Mother-Daughter Autograph Books

On this Sentimental Sunday, I'm looking at autograph books from family history.

Nearly 90 years ago, my mother (Daisy Ruth Schwartz, 1919-1981) graduated from junior high school (which was then grades 7, 8, and 9). 

She was 13 years old and moving up to high school for grades 10, 11, and 12.

Mom kept her graduation autograph book in great shape! 

As shown above, she wrote her name, the school number (J.H.S. 60 in the Bronx, New York), the principal's name (Anna V. McCarthy), her graduating teacher (Miss Hammond), and the date of graduation (January 31, 1933). 

A January graduation was the norm then. Mom graduated from high school three years later, in January of 1936.

At right, a page from Mom's autograph book, with a cute rhyme that was still in use decades later. "There are all kinds of ships, wooden ships, and steel ships, but the best ship is friendship." Signed, "your sister grad-u-8, Anna Kratzer." I've been able to find many of these classmates in Mom's high school yearbook, as well.

Although I attended school decades after Mom, my autograph book from grade 6 graduation also included signatures and inscriptions from classmates, some sentimental and some funny. I attended PS 103 in the northern Bronx, NY.

At left, one of my best friends included an affectionate notation based on 2+2=4. This same "equation" appears at least three times in my autograph book!

Another inscription used more than once in my autograph book is..."For dirty people only." Turn the page, and the inscription continues: "Use soap! Happy graduation from ...." (no LOL or emoticons of course). 

Best of all, these handwritten messages from the 20th century are well preserved in an archival box and will live on through the 21st century. If future generations can still read basic cursive handwriting, they'll be able to decipher the messages!

This is my post for the September 2022 School Days "Genealogy Blog Party."

For the Holidays, a Bite-Sized Family History Project

With Christmas fast approaching, I asked my wonderful hubby to please write a few lines about his childhood memories of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. He thought for a few minutes about what stood out, both the good and the not-so-good, and he wrote half a page. As we talked, more details started flooding back. Pretty soon he had a full page of memories, ranging from putting up the tree to singing carols as his father played the piano.

Illustrating written memories

Next, my hubby browsed old 35mm slides from his childhood and chose seven to go along with his written memories. He found slides of his siblings next to the tree, one of himself in pjs and robe on Christmas Day, one of his father (Edgar James Wood) testing a Christmas toy, one of his mother (Marian McClure Wood) in holiday finery, and one of his grandfather (Brice Larimer McClure) chatting with a grandchild on Christmas. 

As a holiday surprise, we're sending family members these images along with the page of memories. Even in a busy season, we found a couple of hours to assemble the project--and I'm sure recipients will find a few minutes to read the story and smile at the photos from decades in the past.

Of course we've been sharing these and other memories around the dinner table during this year's holiday celebrations. And making new memories for the future.

Bonus: "spot the heirloom"

Among the images scanned from old slides, my eye was drawn to the one at top. It shows the living room in hubby's childhood home in Cleveland, Ohio, festively decorated for Christmas exactly as he saw in his mind's eye. 

Next to the piano keyboard, on the left edge of the image, the camera captured a special heirloom that has been passed down in the family: his mother's handmade ceramic sculpture of a zebra. I marked it with a red box in the image above. 

My heart was touched by seeing my late mom-in-law's favorite little zebra on display in her living room. Some distant day, this little zebra and her other ceramics will be inherited by descendants, along with the stories and photos.

- This is my Genealogy Blog Party post for December 2021.

My Honorary Aunt, Planner of America's Best-Known Parade

Leona "Lee" Wallace and feathery friend

Leona "Lee" Wallace (1903-1989) lived quite a life! She was my honorary aunt, the life partner of my favorite aunt, Dorothy Schwartz (1919-2001). As I write a dual family history of my aunt and her twin sister, my beloved Mom, I'm continuing to research their personal and professional lives--and making wonderful finds.

I had no idea of Lee's family background and early career until my newspaper research unexpectedly revealed a surprisingly informative interview published exactly 68 years ago today, on December 1, 1952. 

Lee Wallace, Head of Macy's Thanksgiving Parade

Lee became famous during the 1950s for planning the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, known throughout the nation for its giant balloons and A-list bands. A respected master of publicity for Macy's special events, she was at the height of her fame when she sat down with journalist Alice Hughes, who wrote a column titled "A Woman's New York." (The copy I saw ran in the Poughkeepsie Journal in New York, column copyrighted by King Features Syndicate, Inc.--now saved to my Ancestry tree!)

In the 1952 interview, Lee spoke with enthusiasm about the five "mammoth inflated balloon figures" that were the stars of that year's parade, including a 50-foot rocket ship and a 60-foot space man. She said "jets and mystery missiles hurtling through space rivet [children's] eyes and minds to the sky." Although this was five years before Sputnik was launched, my honorary aunt was already focusing young people on the wonders of space!

Lee Wallace, Caring for Brothers and Taking Night Classes

The interviewer devoted two lengthy paragraphs to a synopsis of Lee's life before becoming America's most prominent parade planner.

• Lee raised her two younger brothers on her own, working during the day and attending high school classes at night. In her spare time, she took art lessons.
• During World War II, she worked in labor relations for the Quartermaster Corps, headquartered in Washington, D.C.
• After the war, she applied to Macy's in New York and worked her way up to head of the department store's high-profile special events group--including planning for the biggest event of the year, the Thanksgiving Parade.

Lee and my aunt Dorothy met at Macy's and settled into a happy life together soon afterward. The photo at top shows Lee with the mischievous little parakeet that kept my mother company during the 1970s. 

I'm thinking of honorary aunt Lee with great affection today, and feeling quite grateful for the 1952 publication of an interview that told me so much about my honorary aunt's early life.

"Gratitude" is the theme of week 48 in the #52Ancestors challenge.

This is also my #GenealogyBlogParty entry for #WomensHistoryMonth at the Genealogy Blog Party for March, 2021!

Immigrant Grandparents: City (His) and Country (Mine)

           Mary Slatter Wood (1869-1925)

Remember that Sesame Street song, "One of These Things Is Not Like the Other"?

Well, one of our immigrant grandparents is not like the others. One was a city girl, the others were all from rural backgrounds.

This month's Genealogy Blog Party theme is "Immigrant Ancestors." This week's #52Ancestors prompt is "out of place." I've fit both into one post about his and hers immigrant grandparents.

His Big-City Grandma from London

My husband had only one immigrant grandparent. All the others were descended from families that had come to America long ago (some as long ago as the Mayflower). Others arrived in the 1700s.

At top, hubby's immigrant Grandma Mary Slatter Wood (1869-1925). Born in the poverty-stricken Whitechapel neighborhood of London, she was the youngest of six children. In her youth, she was in and out of notorious poorhouses because her father wasn't always in the household and her mother (Mary Shehen Slatter) couldn't support the family.

Yet Mary not only survived her sad childhood, she became a doting and devoted mother in her 30s after arriving in Ohio and marrying James Edgar Wood (1871-1939). The photo above shows her soon after her marriage, around the turn of the 20th century. From hearing my late father-in-law talk about her, Mary was the bedrock of love for her four sons. Mary was born a city girl and she lived a city life in fast-growing Cleveland, Ohio.

My Eastern European Grandparents

Henrietta Mahler Burk and Isaac Burk

My immigrant grandparents, all four of them, were from the country, unlike my husband's big-city grandma.

Above, my paternal grandma, Henrietta Mahler, from Latvia. Her husband, Isaac Burk, was from Lithuania, and they met in New York City. Both lived fairly rural lives in Eastern European towns, but had to adjust to skyscrapers and concrete when they arrived in the Big Apple. After some years in Jewish Harlem, they moved to the Bronx--then considered almost suburban because of the many parks, not to mention the world-famous zoo and botanical gardens.

Hermina Farkas Schwartz and Tivador "Teddy" Schwartz

My maternal grandparents, shown here, were both from Hungary. Hermina Farkas Schwartz (1886-1964) and Tivador "Teddy" Schwartz (1887-1965) met and married in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Before coming to New York City, he lived in Ungvar in Hungary, a bustling market town, and she lived out in the countryside in the small town of Berehovo. They raised their three children in an apartment in the Bronx, nothing at all like where they were originally from.

After the children were grown and gone, Grandma Minnie and Grandpa Teddy tried to spend a week or two each summer away from the city heat in "the country." I dimly remember visiting them in a bungalow in Spring Valley, New York, which is now a hop, skip, and jump across the busy Tappan Zee Bridge but was then quite a rural area, dotted with small summer rentals.

The Power of Hands-On Family History Experiences

At a family holiday luncheon, my husband and I tried something new: We passed around an unopened MRE ("meal ready to eat") from 1986.

We slit it open to reveal individually wrapped packages of turkey, hash brown potatoes, giant cookie, crackers, hot cocoa mix, instant coffee, sugar, salt, matches, even chewing gum. Then we opened a couple of the individual food packages and tasted a bite of cookie...a bite of cracker...and lived to tell the tale! The youngest relatives were especially captivated by handling and tasting packs of food that are way, way, way older than they are.

This hands-on experience sparked a long and fascinating group discussion about Army life in two different periods. The family member who served in the US Army in the mid-1980s had supplied the MRE, and he reminisced about eating the best (and worst) of these meals. He also told anecdotes about Army life, with just enough detail to keep the younger crowd engaged.

My husband had served in the Army decades earlier, and he described eating C-rations in the field, adding a couple of his own brief anecdotes. The stark contrast between our holiday meal that day and the Army meals from previous decades was an important part of the experience.

Everyone around the table listened intently and asked questions. Several eagerly tried their hand at opening a can using a P-38 opener kept after the 1980s Army days. (Hint: You need to literally "get a grip" to get this right.)

I came away with a real appreciation of the power of hands-on family history experiences. From now on, I'll look for additional opportunities to get relatives involved in handling an heirloom or something else key to a family event or an ancestor memory. With luck, the stories will flow as hands touch the object, and family history will be passed down to more descendants! And isn't that the point?

- - - This is my post for the December, 2022 Genealogy Blog Party!

For more ideas on safeguarding and sharing genealogy, please see my how-to book (in print or digital form), Planning a Future for Your Family's Past, 2d edition.

My Schwartz Ancestors Married for Love

Mary Schwartz and Teddy Schwartz (circa 1909)

My great aunt, Mary Schwartz (1891-1959) and her older brother, my grandpa Tivador "Teddy" Schwartz (1887-1965), both married for love after they came to New York. There were some bumps in the road to matrimony, but both stories (pieced together from family legends and official documents) ended with love winning the day, despite the family's initial feelings.

Teddy Schwartz met his future bride, Hermina (Minnie) Farkas (1886-1964), in a Hungarian deli on the Lower East Side. Both Teddy and Minnie had been born in Hungary and came to New York as young teens.(1) Although Minnie's family objected to the match (they thought he was a "peasant"), she insisted on seeing Teddy, then a clerk for steamship lines and insurance firms. Minnie used a signal (putting something on the clothesline) to let Teddy know that the "coast was clear" to meet.

Meanwhile, Minnie's parents tried to arrange a "more suitable" marriage. Minnie refused and threw the suitor's engagement ring out the window. After she wore her parents down, the couple was married at the Clinton Street Synagogue on Sunday, October 22, 1911. Teddy and Minnie couldn't afford a honeymoon until the late 1940s, when they retired. My grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1961.

Teddy's sister Mary Schwartz also married for love. It seems Teddy's Farkas in-laws were arranging a marriage for Mary with one of their cousins. Late in 1913, before any formal engagement, Mary met a handsome furrier, Hungarian-born Edward Wirtschafter (1889-1958). Since he was living on the Lower East Side and she was living in Jewish Harlem but working as a shirtwaist maker, I imagine they met in Manhattan's garment district (or possibly in that Hungarian deli where Teddy and Minnie met?).

Mary and Edward fell in love and within weeks, they decided to elope. On Christmas Eve of 1913, just two days before Mary's 22nd birthday, they went to City Hall and signed all the paperwork. That night, even though they were married, they went back to their own apartments and told no one. At least that's what their daughter told me.

What she didn't tell me (maybe she didn't know) was what happened four days later. On December 28, 1913, Mary and Edward had a second wedding ceremony.(2) This time, they were married by a rabbi. And this time, Mary's older brother Sam Schwartz was one of the witnesses. Possibly my grandfather Teddy was present, as well. But I don't know whether my grandma Minnie was there. She might have been miffed that Mary married a man of her own choosing rather than the Farkas cousin favored by the family. Mary, like Minnie, was determined to marry for love!

This post celebrates the Genealogy Blog Party's February theme of LOVE.

(1) According to City of Dreams by Tyler Anbinder, the Lower East Side neighborhood where Teddy and Minnie lived was a particular enclave of Hungarian Jews in the early 1900s. Teddy was from Ungvar, Hungary, and Minnie from Berehovo, Hungary. No wonder they met in a Hungarian deli.

(2) I only know about the 2d wedding ceremony because I sent for the complete set of marriage documents after learning about their availability through Reclaim the Records. Read all about it here. Well worth the $15 fee to know the full story!

Connecting with "New" Cousins in 2017

My biggest genealogical breakthrough of 2017 came from ephemera that had been hidden away until May. These two pieces of paper provided the clues that allowed me to connect with a whole new set of cousins on my father's side of the family.

Here's the story, starting with the mystery of the 1910 Census. Some members of my Mahler family were living in New York City along with a "boarder," Jennie Birk. Now the reason this caught my eye is that Henrietta Mahler (my paternal grandma) had married Isaac Burk (my paternal grandpa) only a few years earlier. The year before their marriage, the 1905 Census showed Isaac and his brother Meyer living with the Mahler family in their NYC apartment, as "boarders." So the mystery was--did Jennie Birk have a family connection to my grandparents?

In May, Sis found Mom's old address book, and my paternal cousin found letters to/from his Mom, as shown above. I'd never heard of an "Aunt Jennie" in my Dad's family, and yet Dad's sister was writing to her "Aunt Jenny" in 1962. Mom's address book showed the same people (on the same street in Lakeland, Florida) in the early 1960s.

My next step was to research the NYC marriages on Italiangen.org, where I found that Jennie Burk had married Paul Salkofsky. Another few minutes of research revealed that Paul Salkofsky was naturalized as Paul Salkowitz. In other words, the address book and the letters had led me to my grandpa's sister, Jennie Birk Salkowitz.

Remember brother Meyer? He had been a "boarder" with the Mahler family when my grandpa Isaac was also a "boarder," the year before marrying a Mahler daughter. I eventually discovered that Meyer's surname was Berg and, as a result, I was able to trace Meyer's grandchildren.

Sis and I have met one of Meyer Berg's granddaughters and we've been sharing photos and family stories for months. What a great genealogical breakthrough for 2017!

Sentimental Sunday: Pages from the Story of Wood and Slatter

The Story of James Edgar Wood and Mary Slatter Wood is written, photos and maps are in place, and I'm going to bring the .pdf to be color-laser-printed in the local copy shop. In all, I needed 21 pages to tell the story of hubby's paternal grandparents James, Mary, their family backgrounds, along with a brief overview of what happened to their four sons (including my late father-in-law, who took these photos of the 1917 Ford).

Just in time for the June Genealogy Blog Party, here are two pages from this newest family memory booklet, and a few lessons learned along the way toward preserving this family history:

• Maps help readers follow along as ancestors migrate or take a trip (as in the page at top, a 1917 trip from Cleveland to Chicago).
• Photos personalize the story and bring readers face to face with faces and places from the family's past. I included lots of photos!
• Include quotes from ancestors to keep their voices alive for descendants who never met them. I had quotes from interviews, letters, a diary.
• Include a timeline to give descendants a better sense of what happened, where, and when. I constructed this last, after I pieced together the entire story.
• Include sources for that rare reader who asks: "How do we know that?" The actual booklet has a few document excerpts but full documents are sitting in my files.
• Caption all photos. I have 2 pages of captions at the end of the booklet, with lots of details, including a reminder of the relationships between people in the photo and the readers ("Mary Slatter's older sister" is an example, plus an explanation that Mary Slatter was my husband's paternal grandmother). 

Don't forget to include a family tree! I included one in the back of the booklet, showing this branch and how it extends back three generations on James's side and on Mary's side.

This is only one way I'm sharing my family's history with the next generation. More ideas are in my genealogy book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past.

Genealogy Blog Party: Genea-Santa, Take Me to 1903

September 1, 1903

This month, Elizabeth O'Neal's Genealogy Blog Party is hosting letters to Genea-Santa. Randy Seaver on Genea-Musings is also asking us to make our Genea-Santa lists.

I made a list, checked it twice, and decided to ask for a field trip.

Dear Genea-Santa,

Please hitch up your sleigh and whisk me through time and space to Elkhart, Indiana, in 1903.

Where else but a family reunion could I ever hope to untangle the cousin connections in my husband's sprawling Larimer/Short/Work families?

For several years around the turn of the 20th century, these intertwined families held summer reunions in Elkhart. Dozens of people attended, and local newspapers in Goshen, Elkhart, even Millersburg covered the event.

My main target for this field trip is Brice Larimer (1819-1906), my husband's great-great-granddaddy. He was "the oldest member of the three families present" at age 84 in 1903, as shown here.

Brice could tell me stories about Bartlett Larimer (1833-1892), a pioneering doctor who inspired his nephews in the Short family to become doctors and dentists. He probably knew the original Larimer shipwreck story by heart, hearing it from his parents who heard it from the journey-taker, Robert Larimer (or Robert's wife Mary O'Gallagher). And I think Brice could tell me about where in Scotland and Ireland all these ancestors were from (another field trip for a future wish list). But as long as I'm at the reunion, I'll chat with every guest and, of course, snap photos.

Genea-Santa, I promise to be nice and share everything I learn with my family and with the wider world via my blog. If I learn anything naughty, I'll share that too! 'Tis the season to be genea-jolly.

Genealogy Blog Party: Chickie Pitcher and Butterscotch Brownie Traditions

Elizabeth O'Neal's Genealogy Blog Party continues this month by celebrating family traditions.

This adorable ceramic chickie pitcher has been a tradition in my husband Wally's Wood family for nearly 80 years. Originally, it was filled with fresh milk to lighten coffee after dinner. These days, we fill it with half and half--but it still puts a smile on our faces because of the whimsical chicks and the memories from holidays past.

Interestingly, Wally's mom, Marian Jane McClure Wood,  became a ceramic artist years later--taking lessons from famed ceramicist Edris Eckhardt and specializing in animal sculptures, reflecting her love of art and animals.

Another long-time tradition in hubby's family: Grandmother Floyda Steiner McClure's Butterscotch Brownies.

The recipe, shown here, has been passed down for several generations. It makes a delicious dessert alone or a special treat topped with ice cream and whipped cream. Happy holidays!

Genealogy Blog Pool Party: Which Weiss is Which?

Bertha and Bela Roth

Elizabeth O'Neal's July theme for the genealogy blog party is Annoying Ancestor? Push 'Em in the Pool!

Well, I'm too soft-hearted to shove anyone into the pool (especially a long-lost ancestor). Still, I'm swimming in Weiss in-laws. There are a lot of Weiss folks married into my maternal Grandmother Minnie Farkas's family tree.

Trying to connect these Weisses to each other is sending me off the deep end--but I'm convinced they're related.

Herman Weiss

Which Weiss is which?!

• Bertha Batia Weiss (daughter of Solomon and Rose Hoffner) was the 2d wife of Bela Roth, a cousin to my maternal grandmother. She, like all the other in-laws named Weiss, was born in Hungary. She and her husband visited the Farkas Family Tree from time to time and were known to be cousins, but the exact relationship remains a bit fuzzy.
• Herman Weiss (son of Chaim Yaakov and Rose Svarcz) was the husband of Ida Farkas, known to be a distant cousin to my maternal grandma. Herman & Ida's son Johnny was a frequent visitor to Farkas Family Tree gatherings.
• Julia Ida Weiss (daughter of Isador and Fany Roth) was the wife of Herman Wajman. My Roth cousins were aware that the family (renamed Warren after daughter Gloria became a star of stage and screen) were cousins, and my research finally proved the link.  

Other Weiss folks appear in family documents. Sam Weiss was the witness to my maternal great-grandpa Moritz Farkas's naturalization. Weiss was the maiden name of the grandmother of cousin Alex Roth's wife, Blanche Schwartz. 

So which Weiss is which? Are any of them cousins or otherwise related to each other and/or to my Farkas family beyond intermarriage? A deeper dive is in my future if I want to figure out which Weiss is which.

Genealogy Blog Party: Duh to Wow! Uncle Sidney's Birth Record Leads to New Cousins

The May theme for Elizabeth O'Neal's Genealogy Blog Party is: Duh! What was your genealogy "duh" moment and how did you solve it?

Dad (Harold Burk) and Uncle Sidney in WWII

I knew my father's younger brother, Sidney Burk, was born in Canada in 1914, and brought across the border by his mom a year later when she moved back to NYC as her husband looked for work there.

But since Uncle Sidney died a bachelor, and I knew him well, I never bothered to look for his birth records or even his naturalization, assuming there was one.

This was an anomaly: I'm forever chasing after genealogy documents of ancestors' siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins--because there are often nuggets hidden in their documents that can help me learn more about the family (like maiden names or hometowns). For some reason, I just didn't see my uncle's birth as a research priority, especially since I knew little about searching in Canadian records.

Then I heard an expert in French-Canadian genealogy mention the Drouin collection. I went home, logged on, and entered "S Berk" with "Quebec, Canada" as the place of birth. (Berk was the family's name before Burk.)

The top result of my search was "Samuel B. Berk," a name I never heard of. But with a click, I had on the screen a handwritten record of Uncle Sidney's birth, as the son of Henrietta Mahler Berk and Isaac Berk, my grandparents. Duh. So simple, and quite intriguing to find out he'd been given a different name than the one I knew him by.

Double duh: A few lines down in the results was a "Lily Berr" and below that, "Rose Bert." Click: they were both related to Abraham Berk (not transcribed correctly but worth a click to check). I know that name! It's my great-uncle, the brother of my grandpa Isaac. Never before had I known where Abraham lived or the names of his children, and suddenly that entire line opened up to me. Even better, there were living cousins who I soon traced and now am in contact with.

So my duh led to discovering an entire limb of my father's family tree. From duh to WOW!

Genealogy Blog Party: Time Travel Adventure with Rachel and Mary

Elizabeth O'Neal over at Little Bytes of Life is throwing a Genealogy Blog Party. Thanks, Elizabeth, for the opportunity to blog about April's theme, Time Travel to an Ancestor. I asked hubby who he would like to meet in a time travel adventure, and his answer was his paternal grandma, Mary. My answer is my paternal 2d great-grandma, Rachel.

MEETING RACHEL

My time travel adventure would be with Rachel Shuham Jacobs, shown at right. She was married to Jonah Jacobs and had two children, Tillie Jacobs Mahler and Joseph Jacobs.

As I always do when reaching out to a relative (or someone I think is a relative), I'm going to start by writing Rachel a letter. Of course I'll tell her exactly who I am--what great-great-grandma wouldn't want to know that she's remembered fondly by her family?

Dear GGG Rachel,

Greetings from the future from your great-great-granddaughter! The little girl you're holding in this photo from New York City grew up, got married, and became close friends with a young woman from the Farkas family. Set up on a blind date by these "matchmaker aunts," my parents fell in love, married, and had children--including me. 

So GGG Rachel, I would really like to bring you on a time travel adventure to meet my parents on their wedding day in 1946. Then you can hug your daughter Tillie, who as matriarch was in an honored position at the wedding. Also meet your grandchildren, including my grandma Henrietta and my great-aunt Mary, the little girl who became the matchmaker aunt. 

First, a few questions, please. Where in Lithuania were you born, and who were your parents? What was life like in your home town? How did you meet and marry your husband, Jonah? And how did you feel about leaving Lithuania to live in New York with your two children? 

When I come to pick you up, please wear something a little fancy to the wedding of your great-grandson Harold. Love, Your great-great-granddaughter

MEETING MARY

Hubby would like to meet his father's mother, Mary Slatter Wood, one of two daughters of John Slatter and Mary Shehen Slatter. Mary was born in a poor (really, really poor) area of London but left in the late 1800s for America, where she married James Edgar Wood and settled in Cleveland, Ohio. Sadly, Mary died before her sons were fully grown.

Dear Grandma Mary,

Greetings from the future. I'm the oldest son of your oldest son. I want you to know that the musical ability you brought into the Wood family has come down through the generations. Thank you!

Grandma Mary, there are some questions I wish I could ask you. What was life like growing up in London? Do you remember your mother and father? Did you have an older brother Thomas, who died young? Was your mother's death the reason your father left for America? How did you meet and marry my granddaddy? 

It would be wonderful to meet you, Grandma Mary. My plan is to travel back in time to the summer of 1917, when you and Granddaddy James and your four sons took a road trip in your new Ford auto. It looked like quite an adventure. Let me join you and see my ancestors through your eyes. Love, Your grandson