all the right times - there are not enough words in my vocabulary to express the depth and breadth of my feelings.
So when I visited the Depot Museum in Batavia Illlinois several years ago, it was to get a glimpse of the work done at the U.S. Wind Engine and Pump Company. My second great-grandfather was a blacksmith there for many years.
The museum was very interesting. The displays were wonderful - I took many pictures of the USWE&P display and was grateful to the volunteer who answered my many questions about 19th century life in Batavia. At the end of my visit, Marilyn Robinson encouraged me to sign the guest book and add the surname I was researching. She said other guests sometimes look through the book and connections are made. I signed the book and wrote the name "Tolf".
A few days later Marilyn mentioned my from-out-of-state visit to another volunteer. The volunteer asked what surname I was researching. Together they looked at the guest book. The volunteer (also named Marilyn) said Tolf looked familiar. When she returned home, (the second) Marilyn looked in the scrapbook created by her husband's great-grandfather Charles Wenberg. He had been a professional photographer in Batavia during the time my family lived there. Inside the scrapbook she found these pictures:
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| l-r Charles Wenberg, Peter Tolf and Claus Pederson These three men were instrumental in founding the church below |
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| First Swedish Mission Church in Batavia Illinois |
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| Peter Tolf (center wearing tie) blacksmith foreman at US Wind Engine and Pump Company |
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| Peter Tolf and his wife Augusta Landström with their children (l-r) Ranghild Henrietta Katarina, Harry Wilhelm, and Raymond Johan Carl |
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| Helena Åman Tolf with daughters Christina Tolf and Amanda (Tolf) Peterson |
And to my Tolf, Åman, and Landström ancestors: For putting the two Marilyns and me in all the right places at all the right times - there are not enough words in my vocabulary to express the depth and breadth of my feelings.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Army Pictures: M C Smith
See my original post for details about the photos from my dad's Army scrapbook and please let me know if you recognize anyone in these pictures.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Army Pictures: 1952 Hamkin and Danley
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| Hamkin and Danley |
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| Hamkin and Danley |
See my original post for details about the photos from my dad's Army scrapbook and please let me know if you recognize anyone in these pictures.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Did my dad know your dad?
My dad loved to take pictures. He took lots of them while he was in the Army from 1949 to 1953. And as you can see from the photo on the left, he labeled them. On the front.
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| Daddy and Baggs in Grandma's front yard |
The only scrapbook Daddy ever assembled was the one that began with his Army pictures. A couple years before he died, he gave the bulging book to me.
When I saw those wonderful candid shots of Army buddies relaxing in their fatigues, smoking cigars, playing volleyball and generally having fun, I knew I had to share them. What if the other dads in the pictures shipped off to Korea and didn't return? These images could be among their last.
Enter Wordless Wednesday 2012. I'll be posting photos from my dad's collection once a week for the rest of the year. The pictures were taken between 1949 and 1953 when my dad served in the 17th Company STR in Fort Benning Georgia and Battery D 71st AAA Gun Battalion in Fort Belvoir Virginia.
Did my dad know your dad? If so, he may be in the scrapbook. Stay tuned!
When I saw those wonderful candid shots of Army buddies relaxing in their fatigues, smoking cigars, playing volleyball and generally having fun, I knew I had to share them. What if the other dads in the pictures shipped off to Korea and didn't return? These images could be among their last.
Enter Wordless Wednesday 2012. I'll be posting photos from my dad's collection once a week for the rest of the year. The pictures were taken between 1949 and 1953 when my dad served in the 17th Company STR in Fort Benning Georgia and Battery D 71st AAA Gun Battalion in Fort Belvoir Virginia.
Did my dad know your dad? If so, he may be in the scrapbook. Stay tuned!
