This bridge was immediately recognizable to me. It’s no longer in existence – at least not at this location. My kids used to call it the dangerous bridge. The road was moved over so that the road could be straight – here the bridge was in the middle of a sharp S Curve. Both sides were slopes up to the bridge – and it would flood every time the river rose. This was our favorite spot to put in a canoe though.
I once was coming to my parents and got my van stuck on the incline (side ways) . Talk about scary. I had my oldest with, who was a baby at the time and luckily one of the neighbors took pity and finessed the van around and got it across the bridge. It was VERY icy at the time. I had slid all the way down the hill (which must be a mile down, or at least felt like it) to get to that point.
Funnily enough that isn’t why my kids called it the dangerous bridge. It was because you could walk out on the bridge and look down through spots that had broken away in the floor and see the river floating by.
This bridge has now been replaced by a new straight bridge that can be rushed across at 50 MPH. It has low sides, is concrete, and is down river a little ways. My parents were happy when it was put in even though it involved them losing some of their field since it eliminated the need for them to drive an extra 5 miles or so with a combine to get to the field since they would have to go around through Oakwood and take the singing bridge road then cut around to get to the field less than a mile from their house.
It’s funny how much this bridge though sticks in your memory. I would recognize it anywhere. I remember spending hours at this bridge playing while my parents put canoes in the river – took canoes out, or just worked in a nearby field.
I do wonder how old that bridge was.
My immediate family has been VERY busy with my oldest going off to college, my middle son starting high school and my youngest being evaluated for preschool. My youngest seems to little to even think about sending off to school, but I know it will be good for him. He is still not speaking well – he still on the one word level as opposed to even tying three words together to make a sentence. He’s really good at pointing though.
Kris (middle) started high school and seems to be doing okay. He is writing his blog and doing a great job! My only worry is that he didn’t get a foreign language class this year, but he’s pretty happy with his schedule – so no biggie. Kris blog is http://kristopherskingdom.com… He even has it set up on Kindle so that you can get notification of new posts.
Kevin took off for UK last Friday. Getting him ready and our of the house was an ordeal. Everything from a parking brake issue, broken dishes, and a key that was supposed to stay in Lexington that ended up in Bowling Green…. and the fact that guaranteed overnight delivery doesn’t apply when pertaining to a residence hall. Ultimately we finally got the parking brake turned off (Thursday), bought Kevin new dishes after all his dishes broke on the pavement (Friday), and he finally got his key back on Monday. I’m fairly certain there are a lot of things that are still here in town that he will need, but Kevin will have to find a way to get by until the next time he comes home…. I’m pretty sure laundry detergent is on the list…. so it won’t be too long.
Besides all that my father found out he needs the valve in his heart replaced as well as needing a pacemaker. He doesn’t want the pacemaker because of welding issues… as I have been doing research (All this is a scary thing)…. I have found some sites that say only 40 percent of patients see no benefit to getting pacemakers. Definitely a study I want to ask about… Not being a doctor I have no idea what it all means, but it sounds like it depends on the amount of delay between heartbeats. The pacemaker is recommended if the delay is greater than .12, but it’s only beneficial if greater than .15…. It also mentioned a recall of pacemakers that occurred in 2005 (recalled 69 pacemakers and resulted in one death)….
Another site had a list of devices to watch out for, so besides welding there are a few other places to be wary of. One was the Anti Theft devices… – These are the things a lot of stores have in their doors. Apparently you need to be careful not to stand near one for prolonged amounts of time….. Metal Detectors are also a problem and you also have to tell the person if you have to be wanded with a metal detector (I’m thinking that means no MRIs too after)…. Also cell phones as they come out with new models and MP3 player headphones…. (Not sure that’s too big a deal as I can’t see my dad using headphones, but he does have a cell phone.) There are more listed… that include machines to dissolve kidney stones, MRI machines, arc welders, strong magnets, and so on… The list is available at hearts.org…. Another article in the Dallas News told why a certain type of pacemaker fails to help half the people receiving it, but it was set up so that you can’t read with out a subscription…..
This weekend is my cousin Don and Sue’s Richter Family Party. Anyone who can heads to Oakwood to come to the party. So it looks like I’ll drive 6 hours up on Saturday and 6 hours back on Sunday to visit for a few hours at the party. While I’m there I’d like to hear more stories from my dad (and Don) about the past. Every time I make it to these parties I get to hear good and bad stories about the past. The good usually are about my dad, his siblings, cousins, and more – the bad, stories about me and K-12 years….Hearing about my father’s health reinforces the need to get the stories recorded before everyone forgets or isn’t available anymore.
For geneology though parties like this are a great chance to find out more family history. The stories are really what makes it interesting… Just knowing names and dates without knowing who the person really was is not as exciting to me. Before going to the party I just finished looking back through the 125 years of history of Oakwood book. I’ve got a list of questions all ready. As I get more experience I’ve learned to write everything down and take lots of notes. A video camera is a great tool also for recording all the stories.
The 12 hours of driving is a lot of time and with the cost of gas, not too cheap either, but if something were to happen to my dad before I make it up to visit again – I’d regret not making it up to visit.
My father is a Richter. One of 10 kids, Tom, Harold, Howard, Robert, Dorothy, Margaret, Ethel, Linda, Norma, Cleda Fern (the only one that didn’t live to be an adult). In that time period it was amazing to have ten kids with 9 living to be adults. (Five are still living) All of my Aunts that are still living have battled Cancer at one point or another and are all pretty amazing. My father and my Uncle Tom are the only brothers still around. As they get older (and I do to) I don’t get to see them as often. For me it usually involves a special trip up to visit.
My dad has lots of great stories from his time growing up. Everything from damming up the creek that is now beside my parents house to when my grandfather and his brothers put cows on top of the local store. All of these stores are great to get on paper (or digital), and I keep trying to remember them all. I am also lucky to have a cousin that is about the same age as my father that has written several books on local history.
If you get the chance sit down with your father (and if possible a digital recorder) and get some of the stories recorded. You may think oh I’ve heard that a million times, but when you go to remember it later it’s hard to remember the details. If you have ever played the game of telephone you know how easy stories go from one thing to a totally different subject in the process of retelling.
As you know I have also scanned all the old photos. I try to use family parties as a chance to get each photo identified. I’ve been lucky to have several of my aunts and uncles that are no longer with us go through and label everything. I’ve also given each a copy of their part of the family tree so that they can update it. I hope to get all the pictures printed in a book someday soon so that I can have better copies for them to identify. Most of my older family members aren’t computer savvy enough to identify pictures online, and don’t have the time it would take either. Going through a book with me identifying all the pictures is easier and can lead to some great stories to go with….
Abraham Richter was issued a marriage license to marry Elitha Homes on September 15th, 1865. This took place in St Joseph County, South Bend, Indiana….
It looks like they actually married the 16th of September…. I had never realized how many dates were involved with a marriage license. This Abraham Richter is different from Abraham Lincoln Richter born in 1864.
Abraham Richter was born of Rebecca Hannah Gallontine and Jacob Richter in 1830.
Abraham Richter was born on 30 Dec 1830 in Connellsville, Fayette Co.
Pennsylvania. He died on 24 Jun 1916 in Union Township, Indiana. He married
Sarah McWilliams on 26 Mar 1854 in Liberty Twp. Van Wert, OH. She was born
about 1833 in Connellsville, Fayette Co. Pennsylvania3. He married Elitha Holmes
on 11 Sep 1865 in Lakeville, St. Joseph Co. Indiana. She was born on 19 Aug
1844 in Bristol,Near Lakeville, St. Joseph County, Indiana. She died on 23
May 1911 in Bristol, Indiana.
Abraham Richter was counted in the census in 1850 in Tuscarawus County, Ohio.
He was counted in the census in 1870 in Union Twp, Indiana. He was counted in
the census in 1880 in Union Twp, Indiana. He was counted in the census in 1910 in
Union Twp, Indiana. He was buried on 27 Jun 1916 in St. Joseph County, Indiana.
Abraham Richter was the brother to Jacob Richter who was my direct ancestor.
Jacob Richter was born on 04 Apr 1827 in Connellsville, Fayette Co. Pennsylvania.
He died on 05 Sep 1899 in Near Oakwood, Vermilion County, Illinois. He married
Mary Peck on 29 Jul 1860 in Pennsylvania, daughter of Lorenzo Dow Peck and
Mary Manilla Hammet. She was born on 25 Jan 1841 in Lynn, Missouri1. She died
on 28 Aug 1911 in Vermillion Co. Illinois at 2:40 on Monday afternoon1. He married
Phebe Putnam on 31 Mar 1850 in van wert co, OH, daughter of Andrew
Putman and Sarah Grittner. She was born in 1833 in Tuscarawas co, Ohio. She
died in Jul 1860.
(If I remember this corectly)
As I go through papers I just found the obituary from the paper for Christina Anderson. It’s amazing the things you can find in an older obituary. This one reads:
Christina Anderson Dies Near Oakwood
Summons Came for Aged Woman at her home Thursday Night.
Hold Funeral Saturday
Deceased lived on place where she died for more than half century
Mrs. Christian Anderson, one of the oldest women of Vermilion county and one of its best died at her home near Oakwood Thursday night after long illness. For more than half-century she had lived on the place where she passed away.
Mrs. Anderson was born at Dayton OH. Sept. 29, 1831, and came to this county with her parents when a child. The parents located near Oakwood where the deceased spent the rest of her life. On Feb. 2, 1854, she was united in marriage to Louis Anderson, who was one of the early-day school teachers of the county and whose death occurred March 7, 1897. the deceased is survived by eight children, four sons and four daughters. They are: James F., Louis B., Charles W., Hiram E., Mrs. Julia Cass, Mrs. Belle Thompson, Mrs. Allie Nugent, and Mrs. Nellie Fox. Four sisters survive, Mrs. Abraham Illk, Mrs. Mary Reece, Mrs. John Manning, and Mrs. Julia Beyer. She leaves also fifteen grandchildren.
Mrs. Anderson has been a member of the Methodist church since a child and was a Christian woman with all that the words can mean.
The funeral services will be held Saturday morning at 10 o’clock from the Lake Shore church, Rev. Wicks officiating. The interment will take place in the Oakwood cemetary.
In the obituary is listed Mrs. Abraham Illk, who in my records would be Katherine (Voth) Illk. Abraham and Katherine had a daughter named Frannie who fit into my tree as my great-aunt. My grandfather (Wesley Richter) was a twin. His twin brother was Lesley Frank Richter (Both born Aug. 1, 1896 in Oakwood Illinois)
Lesley Richter married Frannie Illk the daughter of Katherine Voth and Abraham Illk. So this makes Christina Anderson part of an expanded tree for our family. (But the dates don’t seem to add up for what I have down. See below. Anyone who can clear this up, let me know…)
The really interesting thing to me is that my parent bought the Abraham Illk house when I was in second grade. My brother now owns it and still lives there. I think the story was that the house was built by Illk with bricks made in the nearby woods. The house is just a short distance down the road from the house that my father grew up in, and is also on the road of the grade school my father attended.
For more information about Christina check out http://www.skyviewtech.com/jim/stuff/ford.htm It’s funny how things become intertwined…
It was this road (Old State Road) that Abraham Lincoln traveled when attending Circuit court in Danville. The Willis Hubbard family, living at the eastern edge of the school district, knew Lincoln well. They operated a roadside tavern from their pioneer homestead on the State Road and Lincoln stopped there during his circuit riding days. Historian H.A. Coffeen wrote in 1870, “.. it was their privilege to have Abraham Lincoln as their guest, in his regular trips to Danville…. Many of Lincoln’s best jokes are well remembered by this elderly couple.” Catherine Voth (Christina’s sister) (1833-1916) was employed by the Hubbards when she was a young girl and recalled seeing the gaunt Lincoln during his circuit riding days. Catherine Voth married Abraham Illk in 1857. Her family had also emigrated from Germany but Catherine was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The family changed their name from Voth to Ford after reaching the United States. The Illks’s homesteaded a quarter mile south of the Lake Shore School House. Abraham Lincoln was well aware of the number of Germans living in the area. While campaigning in Vermilion County in September 1858, he wrote a letter from Danville to Norman Judd pointing out, “Our friends here wish a German speaker before the election, can you send one?”
Cathrine Voth Ford’s sister Mary, married William Calvin Eldridge On November 9, 1859. The newlyweds took up residence in the timber just north of the Illk homestead. On October 14, 1860, they named their first born son William Lincoln Eldridge in honor of the circuit riding attorney so well known in the community. In less than a month the attorney would be elected president.
Reading this I also notice William Lincoln Eldridge name as one of my ancestor’s also (great grandfather. My grandmother was Mildred Eldridge (daughter of William Lincoln Eldridge). So it looks like Christina Anderson was actually closer related than I thought. This would make her sister Mary my great-great grandmother. I’m still not sure about he dates… So I think that makes her my great-great aunt. I’ll have to check into it more…
Lesley Richter
Lesley Frank Richter was born on 01 Aug 1896 in Oakwood Illinois,
Vermilion Co.. He died on 28 Dec 1969 in Danville, Illinois Vermilion Co.. He
married Frannie Illk, daughter of Abraham Illk and Katherine Voth. She was born on
18 Apr 1906 in Vermilion Co, Illinois. She died on 18 Feb 1933 in Danville, Illinois
Vermilion Co.. He married Elizabeth Odell Starks on 13 Mar 1937 in Danville, IL,
daughter of Oscar Starks and Hannah Youngblood. She was born on 20 Mar 1914 in Georgetown Arkansas. She died on 15 Feb 1978 in Oakwood Illinois, Vermilion
Co..
Lesley Frank Richter was counted in the census on 18 Jun 1900 in oakwood Twp,
Illinois. He was counted in the census on 14 Jan 1920 in oakwood Twp, Illinois. He
was counted in the census in 1930 in Vermilion county, Oakwood Township Head
of Household.
Notes for Lesley Frank Richter:
Buried Oakwood Cemetery, Oakwood, Il
Notes for Frannie Illk:
Buried Oakwood Cemetery
I come from a big family with lots of history. I think if you look deep enough everyone does. My father though was one of 9 kids and his father was one of 5 boys. On my mother’s side, her mother was one of nine kids and her father was one of 3 boys and 2 girls. I would have loved a big family also, but three boys is all we have. Three is a lot though when they are really spaced out.
I have spent some time looking into the history of my ancestors and found some great stories. It’s also pretty amazing the things they have done. I haven’t found too many bad stories, but I’m sure as I look I will find them. My ancestors include the Richter, Eldridge, Corbley and more on one side and the McArdle, Morgan, and Morettos (plus a lot more on the other side).
The Moretto side is probably the toughest to research. My great grandfather came to the US in the early 1900’s sailing from Havre, France where it is rumored he had an Aunt. I have also heard rumors that he was originally from Costallamente, Italy and an orphan. This would make sense since my Great Grandmother is from Locana and that is only a short distance away. I also have copies of the ship record from his trip to the US. I searched the Ellis Island records and found copies of the ship log, which showed that he came to the US in 1904 (March 5th) on the LA Lorraine. – I was able to order a copy of the ships photo too.
He is listed on line 15 of his page as Giovanni Moretto (male and married) His occupation was listed as a Miner going to Westville. (A little bit of a surprise for me since I thought they originally started in Clinton IN then moved to Westville, Illinois. Another surprise is that he was going to live with a Cousin Bastoglio ( someone I need to research sometime in the future.)
The Moretto side of my family is probably the least researched. (Moretto is also a very popular name in Italy and we know very little about that part of the family) I have tried writing to Costallamente, but didn’t have luck with that.
My great grandfather was a coal miner after coming to Illinois and died of the flu in 1918 when my grandmother was only a toddler. My grandmother was the youngest of the kids so by the time I came along and was old enough to start doing research, most of the brothers and sisters were gone. Her two sisters closest in age, Lena and Kate were the two I saw most. I was able to get information from them, but most were stories from my great grandmother, a few Italian Words, and the names of the current generation. Recording this information is very important for future generations now. I also have tried to gather what pictures I can. I only really have the one copy of my Great Grandfather – but it is now a digital copy that can be passed on to my kids.
If you would like to check out the Ellis Island Records, you can search at: http://www.ellisisland.org/
My great grandfather’s records can be found at:
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| My Great Grandmother and Great Grandfather Moretto |
