Hello Dear Reader,
When Grandpa (Wesley) Carter was a boy the winter nights could be very cold in the little house his family lived in. Homes were not insulated back then. A lot of warmth came from just being together. On many cold evenings the family sat around their old wood stove popping popcorn which, along with some Jonathan apples, they snacked on.
Several of the Carter s were musically talented. Beulah, the oldest child, played their old pump organ and Grandpa (Edward F.) Carter played the banjo, the violin, or the harmonica while the rest of the family sat huddled near the stove singing. That was what they did for entertainment. The children loved to hear their dad and mother sing a duet at the end of the evening and considered it the highlight of the day.
After popping corn, they heated rocks (or bricks) on the stove. When it was time to retire, they wrapped the heated rocks in towels and put them in each bed to warm their cold feet. When they arose on chilly mornings they huddled around the stove until they were warm enough to get dressed and start their day. That was what it was like “in the good old days.”
Love,
Aunt Genni
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Straw Ticks
Hello Dear Reader,
Today I am going to tell you a little about Grandpa (Wesley) Carter. Wes was born in Eureka, Juab County, Utah December 25, 1917, where his father was a hard rock miner, a farmer, and a store clerk. When Wes was 9 months old the family moved to Provo so that his mother (Annie B. Carter) could take care of his invalid grandmother (Mary L. Blake). They moved into a small three room house on Grandpa Blake’s farm at 950 West 500 North. There were 7 children at the time and it is impossible to know how so many managed to sleep under such crowded conditions. Wes remembered that at threshing time his mother, Annie, would fill large sewed bags with straw for their beds. These were call straw ticks. He thought it was great fun to jump from the top of the bedstead onto these huge bulging straw ticks. He was a busy, active, little boy. More next time.
Love,
Aunt Genni
Today I am going to tell you a little about Grandpa (Wesley) Carter. Wes was born in Eureka, Juab County, Utah December 25, 1917, where his father was a hard rock miner, a farmer, and a store clerk. When Wes was 9 months old the family moved to Provo so that his mother (Annie B. Carter) could take care of his invalid grandmother (Mary L. Blake). They moved into a small three room house on Grandpa Blake’s farm at 950 West 500 North. There were 7 children at the time and it is impossible to know how so many managed to sleep under such crowded conditions. Wes remembered that at threshing time his mother, Annie, would fill large sewed bags with straw for their beds. These were call straw ticks. He thought it was great fun to jump from the top of the bedstead onto these huge bulging straw ticks. He was a busy, active, little boy. More next time.
Love,
Aunt Genni
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Biscuits
Hello Dear Reader,
Since I told you the biscuit story yesterday, I thought you might like a biscuit recipe from the 1800s. Be sure not to handle the dough any more than is necessary. Here it is:
One quart of flour sifted two or three times, two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder, a pinch of salt and one tablespoonful of lard [or butter] mixed thoroughly with a little flour. Then pour in one-half pint of cream or cream and water; do not knead much but roll out on a board; double the dough [fold in half] and roll again, repeating this once or twice. Do not touch the hands to it any more than necessary. Cut into biscuits; make them touch each other in the pan. You will have delicious biscuits with very little trouble.
This recipe is from Pioneer Recipes & Remedies published by Daughters of Utah Pioneers; they got it from Down East Recipes Dating From 1664 by Maine Coastal Cooking. If you want to taste what the pioneers ate, I guess you could leave out the baking powder--but I wouldn't recommend it. I suggest that you work in the lard with the tips of your fingers or cut it into the flour in with two knives or a pastry cutter. Roll about 1/2 inch thick. Bake in a quick (400) oven 10 or 12 minutes.
Love,
Aunt Genni
Since I told you the biscuit story yesterday, I thought you might like a biscuit recipe from the 1800s. Be sure not to handle the dough any more than is necessary. Here it is:
One quart of flour sifted two or three times, two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder, a pinch of salt and one tablespoonful of lard [or butter] mixed thoroughly with a little flour. Then pour in one-half pint of cream or cream and water; do not knead much but roll out on a board; double the dough [fold in half] and roll again, repeating this once or twice. Do not touch the hands to it any more than necessary. Cut into biscuits; make them touch each other in the pan. You will have delicious biscuits with very little trouble.
This recipe is from Pioneer Recipes & Remedies published by Daughters of Utah Pioneers; they got it from Down East Recipes Dating From 1664 by Maine Coastal Cooking. If you want to taste what the pioneers ate, I guess you could leave out the baking powder--but I wouldn't recommend it. I suggest that you work in the lard with the tips of your fingers or cut it into the flour in with two knives or a pastry cutter. Roll about 1/2 inch thick. Bake in a quick (400) oven 10 or 12 minutes.
Love,
Aunt Genni
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Practical Joke
Hello Dear Reader,
Some of you may know that Grandpa (Wes) Carter’s Grandpa, William Blake, who was a Mormon pioneer, became blind in his old age. After William’s first wife, Mary Lake Blake, died, he married Arabella Smith. He and Arabella moved in with the Carters in Provo which didn’t make the children very happy because, apparently, Grandpa Blake was quite grumpy. Wes and his brothers didn’t like him very much.
Annie (Wes’s mother—Grandpa Blake’s daughter) was a good cook but one night when she made biscuits she forgot the baking powder and the biscuits, of course, did not rise at all. Uncle Ed decided it would be a good joke to put some of the hard biscuits on Grandpa Blake’s plate. The children waited to see their grandfather's reaction.
The whole family had to laugh when Grandpa Blake ate the biscuits and asked for more. He said, “These biscuits taste just like the ones we had crossing the plains.”
Love,
Aunt Genni
Some of you may know that Grandpa (Wes) Carter’s Grandpa, William Blake, who was a Mormon pioneer, became blind in his old age. After William’s first wife, Mary Lake Blake, died, he married Arabella Smith. He and Arabella moved in with the Carters in Provo which didn’t make the children very happy because, apparently, Grandpa Blake was quite grumpy. Wes and his brothers didn’t like him very much.
Annie (Wes’s mother—Grandpa Blake’s daughter) was a good cook but one night when she made biscuits she forgot the baking powder and the biscuits, of course, did not rise at all. Uncle Ed decided it would be a good joke to put some of the hard biscuits on Grandpa Blake’s plate. The children waited to see their grandfather's reaction.
The whole family had to laugh when Grandpa Blake ate the biscuits and asked for more. He said, “These biscuits taste just like the ones we had crossing the plains.”
Love,
Aunt Genni
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Nursery Rhymes
Hello Dear Reader,
As a child I knew lots of nursery rhymes. Our family sang them, recited them, and played games with them. Starting around 1984, I began collecting these rhymes hoping to put them in a book some day. Here’s an unfamiliar one I discovered recently when I transcribed a tape made by Grandma (Caroline Ferguson) Hall for Uncle Norley:
Jingle, jingle jag, a copper down a crag,
Twenty men and all their wives,
With picks and sticks and pocket knives,
Digging for their very lives
To get the copper back.
I guess all of you know that in England a “copper” is a penny.
If you’ll write this poem in your family’s nursery rhyme book and read it to your children when you read them their book, you’ll be able to tell them that this is a nursery rhyme their great-great-grandmother Hall used to tell to her kids.
Love,
Aunt Genni
As a child I knew lots of nursery rhymes. Our family sang them, recited them, and played games with them. Starting around 1984, I began collecting these rhymes hoping to put them in a book some day. Here’s an unfamiliar one I discovered recently when I transcribed a tape made by Grandma (Caroline Ferguson) Hall for Uncle Norley:
Jingle, jingle jag, a copper down a crag,
Twenty men and all their wives,
With picks and sticks and pocket knives,
Digging for their very lives
To get the copper back.
I guess all of you know that in England a “copper” is a penny.
If you’ll write this poem in your family’s nursery rhyme book and read it to your children when you read them their book, you’ll be able to tell them that this is a nursery rhyme their great-great-grandmother Hall used to tell to her kids.
Love,
Aunt Genni
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Two Carter Lines
Hello Dear Reader,
You may not know we have 2 Carter genealogical lines--one on Grandpa's side and one on Grandma's side of the family. One of our early ancestors (on Grandpa's side) was Richard Cater (Carter) born in England in 1645 and died in Newington, Rockingham, New Hampshire before 24 Jun 1697. Charles Carter has established a website called Carterville USA that tells about these early settlers.
Robert Givens, the author of the book, Richard Cater-Carter of Dover, New Hampshire and Some of His Descendants, has given Charles permission to re-print this book in installments in his newsletter at "Carterville USA." If you get a chance and are interested, go to the website and sign up for the newsletter. Then each month you'll be able to read a little about these fascinating people. This website is also the source of other genealogical information that might be interesting to you.
I'll tell you what little I know about the Carters on Grandma's side another time.
Love,
Aunt Genni
You may not know we have 2 Carter genealogical lines--one on Grandpa's side and one on Grandma's side of the family. One of our early ancestors (on Grandpa's side) was Richard Cater (Carter) born in England in 1645 and died in Newington, Rockingham, New Hampshire before 24 Jun 1697. Charles Carter has established a website called Carterville USA that tells about these early settlers.
Robert Givens, the author of the book, Richard Cater-Carter of Dover, New Hampshire and Some of His Descendants, has given Charles permission to re-print this book in installments in his newsletter at "Carterville USA." If you get a chance and are interested, go to the website and sign up for the newsletter. Then each month you'll be able to read a little about these fascinating people. This website is also the source of other genealogical information that might be interesting to you.
I'll tell you what little I know about the Carters on Grandma's side another time.
Love,
Aunt Genni
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Taking care of the dead
Hello Dear Reader,
Have you ever wondered what people did before there were undertakers? Actually, there were some undertakers in the 1700s but it was an obscure profession. In small towns they had no undertakers or morticians. Annie Ferguson Burch (Grandma Hall's sister) wrote a sketch entitled, "Funerals of Long Ago." Annie was born in 1885 and recalled the way funerals were conducted when she was young: "There were no undertakers at that time and when a person died, everyone knew just what had to be done. A silver dollar was placed on each eye lid so the eyes would be tightly closed when the muscles became set. For the same reason, a bandage was put under the chin and tied on top of the head to keep the mouth closed." Annie described how the Bishop and Relief Society President took care of the body and dressed it for burial. She never saw flowers at a funeral until after she married in 1906.
For a humorous look at how people dealt with dead bodies "in the olden days," you might want to read Mark Twain's short story, The Invalid's Story. (Scroll through the alphabetical list to "The Invalid's Story.) It makes me laugh every time I read it.
Love,
Aunt Genni
Have you ever wondered what people did before there were undertakers? Actually, there were some undertakers in the 1700s but it was an obscure profession. In small towns they had no undertakers or morticians. Annie Ferguson Burch (Grandma Hall's sister) wrote a sketch entitled, "Funerals of Long Ago." Annie was born in 1885 and recalled the way funerals were conducted when she was young: "There were no undertakers at that time and when a person died, everyone knew just what had to be done. A silver dollar was placed on each eye lid so the eyes would be tightly closed when the muscles became set. For the same reason, a bandage was put under the chin and tied on top of the head to keep the mouth closed." Annie described how the Bishop and Relief Society President took care of the body and dressed it for burial. She never saw flowers at a funeral until after she married in 1906.
For a humorous look at how people dealt with dead bodies "in the olden days," you might want to read Mark Twain's short story, The Invalid's Story. (Scroll through the alphabetical list to "The Invalid's Story.) It makes me laugh every time I read it.
Love,
Aunt Genni
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Family Trivia
Hello Dear Reader,
Tonight I think I'll share some trivia about our family with you. Did you know ?: 1. Grandpa Carter (Wesley) didn't know his birthday was on Christmas day (not Christmas eve) until he was 43 years old. He had to get a copy of his birth certificate in order to obtain a passport before we went to England. 2. Grandpa Hall (Laning) hated having a bald head and tried several cures including cutting the top off from an old hat and and sunburning his head until it peeled and peeled. He then claimed he thought he could see some fuzz growing. 3. Grandma Carter (Annie Blake) sewed 17 patches on a favorite dress when she was a child. Her mother told her, "Patch beside patch is neighborly but patch upon patch is beggarly." She then told Annie it was time to throw the dress away. 4. Grandpa Hall (Jasper--Laning's dad) was a great athlete. He was such a good ice skater that he could skate his name, "Jasper," in cursive into the ice. 5. Grandma Carter (Mary Hall) had a pet crow named Buddy. 6. Grandma (Caroline Ferguson) Hall's grandmother (Harriet Bradford Simmons) smoked a pipe.
That should give you some things to think about tonight.
Love,
Aunt Genni
Tonight I think I'll share some trivia about our family with you. Did you know ?: 1. Grandpa Carter (Wesley) didn't know his birthday was on Christmas day (not Christmas eve) until he was 43 years old. He had to get a copy of his birth certificate in order to obtain a passport before we went to England. 2. Grandpa Hall (Laning) hated having a bald head and tried several cures including cutting the top off from an old hat and and sunburning his head until it peeled and peeled. He then claimed he thought he could see some fuzz growing. 3. Grandma Carter (Annie Blake) sewed 17 patches on a favorite dress when she was a child. Her mother told her, "Patch beside patch is neighborly but patch upon patch is beggarly." She then told Annie it was time to throw the dress away. 4. Grandpa Hall (Jasper--Laning's dad) was a great athlete. He was such a good ice skater that he could skate his name, "Jasper," in cursive into the ice. 5. Grandma Carter (Mary Hall) had a pet crow named Buddy. 6. Grandma (Caroline Ferguson) Hall's grandmother (Harriet Bradford Simmons) smoked a pipe.
That should give you some things to think about tonight.
Love,
Aunt Genni
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Ancestors of Mine
Hello Dear Reader,
This is the beginning of a blog about my ancestors--and possibly yours. This blog is especially for my nieces and nephews (and, of course, my children) who have asked about my genealogy files. If you stay in touch I'll soon let you know about a website I plan to create where you will be able to access records from the 20,366 names that I have in my data base. As you know, Grandma Hall (Caroline Ferguson Hall) claimed to have traced 2 lines back to Adam so there will be a lot of blogging and posting going on. Good night for now.
Love,
Aunt Genni
This is the beginning of a blog about my ancestors--and possibly yours. This blog is especially for my nieces and nephews (and, of course, my children) who have asked about my genealogy files. If you stay in touch I'll soon let you know about a website I plan to create where you will be able to access records from the 20,366 names that I have in my data base. As you know, Grandma Hall (Caroline Ferguson Hall) claimed to have traced 2 lines back to Adam so there will be a lot of blogging and posting going on. Good night for now.
Love,
Aunt Genni
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