Back Home Again

Wiley Family Tree

I'm working hard on the Wiley family tree.  About five years ago, Dad started researching the Wiley side of the family.  Dad's grandpa was one of eleven children, and Dad knew most of them during his lifetime.  I'm trying to incorporate genealogy with personal remembrances and pictures into this family tree.  At this point, I'm just trying to fill in the missing pieces.  I would like to print this genealogy book in the next few months, or else it is going to roll into another year.  More births, deaths, divorces, etc. 

I went to the local library tonight and looked up obituaries on seven dead Wileys.  Luckily most of them are local and pretty easy to find.  Only one of the eleven moved out of state, to Kansas.  His granddaughter wrote a great Wiley genealogy book back in 1990.  I took a day trip to Kansas while I was on vacation and found the tombstone of this relative and got a picture of it.

I've got a small file box with a hanging file for each relative.  In each file is the loose paperwork and obituaries supporting the data that I have in the Family Tree Maker database.  I'm also reviewing three other Wiley genealogies and figuring out the discrepancies, and trying to come up with the most accurate data possible. 

So if blogging is light, I'm probably climbing the family tree.

White County Tour

I took a day of vacation today.  My goal was to find a headstone for two relatives who were buried in Monon, White County, IN.  I had limited time to accomplish this as we had a shortage of help to watch Dad at both ends of the 9 to 5 day shift.  As soon as the help arrived at 9:30am, I showered and then headed up I-65 towards Monon.  I was familiar with the route, since that was the way I used to go to visit my college roommate who used to live in Laporte, IN.  Once I exited the interstate, I called fellow blogger and author, Frank W. James.  I had met Frank briefly at an Indy Blogmeet a few months ago.  He is a farmer living in White County.  As luck would have it, Frank was heading south as I was heading north.  Frank said he would be home around 3pm and to call back.

Around 11:30 I arrived at the Monon library, a nice two story building.  I was shown to the Indiana Room where the genealogy materials were stored.  I asked the nice librarian if they had copies of the local newspaper back to 2002.  She handed me the book.  I think I was the first person to open this book as the crisp pages were stuck together.  I quickly found the obituary of the husband that I was seeking, and made a copy (10 cents...gotta love that).  This also told me the name of the cemetery, Bedford Cemetery, east of town about 5 miles.  I drove there and was noticing what a beautiful cemetery it was, overlooking Lake Shafer.  I was going to park my car on the far end and work my way back through the cemetery.  As I parked the car, I looked up and saw the name Weaver.  It was the headstone I was searching for.  I got my camera and also wrote down the information on paper.  Then I headed back to town.  Now that I had the wife's date of death, I found her obituary and made a copy.  I walked out of the library at 1pm with my two obituaries and a photo of the headstone.  I couldn't believe the good luck I was having.  

One of the librarians suggested a restaurant just north of town.  It was called The Whistle Stop and is a part of a railroad museum called the Monon Connection.  The Monon Railroad was a famous railroad that ran for many years from Chicago to Indianapolis and down to Louisville.  A great portion of the railroad's path through Indianapolis has been converted to a trail.  My friend Nora lives right off of the Monon Trail in Indy.  

The restaurant was quite busy and the food was good.  They had a restored caboose on the property that you could walk through.  I had no idea that they were that large.   I really would have liked to tour the facility but by now, I needed to start heading back south. 

I called up Frank and he said he was home and to stop by.  I love the fact that most of Indiana has converted to a numbering system for their rural roads, for 911 emergency purposes.  Even with a house number and a street name like 6250 E 700 S, I easily found Frank's house.  His barn has a big smiley face on it, so it was hard to miss.  We talked about farming, crops, animals, genealogy, and guns.  Frank is a real down-to-earth guy.  He's calls 'em as he sees 'em.  I'm sure glad I looked him up.  I hope he does the same if he ever heads down towards Indy.  Frank's a good egg.

I hit the road about 4pm and was home in just under an hour.  I may have exceeded the speed limit a smidge.  It sure was fun to get out and blow some stink off.  Hadn't done that in a while. 

Aunts & Uncles

As I mentioned in some previous posts, my Uncle Charley was buried last week.  He was just two weeks shy of being 87 years old.  He had suffered a stroke and died two days later.  Charley had been in poor health for the past two years or so.

This made me think of how few aunts and uncles I have left; I only have eight now.  All my grandparents died before I was born.  As a result, my aunts and uncles became my older relatives.  And there were plenty.  When I was born, I had 53 aunts and uncles (including great aunts and great uncles). 

My Aunt Ellen and Uncle Jeff were kinda like my grandparents, and my primary babysitters.  They lived next door and didn't think twice about correcting any bad behavior.  I now live in their house, across the road from Mom & Dad.  The picture above is from Ellen's wedding in February 1954.  She was 43 years old when she married, the last of eleven children to marry.  Ellen is dressed in white, wearing glasses, on the back row.  My mom is the 2nd one from the left, on the front row, next to my grandfather Pop.  All eleven aunts & uncles were alive during my lifetime.  The oldest, Lizzie, passed away first in 1975.  There are only three of the Maloneys left.

Dad's family was a bit smaller, with eight children.  Two had died before I was born.  There is just Dad and one sister, Charley's widow, left in his family.

Here's my remaining eight aunts & uncles:

• Aunt Jane, age 91.  She is Dad's aunt.  She lives nearby and just this summer had to give up driving due to failing eyesight.  Her husband, Uncle Butch, passed away in 2004.
• Aunt Johanna, age 84.  She is Dad's only remaining sister, recently widowed.  She has macular degeneration too.
• Aunt Mary, age 79.  She is Dad's brother Bill's widow.  She lives right down the road and bakes the most wonderful goodies.
• Aunt Pat, age 79.  She is Dad's brother Tom's widow.  She recently moved back to Indiana to be near her kids.  Her mother just passed away last year, at the age of 96.
• Aunt Eileen, age 88, Mom's only remaining sister.  Her husband, Uncle Frank, passed away last year.  She has 13 children and lives in Indianapolis.
• Uncle John, age 85, Mom's only remaining brother.  His wife, Aunt Ouida, was murdered in a robbery attempt at his farm in 1993.  John was shot too, leaving him with an arm injury.  He lives nearby in Brownsburg.
• Aunt Peg, age 88.  She is Mom's brother Bud's widow.  She lives in a Brownsburg nursing home.
• Uncle Kenny, age 99 this December.  He is Mom's sister Anne's widower.  He lives in a nursing home in Kansas City.

Of course, we keep track of all the cousins too.  There are 30 cousins in Dad's generation on the Roach side.  I am one of 49 cousins on the Maloney side.  My oldest first cousin is 83 years old; the youngest is 43 years old.  Mom was originally from the Little Ireland area north of Brownsburg; so was Dad's mother.  You can't sling a dead cat around Brownsburg without hitting a relative.

Grandpa's 50th Birthday

This is another photo that I made reprints of for Easter.  It is a picture of my Grandpa Bill and his children on his 50th birthday taken on Aug. 17, 1941.  My Dad is not in the picture as he was serving in the Texas National Guard at the time.

I love the look on Johanna's face in this one.  She looks like she's ready to slap Martha. 

L to R: Sammy, William, Bob, Tom, Johanna, and Martha.  Grandpa Bill is sitting in front.

Wiley Kids & Tip

We just returned from our annual Easter gathering up.  I handed out the reprinted photos to the cousins.  This one was a hit (click to enlarge).  My aunt Johanna said that this was one of her first memories, being on Tip with Tom.  My dad is behind the post taking aim at the photographer. 

My grandma Maggie was very pregnant at the time with Martha (born 7/27/1927).  I always thought this was a funny picture.

Grandpa Sam

This is my Dad's Grandpa Sam.  He was born in 1860, making him 100 years older than me.  This week my Dad has officially lived longer than his Grandpa Sam.  Dad will be 90 in November. 

This is the picture that led to the discovery of two other long lost photos.  This picture has been in Dad's office forever.  It always scared the Bejesus out of me.  "Who is that mean old man in the picture?" I would ask.  Dad now looks almost identical to Grandpa Sam.

Grandpa Sam was one of eleven children born in Jennings County, Indiana.  At the age of seventeen, he walked to Boone County (about 100 miles) to live with his Great-Aunt Lizzie and Great-Uncle Thomas Jackson.  He didn't have to go far to go courting as the Sheridans and Jacksons lived only about a quarter mile apart.  Julia Sheridan (age 19) and Sam (age 29) were married at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Lebanon, IN.  This is how the Wiley family came to live in Boone County, and how we came to be raised Catholic. 

Sam and Julia lived in a two-story log cabin for a while and then Sam built a brand new home around 1900 (This is where my Mom and Dad lived when they were first married, and where my brother's family now resides).  Julia and Sam had three children:  Catherine (Kate) in 1890, William (Bill) in 1891, and John in 1898 (died in 1900).

The Wileys were consider well-off compared to several of the other relatives.  As a result, they took in several relatives at various times.  This included Sam's older brother John Wiley and also a niece Fern Wiley for several years.  On January 1, 1929, their son Bill became a widower when his wife Maggie died of pneumonia.  Bill and Maggie had seven children living at home at the time the oldest being John R. Wiley (my Dad), who was eleven.  The youngest three, Johanna (almost 6), Sammy (almost 3), and Martha (17 months old), went to live with their grandparents, Julia and Sam, about a mile away.  At the age of 58 and 68, they were now raising three small children.  The two girls lived with Sam and Julia for eight years.

Julia was an excellent cook.  She usually cooked enough for 3 or 4 extra people, as many unexpected guests would drop by, especially on the one day a week she made yeast biscuits and bread.  She always made sure that any of the grandsons who were farming near their house had a belly full before they went home.  She had a kindly demeanor compared to Sam, who was very gruff, especially in his old age.  Sam was not a Catholic, but Julia would go to church in Lebanon when she could get a ride.  Sam was christened shortly before his death.

Around 1937 or 1938, Julia began to show signs of senility and was committed to Central State Hospital in Indianapolis, where she died May 23, 1938.  The consensus now was that she probably wasn't really crazy, but just needed a good rest. 

Sam lived in Indianapolis with his daughter Kate for a month or so, deciding that living in the city was as good as living in the woods.  He returned home and Fern Wiley lived with him again for a few years.  He later moved in with his son Bill.  He died at Bill's home, February 12, 1950, eight months shy of being ninety years old.   

There are only three living grandchildren of Sam's out of ten.  My Dad's sister Johanna knew him the best as she lived with him for eight years.  She says that he was cold and mean as a snake.  He would always tell Johanna that she would never amount to anything.  Finally when Johanna was fourteen, she gathered her things and announced that she was moving home.  Younger sister Martha went back home too.  All seven kids and their widowed father were under one roof again.  The girls took over the cooking and cleaning duties that had been hired out for years.

Sam's daughter Kate later became a nurse.  Kate had one daughter, Therese, late in life.  Kate had a strict daily regimen for her daughter, who was always under her mother's watchful eye.  My uncle said that Therese was "raised like a 4-H prize-winning hog".  Aunt Kate died in 1979.  I was one of the pallbearers at her funeral.   

By contrast, Sam's son Bill (Dad's dad) was a sweetheart.  I have yet to hear a relative ever say a bad word about him.  My Grandpa Bill died in 1957 before I was born.

Hidden Treasures

Dad has a picture of his grandfather in his office that I wanted to scan for a future blog entry.  It's been in his office for as long as I can remember.  I took the picture down to my house and tried to slide the thick backing off of the frame.  It wouldn't budge.  I finally had to get a pair of pliers and pull the picture out of the frame.  There were several layers of cardboard and on the top were three 8x10 pictures.  These two photo had been hidden in that frame for about sixty years!

The photo on the left is my uncle Tom's senior picture from Perry Central High School Class of 1940.  He was my Godfather and one of my favorite uncles.  He was always such an upbeat and fun guy to be around.  Sadly, he passed away in 1984.  I'm going to give this photo to my Aunt Pat, his widow, when I see her at Easter. 

The photo on the right is Tom and Dad's sister Johanna and her husband Charley.  They were married in 1943.  Johanna is Dad's only living sibling out of eight children.  She hosts our annual Easter dinner at a firehouse near their home in Anderson, Indiana.  They had eight children of their own, 17 grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren.  Charley's health has not been great lately, but he plans to be there at Easter.  When I give my Auntie Jo her photo, I'm going to ask her if she was mad at Charley or the photographer that day. 

I uploaded these scanned photos and others and sent them to Walgreens to be printed.  They printed over 100 copies in just a few minutes.  Digital photo processing is just amazing.  CVS Pharmacy, Target, and Wal-Mart offer the same type of same-day service.  I also took in an old negative to get some reprints.  Got the reprints, but Walgreens lost the negative.  Damn.  Digital is the only way to go. 

Death by Genealogy

Dad has been working on a Wiley Genealogy for about a year now.  He is trying to track all the relatives from his great-grandfather Oren Walker Wiley on down.  That makes seven generations of Wileys and 488 names, so far.  Dad has been interviewing relatives and gathering their information.  He's aggravated at some of the relatives that won't return his phone calls.  I suspect that they have Caller-ID.  Now comes the point where he needs to get it all gathered together and have me enter the data into my computer using Family Tree Maker software. 

Last week I returned from working in Tulsa.  Dad hits me with this the next day: 

Dad: (Ready for an argument) I thought you said that Regina has three daughters.

Me: She does. 

Dad: She does NOT.  She has two daughters and a SON. 

Me: (pause) Okay. 

Later, I went home and printed off Regina's information and went back to Dad, ready for battle.  This time my sister was there as a witness. 

Me: Regina DOES have three daughters: Jane, Jennifer, and Mary.

Dad: What's her boy's name?

Me: There is no boy.  She has three girls.

Dad: I just talked to Regina down in Arkansas last night.  Regina said she has a boy and two girls.

Me: Regina lives in Pennsylvania. 

Dad: Not Regina, Rosemary.

Sis: You said Regina....twice. 

Dad: (pause) Well, I was talking about Rosemary.  She has two girls and a boy.

When I went back home, I looked up Rosemary's information.  I have no kids listed because Dad hasn't shared that information with me yet.  You really can't win an argument with Dad, mostly because he can't hear.  Sometimes, the only satisfaction I get is knowing that I'm right. 

I first did a Roach Family Genealogy back in 1983.  I enjoyed doing that one thoroughly and got to know a lot of my distant cousins that way.  But genealogy work is very time-consuming and requires constant updating.  It is really a retiree's hobby.  I just don't have the time to devote to it like I'd like to.  Dad has all the time in the world to spend on it.  He is really having a lot of fun with this, and it keeps him occupied.  Dad has an amazing memory and has all the birth and death dates of his ancestors in his head.

Dad was wanting to go visit the courthouse in Jennings County, about an hour away.  He is looking for a marriage record for one of his great-uncles back in 1878.  I found it online on a genealogy website tonight.  Dad always seems suspicious of any information that I get from the internet.   

Back in 2004, Dad and I worked on the Sheridan Generation (his grandmother's family).  I thought one of us would kill the other before we finished that one.  Now, Dad has the Wiley notes spread out all over the living room and grouped by each of Owen's children.  It's a real hodge-podge.  I have been avoiding this project like the plague.  This is going to take a while to organize and straighten out.

I think I'll go ahead and update my own medical records in the Family Tree database:

Cause of death:  Genealogy.

Family Nicknames

Having done quite a bit of genealogy in our family, and being Irish Catholic, I see a lot of the same names over and over: Margaret, Mary, Patrick, Michael, etc.  Some of these are carried on for 3 or 4 generations with the same last name.  The Irish had a funny way of giving nicknames so that you would know which Michael or Mary you were speaking about.  Here are some of my favorites:

• Big Ax Duffy
• Blue Dugan
• Johnny Blue Dugan (Blue's son)
• Pudge Miller
• Butch Garner
• Pete Sheridan and her brother Fanny Sheridan
• Aunt Ret and uncle Skip MacDonald
• Aunt Detty
• Tillie Roach
• Bottle Smith
• Heiney Heldman
• Sapphire Wiley
• Panicky Collins
• Bird Wiley (my mom)
• Pop Maloney (my grandpa)

Mom grew up with some Irish neighbors outside of Brownsburg.  They were three that were all named James Hogan.  Their nicknames were Goose, Wobble, and Spick.  Mom says that Wobble was a large man and he did wobble when he walked.  Goose used to sit in the back seat of a car and hang over the front seat while you were driving, like a goose.  She's not sure where Spick got his nickname.  Spick's wife was Ann.  But since there was already an Ann Hogan when they married, she got stuck with the name Spick-Annie Hogan.

So the next time you hear a non-traditional name that some new parents have stuck on their child, just remember.  It's got to be better than Goose, Wobble, and Spick.

What nicknames are hiding in your family tree?

Roach Reunion

This past weekend was our annual Roach Reunion.  My paternal grandmother's maiden name was Roach.  My great-grandparents Thomas & Delia Roach had eight children.  They were Maggie, Mary, Pat, Lauretta (Detty), Genevieve, Martin, Helen, and Jane.  My great-aunt Jane is the only Roach still living; she is 89 years old.  None of the boys married and since Jane has been married for years, we have a peculiar situation:  There is no one named Roach at the Roach Reunion.

• Maggie, my father's mother, had eight children.  She died on New Year's Day 1929 leaving behind seven living children, the oldest being eleven years old (my father).  Dad has one sister still living.
• Mary had twelve children; eight are still living, mostly nearby.
• Pat was a WWI veteran.  He never married.  He died at age fifty.
• Detty had two children; Alice is still living.  She attended the reunion along with all five of her grown children.
• Genevieve had three children; two are still living in Washington state.
• Martin died at the age of fourteen.  He was shooting a cap gun, got wounded and died later of gangrene.
• Helen had three children.  All of them are living in Pennsylvania.
• Jane has two children.  One lives nearby and one lives in Pennsylvania.

There were 23 years between Maggie and Jane.  Jane is just a year older than my father.  The first cousins range in age from nearly 88 (my father) to age 50 (Jane's daughter Kitti).  There are 30 first cousins; 104 in the second generation; 160 in the third generation; 35 in the fourth generation, that I know of for sure.  Jane and I keep up the family tree, as best we can. 

They're breeding....like Roaches.