Saturday, March 27, 2010

Fluffy

                                                                             Dec. 4, 2009
Aug. 17, 2008

                                                                       May 22, 2007
                                                                    We will miss you Fluffy!

Friday, March 26, 2010

What a Day!!

First I have to say it feels strange in my house today!! I’ll explain this later!


Some days are just to be remembered as one event after another. Wednesday was such a day for our family.

First thing I over slept, either I didn’t set my alarm or I cut it off and went back to sleep. This is something I haven’t done in a very long time. I spent most of the morning with our cat, Fluffy, who has been sick since late November. She was diagnosed with abdominal cancer the first of December. There have been many ups and downs during the months since. Wednesday morning it seemed she wouldn’t last through the morning.

Afternoon came and I went to pick my son up at school. On the way there I noticed a side street was full of cars so I turned on the radio. An 18 wheeler trailer had been left at a storage facility and when they became suspicious of the trailer, police were called to check it out. The dogs checked the trailer and there was a possible explosive so the area 1 ½ miles around the facility was being evacuated. My mother lives in the evacuated area!!



At this point I’m at the school the traffic is worse than normal. They had a crew cutting down trees at the entrance to the school which slowed traffic some. Then as I got to the parking lot there was another crew of workers digging up the parking lot! Just a side note the pot whole has been there for years but suddenly there is a need to dig it up at 2 in the afternoon, school gets out at 2:15. Finally we got out of the parking lot. I told my son about what was happening. I then called my Mom’s neighbor to see if they really were evacuating the neighborhood. No one answered! I called my Mom, she had no idea anything was going on. She said she saw someone in the driveway but didn’t go to the door. Another side note a house was broken into by people claiming to be Census takers (a few miles away) so we had told her don’t go to the door unless you know them. I told her what was happening and she said, “COME GET ME”. We get in the car and go over and the road is closed about ½ mile from her road. I told the officers where my mother lived and they said are you sure she is still at home. I explained to them that I Just talked to her. He said to go get her and come back out the same way as quick as possible.



We then went to get my daughter from school. Came home and my mother is worried about how long she may have to stay there. We have no bathrooms in our basement and Mom can’t go up the steps. It wasn’t long until we heard that the road had been opened up and people could return home. My son and I took her home, while my daughter stayed with Fluffy.



My son is starting this week volunteering at a local animal shelter and he had to go Wednesday evening. We rushed home and ate and off we went to the shelter. On the way there while stopped at a light, two fire trucks turned in front of us, my nerves are on edge anyway then the fire trucks I told my son I may just stay and wait on you. I changed my mind and went back home on the way home a CRAZY lady ran 3 red lights, not sure what her emergency was. When I returned home my husband was just getting home from work. He didn’t know anything about the evacuation so I explained all of the afternoon events to him. Went to get my son and nothing happened! We sat down together and watched TV for a little while. At about 10:30 we were deciding where Fluffy would sleep. She has been sleeping in my son’s room the past few weeks. Since she wasn’t doing too good, my kids decided they would sleep in the room with her. About an hour later my son came to tell me that Fluffy was gone! We all got up and sat there crying. We had Fluffy for 8 years and 9 months. Her sister, Jaguar, died in August. This is really hard to loose both of our cats in less than a year. So going back to my first statement it feels strange in my house today, no one to meet me at the door when I come home, no one to scratch on the bedroom door if I don’t get up on time, no scratch at the bathroom door wanting a drink from the tub. We have so many wonderful memories of our cats and our kids growing up with them. My son has had Fluffy for half of his life. Fluffy was what he wanted for his 8th birthday!



I know there are many who will say it’s Just a cat! But if you have ever had a pet for long you will know that you grow to love them.
   Fluffy
  June 25, 2001 - March 24, 2010
   Picture taken Dec. 8, 2009

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Ida Thurman Davis Update on Research

I received some photos from my Aunt's estate, she had old family photos which were of her Mother's family,the Newby family. Some had names which I knew and other photos were a mystery. Here you can read about my discoveries on one such group of photos. Ida Thurman Davis would have been the grand daughter of Lydia W. Newby. Looks like she sent photos of her family to her grandmother. I am working of finding some of Ida's descendants, hopefully they may be the holder of Newby family information.
I have recently obtained the obituary for Ida Thurman Davis which was printed in the Chattanooga Times on December 16,1947. She had one daughter Mrs. Earl White and four grandchildren.Harry Hill, Norfolk,Va. DeForest Hill, Detroit,Mich. and Dianne Rowland and Ronnie White of Chattanooga. I found where Clara Davis married Granville Hill on 10/3/1923, in Hamilton County, Tennessee.  In the 1930 Census there is a Clarolie Hill, 22 listed as daughter of Minor and Ida Davis living with them and also a grandson, 6, Edward D. Hill living with them. I'm not sure if Clara married again to Earl White or if this was Nettie. 

Have you ever discovered that your family paths may have crossed? When I read Ida's obituary the first thing  I noticed was that she lived on North Orchard Knob Ave.,which is the same road that my Great Grandmother Lettie Edgemon Wilson lived on. I Googled the addresses and found they were just a few houses apart. Then she was a member of the Avondale Baptist Church which was where Lettie Edgemon Wilson was a member. Then Ida was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, which was where Lettie was buried.
I just had to ask my Mom if she remembered any of her Grandmother's neighbors. She did remember a few but did not know the Davis family. Maybe they moved in after Lettie died in1944. Ida would have been from my Dad's side  and Lettie was from my Mom's side.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Marriage License for Martha Newby and Edwin Burdick

The marriage license for Martha Newby  and Edwin Burdick
Thanks Apple!

Martha (Mattie) Newby and Edwin Burdick


             Martha J. Newby Burdick and husband Edwin Burdick
David H. Newby's sister Martha (Mattie) married Edwin Burdick on Feb. 6,1897 in Wisconsin. Why Wisconsin, I'm not sure. They lived in Chicago,Ill. Looks like they met in college, Edwin was a lawyer and Mattie was a doctor. They later lived in Denver which is where Edwin was from. I recently ordered the marriage license from the Wisconsin Historical Society. I scanned the license and tried to upload it here but for some reason (too big a file) it never uploaded. I wish the license had some information on Mattie's family but really nothing new. It does show her father as K.N.Newby instead of K. H. Newby but this may have been a mistake. So the search goes on for K.H. Newby.
There were no names on this picture but based on the way they looked here compared to the way they looked in the ones with names I would say this is a picture of Mattie and Edwin. I've found no record of Mattie and Edwin having children. I think it is amazing that she was a doctor in the early 1900's.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Children of David H. and Jennie Newby


                                      Children of David H. and Jennie Newby
I have not found a photo of the Newby children together when they were younger, this photo was probably from the late 1960's or early 1970's.
L to R- Lydia, Ed, Fay, Henry, Tom, Jewell
This is all but one of the Newby children, this may have been after King Newby died in Nov. 1971 or he was unable to travel down to Georgia from his home in Dayton, Oh. Tom Newby died in Aug. 1974 so I know this was taken before then.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Olivia Jane (Jennie) Long Newby - Fearless Females- Women's History Month

 Do you have a favorite female ancestor? One you are drawn to or want to learn more about? Write down some key facts you have already learned or what you would like to learn and outline your goals and potential sources you plan to check. This was the prompt for March 1, since I missed it and because I can't do the prompt for March 5, because I don't know how my grandparents or great grandparents met.

Olivia Jane (Jennie) Long Newby is a favorite female ancestor. I've always loved the name Olivia Jane. I wonder if she loved the name, since her marriage license has Jennie and even her tombstone has Jennie. Maybe it was the name her husband had for her. I would love to know the story of why she went by Jennie and not Olivia. I think that I only have one picture of Olivia. She died when she was only 44 years old. She had 7 children. In her obituary it said she died after a short illness. I would like to get her death certificate and find out the cause of death.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Fearless Females -Women's History Month- Fay Newby

Thank you to Lisa Also, The Accidental Genealogist, for the wonderful Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women's History Month. I am trying to work this into my Featured Family of the Month and do some stories on the Newby women.
My middle name is Faye after my Grandmother, Fay Newby Kelley, even though they are not spelled the same. She really fits into the Fearless Female category. Can you imagine facing the fear of becoming a widow at the age of thirty - six, in 1929, in rural Georgia, with six children in age from thirteen to two months. I know I've written about her several times but I admire her strength and courage. She really never seemed to let the events of her life get her down. She just took life as it came to her and made the best of it.
She married in April 1913.
Her first child, Bonnie, was born Jan. 1916.
Her Mother, Olivia (Jennie) died April 1, 1916.
Edgar E. Kelley, her husband died Feb. 22,1929 at the age of 45. Fay would have been 36 at the time.
Middle son wounded and almost killed in Oct. 1944. (My Dad)
Oldest son died March 1945 in Luxembourg.
Her father died in Dec. 1945.
Then her youngest child died in Nov. 1976, he was almost 48.This was the only time I ever remember hearing her say anything close to being bothered by the events of her life. At the funeral home she said " A Mother shouldn't out live her children and now I've out lived two of mine."
My Grandmother lived to be almost ninety-two years old. She never remarried. Her children were very good to her. The three daughters lived near and came to see her and took care of her. The two sons came to see her often and helped.
I remember my Dad worked near and would take his lunch time and go eat lunch with her. She said once that it gave her something to do, fix lunch and eat with Tom. We went to see her most Sunday afternoons. It was always fun when we got the stay and eat with her. I see that a prompt for March 7 is a favorite recipe, I'll see if I can come up with the recipe for my favorite thing she made.

My Grandmother Fay Newby Kelley with five of her six children.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Fay and Lydia Newby


Left to Right: Fay Newby Kelley (my Grandmother) and Lydia Newby Cantrell
Don't know who the young men in front are, brothers, boyfriends. I'm not sure if they were married at the time this picture was made. I haven't found a good picture of my Grandfather Kelley to compare to this one.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Fay Newby

My Aunt gave this picture in 2007, she said this was my Grandmother, Fay Newby as a baby.

Thanks for Your Comments!

Last month Apple's Tree started a wonderful thank you to all the people who stopped by and left comments, hope you don't mind Apple if I borrow your idea. I would like to thank these people for stopping by and leaving comments during last month.

Betsy at Joyful Reflections.
Terri at The Ties That Bind
Lindalee at Flipside
Dr. Bill at Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories
Dorene at Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky Bay
Les at Bits and Pieces
Alana at A Twig In My Tree
Greta at Greta's Genealogy Bog
Cindy at Everything's Relative - Researching Your Family History
Lori at Genealogy and Me
Denise at Together We Save
Hope I didn't miss anyone!