A Fine Day for a Wedding no Matter the Year!

Wedding Wednesday -A Legacy of Weddings

June 28, ????

This is a date permanently etched in our family's history.
Alice Fleming and Michael Connery were married June 28, 1893

Pauline Connery (daughter of Alice and Michael) and William F Ryan were married June 28, 1928

Elizabeth Mary Connery(daughter of Alice and Michael) and Donald Hansen were married June 28 1941 (my parents)

Alice Ryan (daughter of Pauline Connery) married George Sterling II June 28, 1951

William F Ryan II (son of Pauline Connery Ryan) and Barbara Brown were married June 28 1956

At least one more of my cousins also share this anniversary date. Who says the Irish aren't sentimental? Alice and Elizabeth wore the same dress.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 21 - Tombstone

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 17 June 2020), memorial page for Addie Ferguson (unknown–24 Sep 1902), Find a Grave Memorial no. 16051129, citing Mound Cemetery, Hunt City, Jasper County, Illinois, USA ; Maintained by Bonnie Woods Martin (contributor 46826275) .

In the fall of 2004, my husband and I made a trip to the area of Southern Illinois where his ancestors had farmed since the 1850s. Jasper County, Illinois home to places named Willow Hill, Liberty, and Hunt City. One of the places we went to was Mound Cemetery where his maternal grandparents are buried.

As we wandered the cemetery looking for their graves, we came upon one which yielded information we never expected to find, My husband’s great-grandmother, Addie Chapman Ferguson, died on 24 Sep 1902, just four days shy of her twenty-fourth birthday. She was survived by her husband John and children Edna, 6 and Murl 4. This information was well known but her tombstone revealed the births and deaths of two other children, Clifford and Raymond, each having lived only four months.Because these babies were born and died between the census years, there would be no record to tell us of their existence.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks– Week 24 – Handed Down

One of the many things handed down to me by my parents is the Guest Log.

The Guest Log was a wedding gift to my parents. It was one of the many gifts which traveled with them on the honeymoon trip to Lookout Mountain on the way to their new home in Atlanta, GA.  I know they moved back to Chicago sometime in 1942 since I was born in October of that year. 

photo-Donna Hansen Peterson 2020

The Guest Log is about eight and a half inches wide and eleven inches high. Its covers are made of wood and there are two small copper hinges on the front. The binding is a strip of leather laced through four holes in the covers. The pages have become brittle with age and some have cracked. It was first used by my parents in February of 1943. The original entries are:

Name                                           Address                                            Date

A H Hansen                           Oak Park, ILL                                  2/23/’43

   Remarks  Thanks for a nice dinner

Henrietta Hansen             

  Remarks  Spent a pleasant evening

Dorothy H Murray              Oak Park, ILL                                    2/23/43

  Remarks  Will remember this evening a long time

Robert J Murray                 Oak Park, ILL

  Remarks  The first visit of many more to come 

(I hope)my dad’s parents, sister, and brother-in-law)

Jayne Hansen                  

  Remarks  This is one of the best evenings I’ve ever spent – no fooling

Daniel J Hansen

Remarks  A fine evening with one regret, we missed dinner

(dad’s first cousin and his wife)

Dick Purtell                        Oak Park, ILL                                     3/13/43

  Remarks  I like to be with you both for old time’s sake.

(an olf friend and beau of mom’s sister Kathleen)

Pauline Ryan

  Remarks  The roast beef was perfect tonight.

Peggy Ryan                      4319 Monroe St.                                    4/2/43

  Remarks  I enjoy each Sunday Morning with y’all

(mom’s sister and niece)

Popsy Connery              4140 Washington Bl                                 4/14/43

  Remarks  I enjoyed the lunch and I had a very pleasant afternoon. I

Love Betty and Don’s apt.

Mama Connery 

  Remarks  The lunch was very good and enjoyed being here and seeing you.

(mom’s parents)

Grant B Munger             Cedar Rapids, Ia                               Aug 22, 1943

  Remarks  Had one glorious time

Mabel E Munger            Cedar Rapids, Ia      

  Remarks  Enjoyed every minute.

Dorothy Munger           USNAS Glenview, IL                         Aug 22, 1943

  Remarks  It seems like old times being with Donald, Betty, Mr and Mrs Hansen,

It’s been a treat seeing your beautiful apartment.

(their daughter Grace was a college friend of dad’s sister)

photo - Donna Hansen Peterson 2020

The entries of my parents friends and family  ended in August of 1943.

After it came into my possession, my husband and I used it on several occasions (when we remembered to!) and it has since been “handed down” to my son.