Resilience in Economic Reversals #ResilientRoots

My Great Great Grandfather started over again and again in his lifetime.  He had unexpected things happen that changed his financial situation many times but every time he picked himself up and started over.  He is a great example of economic resilience that we can look to now in times of economic uncertainty.  In fact, I find some comfort in the fact that he survived much, much more than anything I will have to now.  Family ChartMasters is doing very well considering the challenges the world is having and we are feeling very blessed for that. All of our employees have easily transitioned to working from home and we are keeping in touch with the tech tools my Great Great Grandfather never could have imagined.  It is amazing to imagine what he would have thought of our company today, and I'm hopeful that I have his grit and strength for whatever comes.

When Gaskell Romney was married in 1895, he and his wife Anna Amelia Pratt lived in Northern Mexico, descendants of pioneers who had survived many challenges to eek out a living in the desert.  After they were married, they built a beautiful farm and became very prosperous with good livestock and a thriving door factory and lumber yard.  They had a two story brick home with lovely landscaping, bountiful fruit trees and Gaskell was a leader in the community.  All this came to an end when the family had to flee with little more than the clothes on their backs from the Mexican revolution led by Pancho Villa. 

Gaskell took his building skills to Los Angeles for a while, but after two years of work with little to show for it, he longed to raise his family in a more rural setting.  So he and his brother moved their families to Idaho and bought a small potato farm in 1913.  The families worked hard to maintain the farm but with the economic effects of WWI, they were unable to make a go of it.  After two years of hard work, they decided to move their family south to Salt Lake City.

Arriving in Salt Lake bankrupt and in debt, Gaskell again started over building houses.  He worked hard and it took him twelve years to pay off all of the Idaho debts.  They returned to Rexburg, Idaho for a few years and prospered building homes until everything changed again in 1921 when the price of farm goods collapsed and the housing market followed. Gaskell found himself bankrupt for the fourth time. 

The summer of 1921 saw the family move back to Salt Lake City. Once again Gaskell put his architectural and building skills to work with the help of his sons.  Within 7 years he would lose Anna and two of his sons to tragic, unexpected deaths. 

Gaskell's son George Romney wrote: Even though Father was driven out of Mexico penniless, with a large family to support, went broke in  Oakley, Idaho, and later Rexburg, Idaho, and then again in Salt Lake during the great Depression he never became bitter. Furthermore, he didn't make me feel poor. He never took out bankruptcy, which he could have done several times. He and his son, Maurice, eventually paid off all his creditors.

His daughter Meryl likewise said she “never felt we were hard up. Our breakfast table in the tiny kitchen was a card table. Our two other homes had had attractive breakfast rooms. Mealtime was always a happy time for there was given love and spiritual uplift for meeting the day's encounters. We never felt poor or deprived. Daddy's great love, humor and concern were in abundance."

According to all accounts, he maintained a calm and gentle personality throughout his life.  He lived with a great inner peace that he attributed to his daily conversations with God.  His great courage,  common sense and integrity are a great lesson of resilience in the face of economic reversals.


Post written by Janet Hovorka, Owner, Family Chartmasters LLC

Viola Schwendiman Romney Talbot Thomas #ResilientRoots

Viola Schwendiman Romney Talbot Thomas (or Nama as we called her) is larger than life in my family history.  I've written about her here before.  Perhaps it is because she is straight up my matriarchal line, or perhaps it is because she had such a dramatic life, perhaps it is because she is the great-grandparent I knew the best or perhaps it is because she had many similar life experiences to mine, I feel very connected to her.  I've felt even more connected to her lately.  I've added the following photos to my desk last week, to help me feel her strength in this challenging pandemic time.  

Nama and her mother Ethel Schwendiman on the left, later in life.  The last pictures we have of Douglas with baby Doug and Eila on the two outside photos in the triptych. The only photos we have of Viola and Douglas together in the center of the triptych.  

I've been reading the history my mother wrote about Nama again with adult eyes.  Eyes who have been through alot more of life's messiness than the last time I approached her story.  I remember my mother interviewing Nama for this history on her porch when I was probably about 8 years old.  I was mesmerized with Nama's story telling and the amazing life she had.  But I never saw the depth of what she went through until recently. 

Last week, my mother and I took a little trip to see the houses where this part of my family history played out.  This house in particular was so moving to me. 

I don't know who lives there now, so I'm not going to record the address here, but it is in our family records.  It was here that Nama lived with two young children, Eila and baby Doug, when her husband Douglas left for a business trip to Colorado.  On that business trip, Douglas died of a burst appendix.  Nama was able to get to him in Colorado and say goodbye, but when she returned to this house, she was a widow at the young age of 26.  That event forever changed the course of our family.  Douglas was the great love of Nama's life, a faithful father and industrious community member.  He had saved $10,000 in a little canister in this house, and left Nama all of the information on his insurance and accounts when he died in the spring of 1928.  They had paid off the house and a car.  One would think this young widow was set, but Nama didn't know how to make it through the pain. 

Whittier Church, site of one of Douglas' funerals

Douglas had two funerals and the whole community mourned for a life cut short, a young widow and her two children who were not old enough to remember their father. 

Yale Church, site of one of Douglas' funerals

What I never noticed in her history, before now, was that when she came home, both her father and her father-in-law promptly borrowed $2000 each from this young widow to help with their own dire straits and never paid her back. She was unable to go back home and have her parent's help and her mother was a week away by letter. Her Mother-in-Law whom she had adored had died shortly before and Nama didn't get along with her new Step-Mother-in-Law. No one wanted her to go to work because mothers just didn't do that in those days.  And she had no support when she decided to go to business school.  She had a friend who helped with babysitting. But for the most part she was on her own as she navigated how to move on with life and especially the grief she had for her fatherless children.

When Gifford Talbot, her second husband came along, it seemed that he could help her get out of all the problems she was dealing with. Beyond all the other issues she faced, she also had the husband of one of her friends trying to marry her.  She said in her history that "I would have never married him in this world or the next, I don't think." But she married him after only knowing him for three weeks.  Her step mother-in-law fainted when she told her, and she only told her parents afterward.  He was good to her and her children and my grandmother adored her step-father.

Apartment building where Nama again heard the devastating
news that her second husband had unexpectedly died.

Gifford and Nama were planning to move to Phoenix in 1946.  Gifford went ahead and moved for work and bought a house in preparation for Nama to follow.  This time, the president and vice president of the company showed up on her doorstep to inform Nama that Gifford had unexpectedly passed away.  At age 44 she was instantly a widow again. 

My mother said that she remembers Nama always saying that she "needed a Miltown." Nama was always anxious that something else hard was coming her way and I really understand why.  When you go through something so shattering, out of your control and unexpected at a young age, it gives you an unsettling fear about what is coming around the corner.  I have a similar fear from similar circumstances but I'm working to deal with that in more constructive ways.  I also am thankful for more of a support system than Nama had.  She went on to have a happy life and worked through everything to be wildly successful in business.  I'm working on creating that strength too.

Hortense Carpenter: Stepping up to a challenge #ResilientRoots

I've talked about my Paternal Grandmother on the blog before, and I've spoken far and wide about the resilience she blessed me with through a quilt she made for me.  But I've never written much about the resilience she showed in her own life.   She was a strong lady who instilled lots of fortitude in me that is coming in handy right now.

Hortense Snow was born April 25th in 1911.  She was the daughter of  Erastus Beaman Snow Jr. and Rosina Christina Gregerson.  Her mother grew up on a ranch with lots of books, was college educated and taught school before she married.  She loved literature and taught all of her children about the importance of an education.  She loved to travel, entertain and use the good china--all qualities she instilled in Hortense.  

Rosina ran a dress shop in their town and Hortense was always impeccably dressed.  She learned to sew, play the piano and the clarinet, traveled and served a mission for her church.  After graduating from school and returning from the mission, one morning her mother came downstairs and said, ""Hortense, I've not slept all night. I have been worried about you. I don't think you should go to San Diego. You have said several times you might like to go to BYU. Get yourself ready and go on to college. I don't think you will find San Diego the same place now that your mission is over. I would like to keep you here to run the dress shop for me. I have considered selling you the business. I know you could manage the shop and do a good job, but I won't make an old maid, out of you." So Hortense packed up and left for college the next morning.   

Hortense was nervous about going to school but she enjoyed her home economics classes and decided to major in that.  She was president of her sorority and had lots of friends and boyfriends.  When she was about to graduate in the sprint of 1934 her mother took ill and died in April.  Rosina insisted that she graduate and not come home to care for her or she might not graduate.  Hortense did graduate with her teaching credentials and accepted a job at a high school for a year before returning to take care of her father and the dress shop.  

That fall, one of her teachers came to the shop to visit and encouraged her to go on with more school about consumer education and bookeeping to be better at managing the shop.  So Hortense left again after Christmas to continue her education.  There she met my Grandfather G. Alvin Carpenter.  After two years of writing letters, they married June 10th, 1938.  Hortense worked for the State Extension Staff as a clothing specialist until they married and moved to Reno Nevada. 

After stints with Alvin's job in Reno and Berkeley, CA, and getting his PhD at Cornell in New York, they settled in Logan, Utah and began to raise a family.  Hortense put her homemaking skills into her three children, Paul, Don and Colleen.   She was a wonderful mother and taught the children to be hard workers with a couple of acres of fruit trees, gardens. chickens and a horse.  Hortense canned and froze all of the vegetables and fruit that they raised.  She made sure the children all had piano, speech and art lessons.  During this time she finished her work on her MS degree except for the thesis.  She also renewed her teaching certificate.  Little did she know how valuable that would be soon in her life.  

After 16 years in Logan, Alvin moved the family to work for the University of California at Berkeley in 1956.  Shortly after, Alvin was diagnosed with diabetes and Hortense became worried.  To quote her son Don, "She wanted to make sure she could support the family if necessary.  So she began as a substitute teacher and then accepted a full time position teaching home economics at Alhambra High School in Martinez California.  This proved to be a great blessing in her life.  Not only did the extra income help during the children's expensive college years, but it gave Hortense the added peace and assurance, increased self-confidence and new opportunities to serve others in ways that were rewarding and satisfying.  Having raised her own children, she felt more competent, and qualified to teach foods and nutrition, clothing, family finance, and family life than she ever felt as a young college graduate teaching home economics."

After 12 years of teaching, Hortense retired at the same time Alvin retired from UC Berkeley.  They moved to Provo, Utah to be closer to their grandchildren and Alvin worked for 10 more years as a part time faculty at BYU.  It was then that I got to spend most of my time with Grandma.  Each grandchild got to visit by themselves for a week and Grandma taught us how to sew, needlepoint, cook and we went for long walks in the mountains where she taught me the names of all the wildflowers. She organized summer sewing and home economics classes for the children in the neighborhood with her many sewing machines and the room she kept full of fabric. She made her granddaughters beautiful clothes and we had huge family dinners on Sundays and holidays. She loved to hear the piano recitals her grandchildren would perform and she used her many sets of china and dishes for entertaining.   She taught me that I was going to college, it was just a matter of which school I picked.  She knew that it was best for a woman to be prepared to have a career, even at a time when many women didn't.  

I'm thankful for a grandmother who taught me so much about kindness, faith, and courage.  When she passed, 6 years after Alvin did on July 6, 1991, she left a great legacy of determination and drive that I draw on today.  

Post written by Janet Hovorka, Owner, Family Chartmasters LLC

Resilience in a Health Challenge #ResilientRoots

 I've written before about my maternal Grandmother Eila Mae Romney Dana.  She was a beautiful lady and a wonderful grandmother to me.  She was always generous and I never doubted for a moment that I was the favorite.  She grew up in challenging circumstances.  Her father died of an appendicitis attack while on a business trip.  That left her mother, Viola, as a single mother in 1928.  Eila and her younger brother Douglas were only 7 years and 2 years old.  Her mother went back to business school and then to work at the local department store while Eila and Doug were shuttled back and forth with family and friends.  Shortly thereafter, Viola married Gifford Talbot and Eila had a step father.  They moved several times while Eila went to school so she got good at making new friends.

I've written here about how Eila married my grandfather Darrell Dana in the middle of World War II and he shipped out the day after they were married.  Truly they were part of the greatest generation.  They made alot of sacrifices when they were first married, but they ended up in Southern California and raised three beautiful children.  My grandfather worked for United Airlines as a mechanic and then always had a second job as well to support the family.  Eila served in her church and took care of the children.  They enjoyed a few vacations when Darrell could get away and went to Disneyland as often as they could.

In 1967, just months after her oldest daughter (my mother) was married, Eila was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.  She started dragging her feet and couldn't do anything about it.  It quickly got progressively worse.  She was in the hospital when she received a note that my parents had called to tell her they were expecting me.  They released her in a wheelchair to go home for Christmas.  She was able to get up and around some over the next little while, but essentially when I started walking, she stopped walking.  Our trips to Disneyland included a stroller and a wheelchair.  

We visited my grandparents often to try to help as much as we could, so I got to spend a lot of time with my Grandma Dana.  She was a gentle soul and a great example to me of faith and peace amid crisis.  I don't remember her before the disease so I don't know if it made her more peaceful and ok with whatever comes.  But when I knew her, nothing rattled her.  I went to visit them by myself for about a week when I was about 8 years old.  I remember going out into the kitchen and trying to cook something--I'm sure I was making a mess. Grandpa was at work and it took great effort for Grandma to come down the hall and see what I was doing.  So she'd call to me and ask what was going on.  She was so patient.  And I have very fond memories of that trip and many other moments with her. When VCRs were invented, we watched many many hours of Disney videos together.  We loved Pooh Bear the most.


I never heard her complain although I knew she was frustrated with MS.  I heard her moan and grumble in pain when Grandpa had to lift her, but I never heard her speak a frustrated word about her situation.  Grandma and Grandpa looked for cures and help to get her walking again all through my childhood.  There was always some new hope that would help.  But nothing ever did.  Thankfully, medicine and help for MS would come, but by then, the disease had done too much damage.

One of the great ironies of their later lives were the chances for travel they had because of Darrell's career at United.  They had free tickets anywhere they wanted to go but it was so hard to travel with the wheelchair.  They bought a camper so they could visit their family members, and they did get to take a grand trip to Europe with their son Ken along to help.  Luckily they were able to move closer to the family in 1991 and they were able to stay close to their siblings, their kids and of course their grandchildren.

I remember lying next to Grandma in their adjustable bed watching TV one day when a program about Christopher Reid came on.  He had been paralyzed and was in a wheelchair.  She  shook her head and said, "I just don't know how he does it."  I don't remember if I turned to her and said, "Grandma, you're in the same situation." but I certainly thought it.  It didn't even occur to her that she was dealing with the same challenge.  It just was and she just dealt with it.

Alot of credit needs to go to Darrell too.  My Grandfather took exquisite care of her their entire life.  He rigged up a system in their bathroom so that she could use it without help and could be self sufficient while he was at work. At a time when men didn't take care of households, he took care of everything.  He was so good to her.   

Eila died in 2000, 33 years after her initial diagnosis.  She was the epitome of grace during a challenge.  The day she died, my mother sat with Darrell and thanked him for all of the years he took such good care of Grandma.  He said to her, "When you have something so precious, you take good care of it."  That is what both of my grandparents were to me--precious.  The 32 years I had with them were such an example to me, of true love, of perseverance, and of resilience.  I'm so thankful that I carry their DNA.

Post written by Janet Hovorka, Owner, Family Chartmasters LLC

#FGSRoadTrip

Kim and I had the greatest time recently, heading out to the FGS conference in FortWayne this year via car, instead of our more common mode of transportation--plane.  We had the greatest time.  You wouldn't want to do it all the time, but sometimes it is just awesome, peaceful, and exciting at the same time, to strike out on a long road trip.  As I mentioned on our Instagram and Facebook accounts, everyone should drive across this country every once in a while just to remember how big this place is.

I think it is so good to drive across this beautiful country of ours every once in a while to remember how huge this earth is and how many interesting people there are out there.  Flying is nice--and I wouldn't trade that modern convenience, but there is nothing like a long road trip to remind us how amazing our immigrant and pioneer ancestors were.

Along the way, we stopped at some of Kim's family history sites, including the motel that his grandparents built in the late 1940s.  It was such an awesome step back in time and we had so much fun. We were able to stop at his Mother's gravesite and leave some flowers.  That's always nice when we live so far away.  

I found myself taking screen shots on my phone while I was looking at Google Maps, to celebrate and record that we were there.  It's kind of like taking a picture, only better, because it leaves a record for future posterity of where something exactly took place.  I accidentally discovered a great new way to preserve your past and the present at the same time.

If you have an instagram account, be sure to follow us @familychartmaster.  We have lots of great new things planned for the account this fall including behind the scenes stories, new chart designs we are creating and weekly quotes about family.  And we'd love to post a photo of you with your Family ChartMasters' chart.  Feel free to send us an email with your photo and you could be the #fcmclients of the week.  

A Gift From Grandpa

George Alvin Carpenter About 1958

My father's father, George Alvin Carpenter was a great scholar.  He was a university professor who spent his career at UC Berkley and then retired and taught 15 more years at Brigham Young University.  He was an agricultural economist who helped rebuild the economy in Europe after World War II.  He was involved in research and teaching his whole life.

But he was not a genealogist.  His father Joseph Hatten Carpenter was.  Joseph was a prolific genealogist who I've written about before.  I suspect that my Grandfather Alvin spent most of his life feeling that his father had done everything that was necessary with our family's history.  I don't think he was really very interested.

However, I do remember once, when I was about 7 or so, my Grandfather sat all of his grandchildren down on the swing on his back porch and told us about our family history.  I was the oldest, my cousins were probably between 2 and 4 years old.  I remember Grandpa was trying to tell us something important, but it was really boring.  I didn't understand much.  But I remember Grandpa was really proud of his heritage.

About 1973.  I'm on the left with my cousins on the porch swing.  If my memory is right, this is the day my grandfather tried to tell us about our family history.

Being a university professor, I know Grandpa was perfectly capable of real research and he could have been a good genealogist.  However my Grandfather performed only one genealogical act in his life that I know of. He wrote a history of his father, Joseph Hatten Carpenter--the genealogist.  This book is only 145 one sided pages.  But that one small act had a great impact on me. 

The book was published when I was 10 years old.  Because I was one of the descendants, I got my very own copy.  It sat on the little white bookshelf in my room and on quiet nights, I would pull it out, and read about Joseph.  Even though I have many ancestors who were actually quite famous, Joseph was the one I knew the most about, and I became quite connected to him.  When the time came that I wanted to learn more about my family history, you can guess who I was connected to, and where I wanted to spend my time first.  I've traveled to the family history sites and archives researching along this line and I've learned alot about my patriarchal family because of this small book my Grandfather wrote. 

Grandpa passed the year I turned 16. It is hard to quantify the effect he had on my life.  Certainly my ethic for education came from him and that has been a huge influence in my life.  I could go on and on about other things I've learned from him.  But this small book has been a real treasure. 

When I started lecturing at Family History Conferences, my very first lecture was "Where to Start When It Is All Done,"  I talked about the family history my Great-Grandfather Joseph collected and what I've been able to do with it.  In that lecture, I often showed this book of my Grandfather's and talked about what an impact it had on my life and my family history work.  Diving into Family History when alot of work has already been done is challenging--just like it was for my Grandfather Alvin.  I tried to encourage the attendees by showing them his book and describing what an impact it had on me.  I told them that if they only accomplished one thing, it would be worth it in the lives of their descendants.  According to my records, I've given that lecture 34 times from coast to coast and my copy of Alvin's book has come along with me. 

But the most amazing thing happened last month.  My son Matthew has been helping my Dad go through his family history boxes.  And they found this:  A copy of the book that my Grandfather had actually signed to me.  It reads in part:

I hope that you will enjoy reading about some of his wonderful accomplishments.  May you learn to appreciate the great heritage you have as his great-grand-daughter.  With love and best wishes, your grandfather, G. Alvin Carpenter.

When they gave it to me I just cried.  It was like a pat on the back from my Grandfather for the work that I have put into this industry, trying to help people with this important work.  I felt like I had been fulfilling my Grandfather's wishes, to learn about our amazing heritage and honor his legacy.  And even though he never saw it in this life, I had learned to appreciate this history that was so important to him. 

Had I always had this copy of the book, I don't know that it would have had such an impact on me.  So you never know... you never know where the trail of breadcrumbs will lead your descendants.  How blessed I am for the people who went ahead of me and blazed that trail. 

What's in Your Attic and What to Do About It.

This Thursday I get to present a Virtual Chapter meeting for the Utah Genealogical Association with my Dad.  We've given this presentation at RootsTech and at the BYU Family History Conference and I really enjoy presenting this one because it is something that we all deal with.  How do we work together to deal with all the stuff we've inherited?

Here is the description:

Great Grandfather was a wonderful genealogist, but even with the best plan, three generations later some of his treasures are now hard for family members to find.  This Father and Daughter team wants to do better.  What is the best plan for digitizing and archiving the items in their family history boxes?  Where do they find the time and resources to implement that plan?  Where do we put the most important items so that all of the family can find them?  How do they make sure that all future generations have access to the stories, artifacts and pictures that bring recent and current generations to life?  

And here are the bios:

Don A Carpenter has a PhD in higher education administration from the University of Utah and B.A. and M.A. degrees from BYU.  He retired as Associate Commissioner for the Utah System of Higher Education (State Board of Regents).  He also served as Assistant Dean at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.  Don was president of the National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges, president of the National Association of State Approving Agencies, and  president of the  Jordan (Utah) School Board.  He currently serves as a volunteer collecting histories at the LDS Church History Library.

Janet Carpenter Hovorka received a B.A. in History and a Master's in Library and Information Science from BYU.  She and her husband Kim own Family ChartMasters the official printers for most of the genealogy software and database companies and GenealogyDOTcoach, a new online service that helps family history enthusiasts connect to professionals to get the specific help they need.  Janet is also the author of the Zap The Grandma Gap book and workbooks to help people connect with their family by connecting them to their family history.  Janet shares her passion for the nutrition family history brings to the soul on her two blogs and has written for numerous genealogy publications. She is a past President of the Utah Genealogical Association and teaches library science, business and genealogy courses at Salt Lake Community College.  


You can register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7882703811691568897

The UGA Virtual Chapter meets online on the third Thursday evening of each month, except December.  Free to the public, you can register for the live presentation by clicking on the link above or go to virtual.ugagenealogy.org.  You will receive an email confirmation and link to access the meeting when it starts.  Archived videos of these presentation are available to UGA members on the website.  If you would like to join the UGA. only $35 per year, go to ugagenealogy.org and select the option "Join UGA!"