Leaves on the Trudgian Tree

Exploring the lives of one Trudgian family in Galena, Illinois through the eyes of their daughter, Lillian, during the years of 1913 through 1931. Lillian's authentic diary entries explore the family, neighbors, what is happening in Galena, as well as, national events and of course the weather and the crops!

Name:
Location: Portage, Michigan, United States

Since all three volumes of "Lillian's Diaries: Whispers From Galena's Past" have been transcribed and published, I am currenting working on another book about the Trudgian (Tregian/Trugeon) family. This time it will be a novel based on historical events which involve my ancestors in Cornwall in the 1400-1600's. I have just started organizing my research so it will be a year or two before you will see it in the bookstore! I have just finished leading a Genealogy Class for beginners at my church. At the end of the six session class everyone had discovered some new information about their ancestors but there was, of course, many more questions to be answered. So I started the "Whispers From Our Ancestors" blog to provide a space for us to share our genealogical joys and roadblocks. Http://seekingourpast.blogspot.com is open to everyone doing genealogy - beginners to experts and all those inbetween.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving ~ a day later

Fri. November 26, 1926, we were busy with baking, ironing and etz.

Thursday,was Thanksgiving. It was cloudy and foggy with a drizzle about all day. Nobody appeared for dinner. We had chicken, dressing, potatoes, sweet potatoes, asparagus, crab pickles, cole slaw, bread, butter, saffron bread, cookies and pumpkin pie. This afternoon the Uncles & Aunts came down. The Aunts didn’t want to come but Uncle Edd wanted too. I suppose he was feeling badly because Johnnie’s didn’t ask them to their dinner. The Aunts thought the weather was too bad to come. They went home again before dark. It was warm today and very slushy this afternoon. There were several thunder storms this evening with rain and hail.

Wednesday was a nice day. Mother made some saffron cake & pies, Ruby made cookies. We asked Aunts Mag & Til & Dan to come down for Thanksgiving if Uncle Edd & Aunt Annie were going to Johnny’s but they hadn’t been asked yet as of Sunday.

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Sunday, November 22, 2009

Winter On Its Way

Tuesday,November 23,1926: We washed and baked today. It was quite a nice day. Got a letter from Aunt Rachel. Uncle Thomas [Trudgian]* is very poorly. His blood pressure is 240.

Monday was cloudy with a light snow. We mended & etz. On Sunday it was very cold. That morning the windows were all frozen up. We had thought perhaps the Tippet family would be down but no. So that afternoon Dad, Ma & I walked up there. Then we came home in the beautiful moonlight. It had been a nice clear day & evening.

Saturday Dad, Len & Ruby went to town by car in the afternoon. They brought home a supply of eats. The roads were not so bad or good. They are the worst if you have to turn out of the road. Some sleighs going along now days.

Friday the sun had peeked out once. It was the first time for a week I guess. We washed and baked as usual we were always busy.

* Thomas and Rachel Trudgian were my great grandparents. They are buried in the Miner Cemetery with Lillian and her parents, as well as my great-great grandparents -Joseph and Mary [Pellymounter] Trudgian.

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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Another Dittmar Leaves This Earthly Life


Thursday,November 18,1926: The snow is deep and it is still snowing. We had to wear high overshoes and leggings. Len, Ruby & Ma are busy taking some cattle over to the Weis’ place and choring about all day. Wednesday was another cloudy day with snow late in the afternoon. It came down fast and was quite deep by bed time. Len went to town with feed to grind twice that day.

On Tuesday, the weather was dark & cloudy. All but Dad went out to Hulda Dittmar’s* funeral in the forenoon. Len took his car. The roads were very muddy. It was nearly noon when the funeral got to Schapville. A very large crowd was there. But I guess it would have been very much larger if the roads had been good - about half the people there had their teams. Bessie was here from Dakota. The pallbearers were cousins. 4 Cooks and 2 Dittmars. Hulda did not look natural. She was very thin and so much older. The funeral car had a hard time getting thru the mud. It got mired several times. Uncle Ben & Uncle Joe Dittmar and his family were there. The roads were some better coming home. Uncle Dan had came home Monday morning to tell us that Hulda had died Saturday evening at 5 o’clock. She has been sick for a long time with heart trouble. The funeral was to be on Tuesday morning at 10 at the house in Elizabeth then to the Schapville Church. Uncle Dan had also said that John had been killed by the train in Galena on Sunday.

* Hulda Dittmar was only 20 years old when she died, having been born in 1906. She was the daughter of John H.Dittmar[1867 - 1937} and Anna H. Dittmar {1874 - 1921} who were also buried in the Schapville Presbyterian Cemetery {Thompson Township} pictured above, but Hulda was buried with Joseph, {1875 - 1938} and his wife Regina C. {1879 - 1968} Dittmar - or I guess I should say they were buried with her.

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Friday, November 13, 2009

Armistice Day ~ No, Veterans' Day!

Sun. November 14, 1926 was very cloudy and showery. We were at home all day. Yesterday it rained some in the morning and also rained that night. So we didn’t go to town Saturday. Friday we stayed home and baked bread, coffee cake, apple kuken and a cake. We also churned.

Thursday was Armistice Day*. Eight years ago the war ended. Dad, Ma & I went to town in the afternoon. That eve. we all went up to see the Aunts & Uncles. Wednesday was a nice clear day but cold. We ironed. Len & Ruby husked the standing corn. Dad helped too.

* From Military.com we learn, “Veterans Day gives Americans the opportunity to celebrate the bravery and sacrifice of all U.S. veterans. However, most Americans confuse this holiday with Memorial Day, reports the Department of Veterans Affairs. What's more, some Americans don't know why we commemorate our Veterans on Nov. 11th . It's imperative that all Americans know the history of Veterans Day so that we can honor our former service members properly.
Veterans Day, formerly known as Armistice Day, was originally set as a U.S. legal holiday to honor the end of World War I, which officially took place on November 11, 1918. In legislation that was passed in 1938, November 11 was "dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as 'Armistice Day.'" As such, this new legal holiday honored World War I veterans.
In 1954, after having been through both World War II and the Korean War, the 83rd U.S. Congress -- at the urging of the veterans service organizations -- amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation on June 1, 1954, Nov. 11 became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.
In 1968, the Uniforms Holiday Bill ensured three-day weekends for federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. Under this bill, Veterans Day was moved to the last Monday of October. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holiday on its original date. The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much confusion on Oct. 25, 1971.
Finally on September 20, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed a law which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of Nov. 11, beginning in 1978. Since then, the Veterans Day holiday has been observed on Nov. 11th "

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Monday, November 9, 2009

The Status of Church Attendance

Tuesday, Nov. 9, 1926: The clothes didn’t get dry yesterday. Mother took them off the lines last night as some were down on the ground. She rinsed them and hung them out again today. It was a very cold day.

On Monday we washed and hung the clothes outside. Then it started to rain in the afternoon and was a very stormy night. Mr. Stauss came down today. He husked corn.

Sunday was a real warm day. We all went to Galena to church in the forenoon. That afternoon we went to Council Hill to church*. The roads to the Station had all been widened and graded lately. It is a great improvement. This eve we went up to Aunt Annie’s but they weren’t home so we came home.

Dad, Ma & I went to town Saturday afternoon. It was another nice warm day. I wore a spring coat.

*Lillian's family was pretty faithful in attending church each week. But what church, what week is the question. I cannot find the church that Lillian mentions in this entry. The only old church I can find a history on is Lutheran and although the church history includes names of Lillian's neighbors, I don't think the family would have attended a Lutheran church - most mentions of churches pertain to either a Presbyterian or a Methodist affiliation. This visiting one church after another makes it really hard for a genealogist to find the valuable information that is often present when an ancestor was a long standing member of one particular church.

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Thursday, November 5, 2009

Multi-purpose Building


Friday, November 5, 1926: It is a most beautiful warm day. There is no relation to yesterday. We baked and churned. I also coated some chocolates. and filled a box to take to the Miner School* social. The Uncles and Aunts came down this evening but we went on to the social. Len, Ruby & I drove our car over. There was quite a crowd. The baskets for bidding went good. There was 6 or 7 boxes of candy. Mine brought .50 cents. Then there was some mistake. The baskets and candy got mixed and the fellows didn’t get what they bought. One of the White boys got my box of candy. They had quite a good program. Lottie & Evelyn rode home with us.

Thursday was an awful cold miserable day. Len, Ruby & Dad finished husking the church field.

On Wednesday Len took 4 old sows to Scales Mound. Mother churned. It tried to snow on Wednesday.

Tuesday we ironed and baked bread . We all went to the elections in the afternoon. From there we went to Scales Mound as Len wanted to see about sending away some hops*. It was nice and warm that A.M., but in the afternoon it was very cold. I nearly froze going to Scales Mound & Guilford.

Monday had been a cold day. We washed. I had carried in some more squash, pumpkins and cabbages & etz.

* There is some differing of opinion, but word has it that at one time the little brick building,[pictured above] which is in the Miner Cemetery served as a school and at another time as a church. According to a plat map of 1893 it was a school in the cemetery....this is also true on the 1913 plat map. On the 1938 plat map it is only marked with the school symbol, but believe me it still as the cemetery as the Trudgians are buried there. The building through all my plat maps is on Joseph Tippits' property. Several elderly residents of the area have told me they once attended school there also. Anyone have any additional information on this subject? If so, please comment.

*Hops: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the beer ingredient.
"Hops are the female flower clusters, commonly called cones or strobiles, of the hop plant (Humulus lupulus).[1] The hop is part of the family Cannabaceae, which also includes the genus Cannabis (hemp). They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, though hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and herbal medicine. The first documented use of hops in beer as a bittering agent is from the eleventh century. Prior to this period, brewers used a wide variety of bitter herbs and flowers. Dandelion, burdock root, marigold and heather were often used prior to the discovery of hops.[2] Hops are used extensively in brewing today for their many purported benefits, including balancing the sweetness of the malt with bitterness, contributing a variety of desirable flavors and aromas, and having an antibiotic effect that favors the activity of brewer's yeast over less desirable micro-organisms."

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