Thorp Grist Mill, Ellensburg

Shadow Box Memorial

Old B&W Unknown Photo Wants a Home

Mary Ellen’s Story

Thomas MacEntee’s Fairy Grants

 

We zoom east to west and back again on I-90 and sometimes we stop at “Thorpe.” That be the antique/fruit stand just west of Ellensburg. It is, admittedly, a super rest stop. But have you ever taken time to drive the 1.8 miles down the road to see the Thorpe Mill??

Built between 1880 and 1883, the Thorp Grist Mill “is the only remaining mill in Washington state that made the transition from stone buhr to modern rollers. The mill has been lovingly restored and maintained so that visitors can catch a glimpse of history back to the early days of settlement in the state.” (Quote from their website.) It’s free to go inside and take the guided tour (Wednesday through Friday, 12:00-4:00 and Saturday/Sunday, 11:00-4:00.) Tiz a fascinating historical stop. The website is www.thorp.org.

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A friend of mine recently shared how she and her sister and nephew spent Memorial Day. They took all the documentation and artifacts about their father (and grandfather) and made shadow boxes. Cheryl said “we had a ball and talked family memories all day.”  I’ll bet!

Do you have a box of family mementoes in your desk or dresser drawer? Perhaps this is an idea for you? If you do decide to do this, why not make it a family affair ?

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I would so love to find a family for this wonderful photo which I found in a thrift shop in Spokane. In pencil on the back are these names:  Fred – John – Louis – Tilli – Emma – Annie – Henry – Lizzie – Grandmother R. ANY idea who they are? Any suggestions on what I should do with this warm-fuzzy photo?

 

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Speaking of old mysteries, I must share this wonderful story with everybody. It’s from Mary Ellen Long, a genealogy friend of mine from Colville, Washington (north of Spokane):

In the early part of May 2016, Holly O’Connell stopped me coming out of Mass and asked if I still did genealogy. I told her I did and she promised to bring me some papers she found when going through her mother’s things. Her mother had died a few years before but was living with Holly when she died. She couldn’t remember where her mother got the papers. And Holly did not know what to do with them.

Sure enough, the next week I was presented with over 200 pages of a teenaged girl’s story from birth in 1958 to 1978. There was also over 20 pages of original family pictures and some studio portraits of young children.

The pictures were all taken in New York. Everyone had been born in New York but had also lived in Connecticut and various other New England states.  Holly had no idea how her mother came to have them, she (Holly) did not know anyone mentioned but her mother had lived in New York before moving to Spokane.

Where to start? I thought New England, New York, Connecticut but found nothing on the teenager who would now be in her 50’s. So I tried finding her father on Google and his obituary popped up–he had died in Spokane. His children were mentioned, as was his wife, so I knew I had the right man.  The obituary site offered to send condolences to the family–which would take a few days–and so I emailed the daughter to please call me as I had her journal and family pictures.  No response for several days and then I received confirmation that my email had been sent.

Several days passed with no response and so I decided to get pro-active.  I Googled the woman by name and found several phone numbers listed for her.  All of them were old. Her place of work was listed as the Mead School district. I called my sister in Spokane and asked her to please look up the family names I had.  Nothing.  She called her son in Mead and had him check for the names.  Nothing.  I got the number of anyone who vaguely matched the names and started calling.  Nothing.

Now what? I called Donna Potter Phillips for help. She thought working on the School District angle was worth a try and gave me the number. The district secretary couldn’t help but put me through to Personnel. No one by that name had ever taught at the Mead school district.

By this time I was like a dog with a bone–I just couldn’t let it go. Time to get serious–and that meant spending money on one of the web sites that states they can find anyone.  Well, they can’t! They wanted $25 for a month but when I went to click off, a little note came up saying I could have five days for $1. I love a bargain so signed up.

What they could tell me was everywhere she had lived for the past 10 years and all her old phone numbers but also everyone my mystery woman was related to.  I tried every one, most numbers were no longer in service but I also met some nice people along the way.  One such person was the ex-mother-in-law of my mystery woman’s sister. She directed me to where her former daughter-in-law worked.  I called there and left a message asking the sister to please call me about a personal matter related to her family pictures.

It was about this time that Holly (who knows nothing about doing genealogy) called me and said “Guess what, I just found our lady!”

She had also Googled her but had come up with the Spokane Valley School District, called there and was forwarded to the school where she was able to leave a message for our mystery woman.  Within minutes, she was called back.

And now for the rest of the story….Our mystery woman was born and raised in New York. The family moved to Spokane about time the journal ended (1978-79). It was packed up and our mystery woman had it with her through every move. It was important because the family had experienced a flood while living in New York and all family pictures were lost except those in the journal.  One night, several years ago, someone broke into our lady’s home in Spokane and took several things, including the journal.

How did Holly come to have it? When she visited her mother in Spokane, she would pick up trash in the yard and, as near as Holly can remember, she found this journal, with pictures, scattered in the street and yard. After picking it up, she didn’t want to throw it out and it got stuck in with her mother’s things when the mother moved in with Holly. No connection, just a good deed which has now been completed.

Thank you, Mary Ellen, for your efforts and genealogical dedication. I’m sure that our “mystery lady” will bless your name 1000 times.

 

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Thomas MacEntee, gives away free money, did you know? He calls them Fairy Grants and the opportunity is open to “all genealogical and historical organizations, especially non-profits, and to individual genealogists who seek to fund specific projects related to genealogy and family history.” Think this is something you might should check out????

The Genealogy Fairy – Genealogy Grants Program – Awarded monthly This program, created by Thomas MacEntee, gives “back to the genealogy community through a series of grants to organizations and individuals . . .” Awards up to $500 are given for qualifying projects, including genealogy continuing education programs.

See http://www.geneabloggers.com/genealogy-fairy-genealogy-grants-program/ for additional details.