(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Asbury Park New Jersey circa 1910

Wordless Wednesday

John Henry VanSciver & Mary Stokley family circa 1900

Tombstone Tuesday

I love the headstone of my fourth great grandmother, Sarah Sanborn Chapman. She is buried in the middle of a farm field in Brownington, Orleans County, Vermont. The North Brownington Cemetery is the town's first burial ground. I do have her ancestry but know little else about her. This area of Vermont is still unspoiled and rural, her life could not have been an easy one. I hope she was happy and loved.

The verse on her tombstone reads:

Although of a mother berefit

Why sho'd we longer complain

Since all troubles on earth she has left

Forever in heaven to reign.

Wordless Wednesday

Barnegat Bay, Long Beach Island, New Jersey 1906

Treasure Chest Thursday-Harriet Vandegrift's Bible

I have many treasures from my mother's side of the family, but sadly, very few from Dad's family. My Dad grew up in a large family during the depression

One "treasure" I do have is the small red leather New Testament Bible that belonged to my great great grandmother, Harriet H. Vandegrift.

Harriet was 5 years old when she received this Bible in 1847 from her Sunday School teacher, Rebecca Toy. Harriet attended Sunday School in either Riverton or Palmyra, Burlington County, NJ.

Harriet was the second oldest child of Daniel Vandegrift and Mary Applegate. Mary and Daniel eventually added 12 more children to their family. All 14 Vandegrift children grew up to adulthood and married. Only one did not have children. Harriet married Franklin Kressler, a Civil War veteran, and had three children, twins Mary Catherine and John Franklin, and Lizzie. John Franklin Kressler was my great grandfather.

One of my greatest genealogy wishes would be to find photographs of Harriet and her parents. I have worked on this family so much over the past 15 years and they are dear to my heart. I am so grateful to have Harriet's little Bible--it truly is a treasure .

Wordless Wednesday

Wall Rope, Beverly, Burlington County, NJ before August 1923

the Coombs family creativity gene...

My mother was a very creative person. She decorated for all the holidays (Halloween, St. Patrick's Day etc.) in the 1950's and 1960's when very few people did so. We spent many hours when I was a child working together on embroidery and arts and crafts project. She had beautiful gardens. I did not inherit her love of gardening, but would consider myself a creative person.

Older relatives always said she took after her grandfather, James Harrison (Harry)Coombs, born in 1846. Granddad Coombs was a farmer for most of his life though at one point he ran a dairy in Beverly, New Jersey. He was referred to as "the boss Kiefer Pear grower" in the Burlington Gazette newspaper in the 1890's. I have an incredible doll's bedroom set he carved for a cousin, Martha Bishop, so she would stop sucking her thumb. It likely dates from the late 1870's and has a magnificent bed, bureau and baby bed.

Granddad was most known for the amazing displays he created for various farm fairs in New Jersey. The photograph above is undated, but includes a figure of Teddy Roosevelt, so this would likely date from his presidency. Harry sits to the left side (second from the left) looking tired, still holding one of the tools he used to create this wonderful display. I would think he had to feel enormously proud as well.

If you click on the photo, you can see a much larger view which will show all the details of this work of art. It is made from many Burlington County fruits and vegetables. I can't even begin to imagine all the hours it took to imagine this scene and then to create it!

Working with Grandad Coombs are his cousin, Howard "Howdy" Dobbins (seated next to him) and William Prickett on the right hand side. Mr. Prickett was Harry's best friend. William's son, Samuel Prickett was a professional photographer in Burlington, so I have many photographs of the Coombs family.

Though I never knew my great grandfather, I do feel a strong connection with him. We share the same love and joy of creating beauty. I wonder who will be the creative one in the next generation?

And so it begins...

My plan for 2010 was to start a blog about my family research, so here I am. I have been researching for about 15 years now and it is my passion.

Genealogy is not just about names and dates--it is about the people and their incredible stories. I firmly believe that we can understand and know ourselves better by understanding and learning about our ancestors.
My grandmother, Helen Fowler Coombs Browne, pictured with her dog Shep, lived with us throughout almost my entire childhood. She was born in 1888 and her grandmother ( born 1810) and her great aunts (born in the 1820's) lived with her family. I am so lucky to have heard first hand accounts of these people who were born so many years ago. I have also inherited many wonderful photographs.
I hope to find cousins through this blog and to share family photographs and stories with any of my family members and members of the genealogy community who are interested. By sharing these stories, my hope is that none of my ancestors will ever be forgotten.