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

Adapting in Trying Times

This is my paternal great - grandfather and great - grandmother. Their names are Benjamin Butler Wallace and Rosa Olive Owen. They met and married in 1916. They had seven children, six boys and one girl. They had a family farm, and a daily milk route. They did not have much by worldly standards as they raised their kids. Despite not having much, Benjamin always thought with his heart and made sure to do everything in his power to make sure that his children were given everything they needed and that his wife was treated like a queen. These two individuals showed their children that with hard work, love and faith you can not only survive, but you can be the difference in other people’s lives. 

During the Great Depression, their dairy operations continued, but not all of their customers were able to pay. My great-grandfather knew that even though some of the folks on his route couldn’t pay (and they couldn’t necessarily afford for people not to), the milk that he was delivering was a necessary part of their diets. So he continued to deliver and told them not to worry about paying until they could afford it. He also allowed for the trade of goods or services and payment during these hard times. 

My great - grandmother, Rosa, had a motto, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” This is a motto that was definitely lived by. My great-aunt, their daughter, Dorothy, recounted in her memories a great example of this. “When I was four years old, Mom made me a dress out of her old one on her treadle sewing machine. (She mentioned this in her diary.) If something could be used again, or for something else, it was accomplished. Mom even ironed the Christmas wrapping paper that had been used so it could be used the next Christmas. During the War, flour bags were made of material printed with attractive designs. I remember how excited I was when Mother made me a dress from one!”

Learning more about my ancestors, constantly gives me a greater appreciation for the sacrifices they made and for the life that I have.

Post written by Amberley Wallace, Designer, Family Chartmasters LLC

Holiday Family History Activites

The kids are home from school for a couple of weeks.  Or maybe you have grandkids visiting?  I'm sure you'll do some fun things together, but I hope you'll also incorporate your family history.  As I've said many many times before, family history is the one thing that your family shares, that no one else shares with you.  It brings so many healthy benefits to your descendants and it is the best team building exercise there is.  So here are a few ideas about how to incorporate a little family history into your holiday break.  

And speaking of breaks.. we will only have a skeleton staff on call until we all come back into the office on January 8th.  Our team has worked incredibly hard this last couple of months to make sure all of our clients have the perfect holiday gift.  So we feel that they really need and deserve some time off to spend with their families.  If you need a chart soon, feel free to send your information in for a free consultation at https://familychartmasters.com/consult but just know that we'll be a little slower through the holidays.  If you need it soon though--feel free to tell us what your deadline is.  We'll always work really hard to meet any deadlines you have.  

And now on to the ideas...

1. Watch your family history together.  Ready for a nice relaxing movie all wrapped up in blankets and drinking cocoa?  How about picking one with a family history theme?  Maybe there is a show with ties to your family history.. such as Fiddler on the Roof or Gone with the Wind.  Or you could choose a show that celebrates family history such as Disney's Moana or Coco.  

Make a gingerbread house of a historic place in your family

2. Cook your family history together.  I've shared many times how much my family's holiday cooking takes in our family history.  This year I bought some Krankenkake molds and we're going to try this new recipe together.  As you cook together, or eat together, make sure you pass on the history behind your tradition.  

 

3. Fill out a chart together.  With our new 2019 on-trend designs, you can inspire descendants to new genealogical heights as you work on a chart for their own home together.  Filling out a chart can prompt story telling and explanations that may not come up otherwise.  The perfect takeaway from Grandma's house.  

4. Talk about the heirlooms you have (and maybe gift them to family members).  Maybe you have some holiday heirlooms on display.  Or maybe you have a box set aside that needs to be organized.  Get your family involved in family history by giving them ownership and helping them see the interesting assets you have in your family.  

5. Check out more ideas in our Zap the Grandma Gap books.  The Zap the Grandma Gap books and workbooks are chock full of ideas for family activities that work with kids of all ages (even my Dad)  Order the physical books or get them quickly in eBook form at zapthegrandmagap.com

Let me know how it goes at janet@familychartmasters.com.  And watch the blog--I'll report back too.  Have a wonderful holiday break!

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. 

Happy Veteran's Day

I love Veteran's Day.  It makes me so grateful for the sacrifices that have been made for me.  I don't come from a particularly military family, but I do have ancestors and a brother-in-law who have served and we just can't thank them enough.

My Maternal Grandfather, Darrell C Dana shipped out the day after he married my Grandmother Eila.  They had a long happy marriage, but what a way to start.  It makes me sad to think of how lonely my grandmother must have been as a newlywed.

The day after he was married to Eila.

My Paternal Grandfather George Alvin Carpenter worked with German POWs here in the Western United States. He had spent time in Germany previous to the war and he knew German so he was able to get along with the prisoners better than most.  He had alot of compassion for them. The family story is that they were working in agriculture and when they hoeing beets, the first one finished was allowed to stand up and salute the German Army.

A couple of years ago, my daughter and I created a little video about some of the decorations we had created to honor the service of our veteran family members.  I enjoyed working on that with her and we both learned more about the sacrifices that had been made in our family.  It was a fun project. Take a look:

At Family ChartMasters, we honor our military year round.  We have special embellishments you can use to designate service.  You can see them and many of our other designs at https://familychartmasters.com/embellishments.html#emblems  We're always happy to work up something special for your family.  Some of the military icons are included here:

You can see a chart we created with some of these emblems here:

You can see she added military notations for the people who had served.

We'd love to create a beautiful chart for your family honoring the ancestors who have served as well.  You can start by sending in your information for a free consultation https://familychartmasters.com/consult/  We'll send you an online preview and work back and forth with your suggestions and more previews until it is the perfect way to honor your family.  Let us know what we can do to help you easily make a beautiful chart.

Holiday Heirlooms Can Help Connect Your Family To Their History

When I was about 8 years old, and my little sister was about 6, my Mom helped us create a little salt dough nativity set for my Matriarchal Grandparents Darrel and Eila Dana.  We carefully crafted the pieces and painted them and sealed them with shellac.  We even made a card with our Shrinky Dinks and signed our names.  I was surprised how much Grandma loved that nativity.  It was always displayed in a place of honor at Christmas time.  When she passed, my Mother saved them for me.  They are a sweet reminder of my Grandmother and the love she had for me.  

Another holiday heirloom in our home is a beautiful Christmas ornament that was smocked by my Patriarchal Grandmother Hortense Carpenter.  She was always the consummate homemaker with lavish parties and great food and a whole room of fabric she used to create beautiful things.  She had taken a smocking class in the late 1970s and that Christmas she invited each of her grandchildren to take home an ornament from her tree.  She was surprised when I chose this ornament she had made because she didn't think it was her best work.  But even at that young age, I knew and heirloom when I saw one.  I think she was pleased that I took it and she knew I would treasure it and pass it down in my own family.

Each year when we get out the Christmas decorations, I love to tell my kids about the wonderful ladies that my Grandmothers were and how much they loved me.  I love to think about them as I see these things in my home and honoring them has become part of my holiday season.  Do you have any holiday heirlooms that you use during this time of the year?  Maybe a Menorah that has been passed down, or some beautiful dishes?  Be sure you are telling the stories of these people and helping the next generation of your family feel the appreciation you have for those who have made your family what it is today.

We wish you the happiest of holidays with you and yours.  Thank you for being part of our conversation this year.  We really appreciate you and look forward to spending many more years celebrating our family histories together. 

Family History Table Decorations

Recently, a good friend asked us to create placemats for his wedding luncheon.  We put together a chart that showed how all of his family members were related to the new couple and designed it to match the wedding decorations and invitations.  They turned out beautifully and I'm sure they were helpful to make sure that everyone new who was who at the party.  It was a brilliant idea, and we were happy to be part of it.

It reminded me of the table runner I created last thanksgiving.  Copying an idea I had seen on pinterest, I put together many of my family's pictures and we printed the piece on vinyl so that it would hold up to lots of use. It brought a new level of meaning to our Thanksgiving table to sit and look at the faces of the people who brought us to where we are now. 

Any of our charts can be adjusted to create placemats or table decorations.  We can print on vinyl, or laminate regular paper.  You could even use our game cards to make a game out of it and see what your family knows about their family history.  Really any kind of genealogy chart could work, such as examples from our gallery like this one, or this one or this one. 

I hope your family has a wonderful holiday season together.  We'd be happy to create a table runner or some chart placemats or runners for you as well.  And remember with any of our charts, after the first copy, any extra copies are 1/2 price.  Just send your pictures and/or your genealogy information via our free consultation.  We REALLY CAN create any kind of family history art presentation for you. We love bringing your family memories front and center in your modern family to enrich and strengthen those around you now. 

How much can you fit in a month?

I was gone 22 out of 33 days recently, and my oldest son graduated from High School in the 10 days I was home. (You can see why I haven't gotten much blogging done.)  Too much fun.  Here's the update:

First I got to go to the National Genealogical Association Conference in St. Charles Missouri.  It was a great venue and of course lots of good people to talk to.  We did our Outside the Box sessions in the vendors hall and I got to talk to lots of people about charts they wanted to create for their family reunions this summer.  It was a quick trip but very productive.

 Then I was home to mark some major passages in our current family.  My oldest graduating from High School and my youngest graduation from Jr. High.  I can't believe how fast a family grows up.  Time marches on.  Even though I'm a genealogist, I try not to think about that too much.  :)

And then we took off on an actual family vacation of our own.  Thanks to these wonderful ladies we were actually able to really get away.  Erin, Christine and Wendy took wonderful care of our clients while we were gone.  That takes alot of trust.  I'm so thankful for these ladies.  We are so blessed to have them. 

And where did we go?  Family History sites of course.  We started at Niagara Falls and worked our way around the great lakes region, down into Illinois and up to Wisconsin where Kim grew up. 

We got to see several sites where my ancestors lived and worked in New York and Ohio. 

This is me in front of a house one of my ancestors built in 1843.  There was actually a store in the part of the home on the left side of the picture.  My mother's ancestor who built the home was in business with one of my father's ancestors here.  How cool is that?

I actually caught a good smile in a selfie with another ancestor's home. The teenagers had fun, but they did there best to make sure I didn't capture any proof of it.  Here I outwitted him :)

And then we took the kids to see where my husband Kim grew up in Wisconsin.  None of them had been there since they were babies, so they had no memories of it.  It was so, so cool to teach my kids (and remind myself) about where my husband came from and the forces that formed his early life.  I gained a much greater appreciation of who he is, and how far he has come and I think the kids did too. 

We taught the kids about their grandmother who died shortly before my daughter was born.  We are so grateful now that we took the time to record her 40 page oral history shortly before her death.  While we were reading that history on the trip, my kids were excited to find out that she ate chocolate and coke for breakfast while she was in High School.  They learned alot of other things too of course, like her love for antiques.  We took the kids to a store where she had sold antiques and immediately they became antique hounds too.  It is funny how apples fall so close to the tree, even when they hadn't been exposed to that much before. 

A really special time on the trip was when we got to go visit Kim's mother's grave.  My kids had never been to their grandmother's gravesite.  Kim got to clean the gravestone and we talked and had some moments of reflection there.  It was really sweet to say a prayer at that site sacred to our family.  Such a family bonding moment for all of us. 

The property that Kim's grandparents owned and where he lived for a time is now a motel and RV park so we actually stayed on the same property while we were there.  So cool!  It is a beautiful area and I can see why Kim misses the beautiful lake he grew up on. I think Kim enjoyed showing us around and I don't think it will be so long before we go back again next time. 

Then, 24 hours after we got home, my son Matthew and I took off for the Southern California Genealogical Society conference in Burbank, CA.  One of my favorite conferences (more on that in the next post) I have taken one child with me every year for the past several years.  This year was Matthew's turn and it was even better since they had asked him to speak.  We had a good time, just the two of us.  We checked out the Aquarium in Long Beach before the conference, were able to hit a few DNA sessions and then set up for the conference. 

Matthew was a great help at the booth.  It was nice to know things were taken care of while I gave my lectures and talked to some of our partners.  I really appreciate how everyone is so welcoming to him when he helps us out at conferences. 

And of course he nailed his "Get to Know Your Geezers" lecture.  It was livestreamed and in it he mentioned that you could use Elizabeth Shown Mills' book Evidence Explained to cite numerous sources--even a can of soda or the Declaration of Independence--and it has a "great plot".  Someone told her about that on facebook and she got a good laugh from that.  I'm just stinking proud of him no matter what sources he's citing.

It was a whirlwind but oh so fun.  I came back home to family reunion season in full swing so it has been busy busy busy.  But I love it.  This is what I've chosen and my life is awesomely full.  I am so blessed to get to work with and work for genealogists.  We've been creating some amazing charts for people already this summer.  Let me know when we can create one for your family. 

My Jewish Ancestor

We're so excited to show off some details about our new books.  Today we are going to focus on the "My Jewish Ancestor" Activity Book. 

First I have to give a big thank you to Schelly Talalay Dardashti, Daniel Horowitz, and Tammy Hepps for their feedback.  All three were so generous with their time and help and the book is much better because of their contributions.  I am indebted and in awe of their genealogy expertise. 

You can take a look at the entire Table of Contents in our preview on the Zap The Grandma Gap website. 

With the “My Jewish Ancestor Activity Book” you can:
· Learn about Jewish history, traditions and culture
· Make and braid Challah bread with your family
· Solve a Jewish calendar crossword puzzle
· Record your family’s recipe for Charoset
· Find your family’s place in the Diaspora
· Learn the Hebrew alphabet
· Complete a genealogy word search
· Enjoy a Yiddish folktale and Nasrudin stories
· Color, cut out and tell stories with Jewish ancestor paper dolls

· Explore many other activities about your family’s history

Look at some of these pages:

 

This book will arrive in time for Chanukah gift giving if you order now. Take advantage of the pre-release sale, 20% off all books at zapthegrandmagap.com, until November 30, 2014. Excerpts from all of the books can be viewed on the website at zapthegrandmagap.com/brandnewbooks. Other great online and print resources can be found at zapthegrandmagap.com
to help families connect to each other by connecting to their past. 

This post crossposted to blogspot.zapthegrandmagap.com