Women's History Month - #8

A favorite subject of mine is the discovery of journals and diaries left by our ancestors.

March 8 — Did one of your female ancestors leave a diary, journal, or collection of letters? Share an entry or excerpt.

My mother was not an educated woman.  Her handwriting and spelling were sometimes a challenge to figure out. 

But, during the later years of her life she began writing down her memories.  I recently transcribed these journals, and have included the following:

Ida StevensClemens’ Personal Journal Writings

Written by her own hand during the later years of her life – probably 1970’s

"Chester Lee Clemens & Ida Stevens

Wedding Day   Feb 1 1932

We were married on a mondy in morehead Ky in Rowan co it was a cold day muddy& some Ice & Snow.  Richard Hill& his wife Alice took us to morehead in Clem Father old 27 chev car.  Clem put the Battery in the car and got acid in his eyes he look like he was crying all day. We had a late meal in Shouder Ky

When we got home it was dark the neighbors was there to bell us. That beat on dishpans shot off Guns and rode Clem on a pail down to the Store they fell down and Clem just sit on the rail and thay couldint get up.  We all finley arrived at the Store we Bought candy & cigar and treated ever one and thay Bought us a pair of pillows forour bed.  Chester walked to Olive Hill and got me a dress for the wedding & a Scarf he Started about 4 AM in the morning and was back before 8.AM.  My dress at  the neck line.  He wore a Navy Blue Surge Suit.  We stayed all night at my dads House in Lawton Ky a big 7 room house up the Hollow behind Watt Hillman Store.  We had a big dinner at my mom and Dads House the next day and we went down to Chester mom & Dad House the next day we Stayed at my mom and Dads House till we went to House Keeping the 29 of March 1932.  We builted us a nice too room House.  We had 1 bed 1 dresser a big pot belled Stove in one room.  The kitchen.  We had a cook Stove a big round table and a dish Shelf.  And Clem Bought us a big Sow Hog so we had our meat for the next winter. We had a garden & caned & dad give us a young Jersey cow.  Clem didn’t make much at that time he only made .20 pr Hr 12.00 a week to live on he worked 10 Hr a Day"

All of her original spelling has been retained.  She even drew a sketch of her first cookstove.

These are priceless!

Women's History Month - #7

Here comes a yummy challenge for today!

March 7 — Share a favorite recipe from your mother or grandmother’s kitchen. Why is this dish your favorite? If you don’t have one that’s been passed down, describe a favorite holiday or other meal you shared with your family.

Mom was an excellent cook, as well as her mother.  She wrote down recipes, but more often than not, she cooked by "feel" and by "sight".  When I was cooking along right beside her, I'd ask her if I was doing it right.  She would take the spoon or the dough and say, "Here, let me feel it."  She could just tell.

By far, my favorite of her dishes was chicken and dumplings, one that I try to fix today.  But, it never quite tastes like hers.

This is a photo I found on a Google search that is as close-looking to hers as I could find.

Chicken and Dumplings

1 whole chicken, cut up

Stick it in a pot of water and boil it till it's done.

Take it out, let it cool.  Tear it off the bone.

To the broth, add:

Some cut up carrots

Some cut up celery

One big old onion cut up

Salt and pepper

Start making the dumplings:  

Flour  (I think about 2 cups)

Crisco  (I think about 1/2 cup)

Salt

Cold water

Start mixing up the dumplings, but add the water just a spoonful at a time till it feels right.  Roll it out on the counter with some flour on it.  Cut the dumplings out with a can smaller than a Pet milk can.  Or you can leave the dough in a ball and drop them in by the spoonful.

Add the torn up chicken back in.  Let it boil.

Start dropping the dumplings in.  Cover them up and cook them till they're done.  (About 20 minutes).  

Sit down and eat.

In her later years, she often just used Bisquick or a can of biscuits that she cut up.  But, I liked the homemade ones the best.

Today, I fix them a little differently.  I add frozen peas, a can of light chicken broth, sometimes a can of light cream of chicken soup, parsley, and I trim off any fat and skin.  But, each bite makes me think of mom.

Women's History Month - #6

On a cold a snowy Ohio morning, I'm thinking of the women in my family...

March 6 — Describe an heirloom you may have inherited from a female ancestor (wedding ring or other jewelry, china, clothing, etc.) If you don’t have any, then write about a specific object you remember from your mother or grandmother, or aunt (a scarf, a hat, cooking utensil, furniture, etc.)

It is unfortunate that a fire occurred about a year and a half after my mom died.  Many of the items in that house fire would have come to me, for none of my sisters like old things.

Me...I love old things.  Perhaps I love them too much!  I treasure them.  I think of how they were used, how they were made, how they were worn.

But, two things stand out in the possessions I do own:

My sister found a cast iron skillet in my dad's possessions when she was cleaning out her garage.  It is similar to the one above.  I cleaned up the rust that was on it, re-seasoned it, and now use it every day.

I can't help but think of the many pans of cornbread, biscuits, fried potatoes, fried chicken, fried pies, fried anything that must have come from that skillet.  It has "Wegner's 1891" imprinted on the bottom.  It's one of the best.

The next items are just as dear:

I inherited three bonnets that my mother and grandmother wore.  Mom's favorite is on the far right.  How well I remember the days she wore it as she tended her magnificent flowerbed, pulled weeds, and worked in the garden under blistering sun.  I believe I still have the pattern she used to make it.

These mementos take me back to a time when I can envision the people who used them, and they allow me to cherish them even more!

Women's History Month - #5

Onward we go with the lives of valiant women!

March 5 — How did they meet? You’ve documented marriages, now, go back a bit. Do you know the story of how your parents met? Your grandparents?

My mom used to tell me that she and dad met at church.  Then, she would later say that they didn't really grow up going to church.  So, I'm not sure how they met, other than the fact that Dad worked at the limestone quarry where Mom's father, Corb Stevens, was the foreman.

The old limestone quarry at Lawton, KY.  It was later a mushroom factory, where the conditions were perfect for growing mushrooms.

My dad's parents, Richard Lee and Fannie Collier Clemens.  The story about how they met is unknown to me.  

My mom's parents, Corb and Bertha Gearheart Stevens.  The story about how they met is unknown to me.

How sad it is that these people that I knew so well in my life have stories that will never be known to me.  I can only surmise that their love story echoes that of my parents; they married because there wasn't anything else to do.

In eastern Kentucky, opportunities for going beyond the few counties around one's home were few.  You married who you knew; those your parents knew, those you went to school with, those you saw at church, those that lived up the holler.

Oh, if I could just have about five minutes more with each of them!

Women's History Month - #4

And, the fun continues...

March 4 — Do you have marriage records for your grandparents or great-grandparents? Write a post about where they were married and when. Any family stories about the wedding day? Post a photo too if you have one.

My good parents, shortly after their marriage in 1932.

My parents lived in eastern Kentucky.  Mom told me they got married because there wasn't anything else to do.

Chester Lee Clemens and Ida Stevens were young hillbillies living in Carter County, Kentucky.  Ida's father was the foreman at the local limestone quarry where Chester worked.  Dad married the boss's daughter.

On the morning of 1 Feb 1932, Dad was working on the car that would take them to neighboring Morehead in Rowan County.  Battery acid spilled into his eyes.  They flushed them out, but his eyes continued to tear up all day, and he spent the day wiping them.

The judge kept reassuring him that it wasn't going to be that bad.

They married during the Depression, but Mom always said they never knew there was a Depression going on.  They made do on very little.  They had $7 to their name, and bought a hog with that money.

Their long marriage survived economic bad times, illnesses, World War II, Dad's service in the Navy at Pearl Harbor, poverty, working in the coal mines and living in the coal camps.  

Through it all, Mom was a strong woman who raised four strong daughters.

Women's History Month - #3

This challenge has been exciting!  I am enjoying the rediscovery of the love of my ancestors who were women.

March 3 — Do you share a first name with one of your female ancestors? Perhaps you were named for your great-grandmother, or your name follows a particular naming pattern. If not, then list the most unique or unusual female first name you’ve come across in your family tree.

Well, I wasn't named for anyone in my family tree - or so I thought.

I was actually named for the woman my mother worked for.  She cleaned house for a woman whose husband was a supermarket owner in my hometown.  I quote from mom's journal:

"I Ida Clemens lived at 294 East arch St in 1955 and that is where our baby Peggy Lynn was borned I was 41 years of age when she come to live with us.  Betty Lee was passed 16 years of age when Peggy Lynn was borned ever one sure was shocked.  I worked for Peggy & Dave Sternbaum when we learned we was going to have here the Saints here give us a Shower we just had every thing we needed.  She was borned on 8 July 1955  at 10 oclock inthe Mansfield Ohio General Hospitial in Richland co.  Dr Bonar was the Dr that delivered hir.  My Dr was out of towon on Vacation Dr Robert Allison.  We had to much company to seethe new baby.  And the weather was Hot."

Mom was actually about six months' along when she felt she should go to the doctor, where she was informed she had "Cupid's tumor."  All she heard was the word "tumor".  Then he informed her she would be having a baby in the middle of the summer.

However, I have now discovered several women named Peggy in my family tree.  Most were named Margaret, though I was not.  It really does seem to be a family name.

The most unusual name I have found is one that I have blogged about before - that of John Ellen Offill.  I just don't understand why in the world she was named John.  Her grandfather's name was John, as well as her husband's.  She's a beautiful woman.

But, her name is John...

Women's History Month - #2

In continuing on with Women's History Month, the following challenge question was issued:

March 2 — Post a photo of one of your female ancestors. Who is in the photo? When was it taken? Why did you select this photo?

This is my mother, Ida Stevens Clemens.  It was probably taken in the 1940's in either Kentucky or West Virginia.  Mom was born in 1913, so my best guest is that she was in her early 30's.

This photo has always been one of my favorites, because it shows a young and happy woman that seems so happy and vivacious.  It was post-Depression in the hills of Appalachia, yet she glows.

I did not know my mother when she was young.  I was born when she was 41 years old, and in 1955 that was considered "awfully old to be having a baby".  Most of my friends had grandparents that were the age of my parents.

But, this shows my mom just full of life.  What a beautiful young woman she was!