Ella and Clyde Aubrey in the 1925 New York Census

I've been dabbling a bit more in to my family's history, trying to track down each time my direct lines show up in the census records, both federal and state.  It took me a while to find Ella Major Aubrey, wife of Daniel Columbus Aubrey, in the 1925 New York State Census.  She was my Great-Grandmother.  The family had been in Champlain or Rouses Point for decades.  But census takers, indexers, and transcribers do very funny things with the written word.

I finally found the family listed as Aubay.  Close.

"New York State Census, 1925," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KS7G-66F : 8 November 2014), Ella Aubay, Champlain, A.D. 01, E.D. 01, Clinton, New York, United States; records extracted by Ancestry and images digitized by FamilySearch; citing p. 5, line 29, New York State Archives, Albany.

But I did find another Ella Aubrey, this time in Niskayuna, Schenectady county, New York.  Schenectady county is just two over from Otsego county, where Ella's mother-in-law, Marie Vashrow Aubrey was enumerated in both 1920 and 1930.  Marie died in Oneonta, Otsego county, New York, which is just 72 miles from Niskayuna, according to mapquest.

I thought it might be my Ella.  Just a few years off on the age.  And has a son named Clyde.  This one is Clyde R. Aubrey.  My Grand Uncle was Joseph Freeman Claude Aubrey, but I understand that he went by Clyde.  Clyde R. was a Railroad Employee.  Claude/Clyde is listed as a machinist.  Many Aubrey men in Clinton county, New York were either machinists or railroad men.

"New York State Census, 1925," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KSH4-69R : 8 November 2014), Ella Aubrey, Niskayuna, A.D. 01, E.D. 04, Schenectady, New York, United States; records extracted by Ancestry and images digitized by FamilySearch; citing p. 15, line 30, New York State Archives, Albany.

I don't know who Clyde R. and Ella were, but I'm guessing they're not part of my direct family.  As always, more research to be done.

More on all branches of my family can be found here.

James Oliver Knowles

James Oliver Knowles is my wife's paternal grandfather.

James Oliver Knowles
Saulmon Cemetery, Gibson Co., Indiana

Registration State: South Dakota; Registration County: Brown; Roll: 1877787; Draft Board: 2.Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line].
Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; State Headquarters: Indiana.
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 [database on-line].
Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Just South Of Village Limits

The North Countryman - July 2, 1931

The North Countryman - July 2, 1931

Mustering Out

My Great-Great-Grandfather's Civil War Muster Rolls.  John Wesley Nichols served first with the New York Sixteenth Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Company K.

New York State Archives, Cultural Education Center, Albany, New York; 
New York Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, 1861-1900;
Archive Collection #: 13775-83; Box #: 68; Roll #: 911-912.

After mustering out, he served with the New York Second Veteran Cavalry, Company H.

New York State Archives, Cultural Education Center, Albany, New York; 
New York Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, 1861-1900;
Archive Collection #: 13775-83; Box #: 774; Roll #: 430.

images from Ancestry.com

Caroline's Camera

Caroline has always shown an interest in photography.  This year Santa brought her a Fisher Price digital camera.  Here's a sampling of some of her work.  She selected the captions.

Grandma

Signing Time!

Picture Frame

Caroline

Murray

Kitchen

Mouth

She doesn't quite have the whole "you have to keep the camera still" part of photography, but she's having fun.

Happy Birthday, Steve

Memorial Day

About six and a half years ago someone from Florida contacted me about a tombstone that she saw in Lakeland. It stands in the Lakeview Cemetery over John F. McDonald.

John F. McDonald was a member of the Regimental Band of the New York Sixteenth Infantry during the Civil War.



From Newton Martin Curtis' book, From Bull Run to Chancellorsville, page 324:

McDonald, John F. — 28 5, 3 ¾ wd m o Aug 9 1862 Re-enl Band 3 brig 3 div 20 corps m o June 12 1865 died Sept 22 1901.

Memorial Day is a time set aside to remember those men and women who died while in military service. John McDonald doesn't exactly fit that bill.

Please take a moment of time to remember those that have served and have fallen, both in and out of service.

Also, take a moment of time and thank those that are currently serving. Give them a call, send them a card or an email. They'll appreciate it.

I know that Veterans Day is a day to remember all veterans, but take another moment and thank those that served and are still with us. They'll appreciate it as well.

I say thank you to John F. McDonald who served alongside my great-great-grandfather, John W. Nichols.

I also say thank you to Anthony K. who is serving in Germany.

And a thank you to George Aubrey (my father) and Jim Knowles (my father-in-law), who both served our nation in military service.

I know other veterans who I did not mention. Please do not take offense at not being named. I thank you, too.

God is Good

Caroline has a new pacemaker. She gave us quite a ride this weekend. It started Thursday evening. She wasn't feeling well and was very lethargic. A trip to ETCH's ER showed us why. A lead on her pacemaker had fractured and the firing signal wasn't getting to her heart. The pacemaker tech confirmed the diagnosis. Both of her cardiologists showed up. Quick, but thorough consultations resulted in a decision to move her to another hospital in town.

She was transported to the UT Medical Center where a new lead was inserted. Heart Cath type stuff. The surgeon was able to juggle his schedule and Friday afternoon her old pacemaker was removed and a new one was inserted. 5-1/2 years of newer technology. Better battery life. Slimmer design.

The surgeon was able to perform the procedure without having to crack any bones. I saw her in recovery an hour or two after surgery. She recognized me, gave me a kiss and said, "I love you, fish head." We try to discourage her from that, but I told her it was okay.

On Saturday she was released, right after lunch. She's on simple, over the counter pain meds and a prescription antibiotic. She's still tender, but spent a day playing, watching videos, enjoying family.

I'd like to thank the surgery team, her cardiologists, the pacemaker tech, the nurses and hospital team, the transport team. I'm sure that I forgot somebody on the professional end.

I'd like to thank my family. Angie spent two nights, with her mom, at the hospital. Edison was a trooper. Jeff and Mary were a blessing to have as stabilizing force, as well as having good sense. Barb and Caitlin brought food. Many friends sent their well wishes and prayers. A few special friends visited Caroline at UT. Jim, my father-in-law, was there throughout, shuttling cars and people. He did more than that. He's seen a lot in his life and knows the power of God.

Even though I'm clueless as to the procedures that Caroline went through and exactly how the stuff works, I'm grateful for God's power and grace.

God is Good.

A study in Caroline

Caroline Wii Bowling

Thanks, Nana and Papa.

2009 Fantasy of Trees

East Tennessee Children's Hospital put on their 25th annual Fantasy of Trees.

One of our friends at ETCH was able to get us some complimentary tickets to the Festival so I took Edison and Caroline to the fun.

I took about 160 photos, so I'm not going to bore you with all of them. Really. Here's the best of them...

Caroline waffled about seeing the big man. But, simple distractions and about a 20 minute wait in line and we were next. When I asked her what she was going to ask of Santa, her reply was, "Paper. Crayons. Markers. Pupcake. No pie. Cake. A doctor's kit."

Now, this was not a pure quote, but more single word answers to prompts. She did fine meeting Santa, posed for the photographers (both the official one and me) and then I collected her. We thanked Santa, wished him a Merry Christmas and started to walk to the digital photo selection area. She turned back towards Santa and said, "Paper." I guess that she forgot to let him know her wish list or he didn't ask.

It reminded me of the scene in A Christmas Story when Ralphie tells Santa that he wants a football and then realizes that he should tell him exactly what he wants...

The Fantasy of Trees Santa was much nicer.

Ho. Ho. Ho.

Weather Girl

Caroline went on her first kindergarten Field Trip today. Her class went to WATE, the local ABC affiliate, where they toured the facilities and got to play on the set. Below is meteorologist Ken Weathers giving her some assistance.

And then she's flying solo.

The kids had fun and rounded out the morning with a stop at Burger King for some chicken and fry-fries.

Thanks to Diane H. for the photos. More photos can be found on Facebook.

Catch up

It seems that I've been neglecting this blog. I have, I guess.

To make up for it, I give you an image that I found over at FreakingNews.com...

I also share a wonderful episode of the Alfred Hitchcock Hour...



While I was sick this last week I had a chance to watch this. I'm a big Bob Newhart fan, and an Alfred Hitchcock fan. When these two worlds collided, I'm a double winner. Take 50 minutes from your day and watch this.

I was able to read some more of A Colossal Hoax by Scott Tribble. It is a very well researched book.

We celebrated Edison's 15th birthday on Saturday and Sunday. Ah, boys will be boys. Angie has a much better description of the weekend's events over at her blog.

I worked on a few PCs for some friends. Mostly updates and cleaning out cruft. I fought with a Vista laptop that did not want to give up the administrative password. I was finally able to use a tool that cleared the password. Bingo. Now to finish cleaning and tweaking.

There. I'm caught up. Probably not, but that's what you're getting for now.

Happy Father's Day

My brother said it much better than I ever could have.

I said some stuff. Mine, though important, seems almost superficial. His is much more real.

This is not a "Dad loved you best" Smothers Brothers take off. Steve just hit the nail on the head. With the hammer he stole from dad.

Steve, we're both winners in this game. Except that it isn't a game.

Dad, thank you for your leadership, your faithfulness to mom, to the family and to God. Thank you.

Happy Father's Day.

What I've been up to lately

Last weekend the family and I went to Michigan (via Chicagoland). Here are some of the things we saw...

A pair of very dedicated NASCAR fans. I guess they like Mark Martin. Or something. I would have picked another driver, I think. This is at a cemetery just southeast of Indianapolis.

Another gravestone just down the way. I'm not up on my chemistry. A little help?

We stopped in Homewood, IL, for Aurelio's Pizza with some of Angie's High School classmates. No, I don't remember all of their names.

Later that night we drove to Battle Creek, MI, for a few hours sleep before heading out to Owosso, MI. Our nephew, Daniel, graduated from High School. Daniel is on the right.

Coming back, somewhere in Ohio, we stopped for gas. This American Iron Horse was on the other side of the pump. I talked to the rider and he was kind enough to let me take a few photos.

We arrived home very early on Monday morning. Just enough time to unpack and catch some shuteye before attending Caroline's end of pre-school program. She'll attend a few weeks of summer school and then she'll be attending kindergarten.

Angie and I spent part of Monday crafting a to-do list of around the house projects. I've cleaned the gutters and tonight I put up the new light in the kitchen...

Before

After

We're still catching up on our sleep and a few TV programs that we missed. Okay, one. In Plain Sight. Good writing.

So, I'm off to bed with dreams of another item crossed off of the to-do list.

Happy Mother's Day

This is an ad from the Plattsburgh Daily Press, May of 1940.

Remember Mother this Sunday! Here are things she loves and never has enough of.

Like I want to go and buy her some "Fine Quality Heavy Rayon Panties." But it is a good price. The Hershey's syrup. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom.

I'm back

The trip to the North Country was nice.  Grammy's death was final, but not sudden.  The love that our family (both real relatives and family friends) showed was overwhelming.

The weather wasn't as bad as I thought it might be.

I won't take you day by day or meal by meal, but the days were long and the meals were good, from Rambach's Bakery to The Great Adirondack Soup Kitchen.

I saw Kite Skiing and Maple Sugaring.  I enjoyed laughter and endured tears.  I was with my family and I missed my family.


I know why I miss the North Country.  I also know why I'll probably never live there again.

But it was good to be there.  For many reasons.

Another one called home

I received a call very early this morning from the night nurse at the nursing home where my grandmother was staying. Connie was calling to let me know that Effie had passed away.

I haven't found the words to express myself, so I'll use the easy way out. Here's a blog entry about her from last year.

I love my wife

On the 30th of December we celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary.  

Monday afternoon we ditched the kids with Grandma and Grandpa and headed to Gatlinburg.  After a bit of sorting out some miscommunication about the hotel, we headed to Olive Garden for dinner.  It was not to be as the wait was about 45 minutes.  Not after thinking I messed up the hotel.  Relief was at Damon's Grill.  All you can eat ribs was the special of the evening.  After filling up we headed to the actual hotel, River Terrace.

On Tuesday we went to Pigeon Forge, to a little pancake restaurant just before the spur.  They were kind enough to give me real butter pats instead of whipped margarine.  We did some shopping in Pigeon Forge and then headed back to Gatlinburg.  There was a youth conference in town, so many teenagers were roaming the streets and shops of the mountain towns.  We headed out for a bite for lunch, ending up at McDonald's.  Not great, but better than waiting for some unspecified time for a table at some nondescript Chinese joint.  Then we found a popcorn shop that didn't understand the words, "No, stop.  That's enough of the cheese popcorn.  You can add some carmel corn now.  Stop.  Really.  Stop."

We wandered the Gatlinburg Mountain Mall where we saw an old friend at his photoshop.  Angie suggested that we might find a smashed penny machine.  She was right.

Back to the room where I took a nap, but not before our friend Andrea came and showered us with amenities that are found in the honeymoon suite.  Rose petals (strewn about the room and bed), chocolate kisses, sparkling cider, bath salts, that sort of thing.  We ate dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.  Angie had the fajitas and I had a California Chick Club.  Both were good.  We got to see several fun guitars and other memorabilia.  Pictures later.

Back at the room, Angie beat me at Five Crowns and then Cribbage.  I need to stop playing games with her.

Wednesday morning we checked out and headed back towards home.  A few stops for shopping and then Angie "called my bluff" when I suggested that we eat at Tony Gore's restaurant.  We enjoyed some good BBQ sandwiches.

The best part of the whole time was that I got to spend it with Angie.  I'm the luckiest guy there is.

What a long strange trip it's been...

It has been almost two weeks since I've blogged. Some notable things have happened during that time. Let's see. Sickness swept through the house. My folks showed up just in time to help with taking care of us. The fridge died and we got a new one. Edison turned fourteen. And got some cool birthday presents. I found and purchased Van Morrison's A Night in San Francisco double CD on ebay. And am falling in love with it. Caroline has some new books. And she loves them. Angie and I went and saw the movie Fireproof. And I love her. I filled up the van's gas tank for $1.709 per gallon. The first snow of the season fell. And through all of the busyness of this time, I am reminded of Paul's writings about about our Father...

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!

Ephesians 3:20