A Basket Picnic Dinner at the 1913 Young-House Family Reunion

In a letter I found in my Great Grandma's Ada's notebooks, I learned that a "Basket Picnic Dinner" was to be held at the 1913 Young-House Family Reunion. The event was to take place on July 31, 1913, at Ruggles Beach, a popular spot for summer gatherings in the early twentieth century in Huron, Ohio.

My great grandfather, Leroy J. Parker was the Vice President of the Young-House Family Reunion Committee in 1913, and his mother, my Great Great Grandma Marian, was the secretary of the committee. I am guessing that Grandma Marian typed the letter to the various members of the Young and House families. Grandma Marian's parents were Lindsey House and Mary Ann Young. It was the descendants of Lindsey and Mary Ann (Young) House who attended the Young-House reunion.

Pictured below are just a few of the family members who attended this event. The photocopy of an old family photograph shows Leroy and Ada (Steen) Parker, and their two oldest children, Steen (younger child) and Glenn (older child.)

I have a feeling that the food in those picnic baskets was scrumptious! Many of the women who attended the reunion were the wives of farmers, who specialized in fried chicken and wonderful pies!

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Cousins

The prompt for Week 31 of 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy, from Amy Coffin at We Tree, and hosted by Geneabloggers, is: Cousins

One of the best experiences in family history is meeting with new cousins found through your research. Tell us about your favorite cousin meet-up. How did you discover each other? Where did you meet? What type of information was exchanged and how did it benefit your research?

I have had so many wonderful cousin meet-ups, that I can’t name just one! Last Spring, I had cousins from two different branches of my family tree stop in to see me while I was at work at the local library. One family was connected to my Parker branch of the family. It was wonderful to see how the youngsters in the family had grown since I last saw them.

Later that day, a cousin named Pam, from the Steen side of the family stopped in. I helped Pam plan for some area cemetery visits, and later we re-connected and shared family stories and photographs.

Another delightful cousin meet up was a “virtual visit” from a cousin in Nevada. In the last couple of years, D. has shared many, many photographs from our mutual Yeager and Orshoski relatives. Sometimes we enlist the help of other relatives in Florida to help us in identifying these pictures. My favorite family picture from D's treasure trove is this one. My paternal grandparents, Steve and Emma Orshoski, are in this 1929 photo, along with my Aunt Bertie, and my father, Paul R. Orshoski, Sr. (Dad is the little boy with his eyes closed.) The baby held by my Grandpa Steve is my Uncle Wayne. Before receiving this image, I had never seen my dad at such a young age!

God bless my generous cousins! They have taught me many things about my family heritage.

*Note: The images and information in this blog post have appeared in previous blog posts at the Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky Bay.

John Clausius, 1816-1854

John Clausius is buried at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. According to the book Sandusky Then and Now, John Clausius was born in Germany on March 9, 1816, and he died on July 28, 1854. Erie County Probate Court records the marriage of John Clausius and Mary Oetinger as taking place in Erie County, Ohio on November 10, 1841. (Several Erie County marriage records are accessible at Family Search.)

In the 1850 U.S. Census for Erie County, John and Mary were living in Portland Township (now the city of Sandusky), and John's occupation was listed as Grocer. Sadly, John Clausius died at the age of 38 years, 4 months, and 19 days. The simple tombstone of John Clausius is amazingly legible in 2011.

Program from Sandusky Bay Regatta, July 26-27, 1952

Recently a local collector allowed me to take a look at the program from the Sandusky Bay Regatta, held on July 26-27, 1952. Members of the Sandusky Yacht Club and Sandusky Sailing Club participated in the event. While few of my ancestors had a boat, they most certainly were familiar with several of the employers and Sandusky businesses who advertised in the program of the Sandusky Bay Regatta. Click on the words SANDUSKY BAY REGATTA, below, to view a slideshow which contains images of several pages from the program of the Sandusky Bay Regatta in 1952.

Kizoa slideshow: Sandusky Bay Regatta 1952 - Slideshow

Dr. Lyle Steen Hill

Lyle Steen Hill was born in 1881 in Berlin Heights, Ohio, to George F. Hill and Mary Steen Hill. In 1908 Lyle S. Hill earned an engineering degree from the University of Michigan,and in 1912 he received his medical degree from the Detroit Medical School.

Dr. Hill did his internship in Cleveland, and practiced several years there before moving to Sandusky in 1920. At that time Dr. Hill was an X-Ray specialist. He worked at both the Good Samaritan and Providence Hospitals.

During World War II, Dr. Hill used his engineering degree, as he worked in the chemistry lab at the Farrell Cheek Steel Company. In an article in the October 6, 1953 Sandusky Register, Dr. Hill said that his first love was engineering. "After all, fracture work is merely engineering," he said.

Dr. Lyle Steen Hill died in Sandusky on July 25, 1962. He was survived by his wife Helen, a son James D. Hill, and a daughter Harriet. His son Merritt Hill died had died as a young man. Dr. Hill and his wife Helen are buried in Oakland Cemetery.

Old photo of Aunt Bertie and Great Aunt Hilda

Thanks to my dear cousin in Florida, I now have an image of my Aunt Bertie, my father's older sister, who is the younger child (on the left) in the picture above, about 1926. Hilda was an aunt to Bertie, though Hilda was only one when her niece was born! The older toddler (child on the right) is my Great Aunt Hilda Yeager. Aunt Bertie lived a full, rich life, which included serving as a police woman and co-owning a family restaurant for many years.

Great Aunt Hilda Yeager died when she was only four years of age. She was the daughter of my great grandparents, Andrew and Lena Yeager. Hilda died as a result of influenza. She was buried at St. John's Cemetery, near her parents' final resting place.

Below is a transcription of the obituary for Hilda Yeager, which appeared in the April 7, 1930 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal:

Child 'Flu' Victim To Be Buried Tuesday
Huron, April 7 -

The funeral of Hilda Elizabeth Yeager, 4, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Yeager, who died of "flu" Saturday, will be held from the family residence on River Rd., about a mile south of Huron, Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 and 2:00 from Zion Lutheran Church, the Rev. W. R. Lucht, pastor, officiating. Besides her parents the child leaves two brothers, Fred and Andrew, and three sisters, Mrs. Emma Orshoski, Mrs. Norma Ernst, and Miss Dorothy Yeager, all of Huron.


Rest in peace Aunt Bertie and Great Aunt Hilda!

Raymond Yeager, 1912-1914

In 1912, when my paternal grandmother Emma Yeager Orshoski was six years old, her parents, Andrew & Lena Yeager had a little boy named Raymond Yeager. Sadly, little Raymond died when he was only two years old. He was buried at St. John's Cemetery, south of Sandusky, Ohio, off of Route 250. I was always told that my father, Paul Raymond Orshoski, Sr., had the middle name of Raymond in memory of his uncle who died as a toddler. My brother was named after Raymond Yeager, too, since my brother was named after my dad.

Raymond Yeager's tombstone is adjacent to a farm field. His father, Andy, often worked as a farm laborer in Erie County, Ohio. How fitting that this little one's tombstone is still in a farm setting!