Tombstone Tuesday: William N. Gamble & Elizabeth Ann Wrean Gamble

I found this photo at http://www.findagrave.com.  William and Elizabeth are buried at Cedar Run Cemetery in Cedar Run, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.  They were my paternal grandfather's grandparents.  I'd like to find some photos of them, if they exist. 

In Spencer Kraybill's book Pennsylvania's Pine Creek Valley and Pioneer Families on page 729 is a quote from a book called History of Lycoming County by McGinness written in 1892.  It says that William was a farmer who took over the family farm when he was 26.  After four years of running the family farm, he went into the lumbering business with George Tomb (his cousin, I believe).  He lumbered in various places and then settled in Sugar Bottom.  He purchased 100 acres there and continued farming and lumbering until 1865.  At that time a flood destroyed his buildings.  He then went back to the family farm and bought a sawmill.  He pursued the lumbering business in partnership with Hiram Hilborn for three years and then went to work for Ramsdale & Duffy for 11 years.  After that (about 1879) he bought his own 94 acre farm and pursued farming and lumbering again.

My grandfather never met his grandparents as he was born in 1914.  Seems this family had children late in life.  I know this entry is kind of rambling.  I'll be doing more research before I post again.

Thanksgivings Past

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to get together with family and enjoy good food and fun.  These are pictures of Thanksgivings from my childhood.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

PS  The lovely lady in these photos is my mother.  Happy Thanksgiving, Mommy!

Memorial Day 2010

My grandfather Edwin Durwood Gamble was KIA in WWII at the age of 30.  He was drafted in 1944, and was trained for duty at Spartansburg, SC.  I don't know when he arrived in France, but he was killed on his first watch on 4 Jan 1945 during the Battle of the Bulge.  He left behind my grandmother, Jane Elizabeth McElroy Gamble, my uncle John William Gamble, and my father Thomas Edwin Gamble who was 16 months old.

Please remember a fallen soldier today.  My dad never got to know his father, but he and I are both proud that he served his country and fought for our freedom.  Below is a picture of his platoon in Spartansburg, SC.  Edwin is the 2nd from the left on the 2nd row.  I would have loved to have met him.

Bad, Bad Blogger

I've been such a bad blogger! I can't believe it's been three months since I posted last! My personal journal has been very neglected as well! I'm terrible at New Year's Resolutions!

I do have some exciting news, though. I got to spend an entire afternoon at the Fort Worth Public Library! They have an awesome genealogy section. I thought I was going to be looking through reels of microfilm of the Texas death certificates they have on file, but the librarian set me up on a computer and showed me http://pilot.familysearch.org. They have Texas death certificates online from 1890 through 1976. I had no idea these were online. I was working on my husband Gary's families (biological: Sallings and adopted: Dillingham). Both families have been in Texas for quite some time. I printed death certificates for William Wesley Sallings, Gordie Emerline Baker Sallings, Fannie Bell Gaskey Sallings, Jessie Lee Gaskey, Ralph Marion Dillingham, and Mary Tennie Conditt Dillingham Smith. Others that I wanted I will have to order because they are much more recent.

I also searched ancestry.com and printed some census records I didn't have. I found my husband's maternal great grandfather Ulysses Stanley Bitner in the 1900 Census for Lyon Township, Dickinson County, Kansas. He was 5 at that time. Ulysses' father is a mystery to me. He seems to have disappeared after the 1900 Census. I'm not sure if he died or divorced. There is a lot of research to be done there.

Well, the grandbabies are up from their naps. Gotta run!

Wordless Wednesday: American Soldier Cemetery in Homne, Luxembourgh

 This photo was taken in 1960 by a friend of my grandmother while she was visiting Luxembourgh.  It is the cemetery where my dad's father is buried.

Happy New Year!

I know I'm a day late, but I just want to wish everyone a very happy and prosperous 2010.  It's hard to believe 2009 is already gone.  It's been a pretty good year for me and my family.  We have 2 new additions, Haydyn and Austin, to be thankful for. I'm also thankful for discovering genealogy blogging and have set a goal of posting at least once a week for the coming year. It may not seem like much, but I've only posted 21 articles since I started blogging last year. Not a very good record I'm afraid.  :-(  I've also decided I'll be doing more research at the library this year.  We have a wonderful genealogy department at the Fort Worth Public Library, and I plan to be using it a lot in the coming year.  I'll also be taking the free genealogy classes offered there.  I think I'll be having a GREAT 2010.