Greetings from DC!

The Smiths arrived in DC on Friday and we've been sprinting through town ever since. In fact, yesterday Scott referred to our trip as "the Washington death march". I guess he thinks we've been doing a lot of walking. Oh well! We have!
It's been great to see so much of Katie and Ryan so here are a few photos. We're heading to Mt Vernon tomorrow.....

Response to Tom

Tom, Mom and I would love to read your book but we don't have a printer. We do have the first 40 pages that you previously sent and if you want to send the balance in printed form we would be happy to read it. As you can imagine, we will think it is good even without reading it.

Any interested readers out there?

OK -- I've got another manuscript that I have finished and will begin sending out in hopes of getting it published. Would any of you be interested in reading it. I promise it is not as long as The Redemption of Chance which was 270,000 words. This one is just a few redundant adjectives shy of 120,000. It is tentatively called The Sombrero Beach Club.

I know we have all read those stories of the beautiful femme fatale who uses some poor sap. But what if she was actually the one being used in someone else's grander game? So begins the tale of Ross Gaines, former minor leaguer and owner of The Sombrero Beach Club and the gorgeous Tyler Scott, newly hired corporate attorney for the Copeland Group, Inc. of Marathon, Florida. As it turns out the Copelands want to buy the club and guess who they decide is to lead their side of the negotiations? Will the burgeoning relationship between Ross and Tyler be able to survive such a turn of events? And what do the Copelands really have planned for the club?

I can e-mail a word document version of this to anyone willing to read it with a discerning eye and edit it accordingly. Let me know if here are any takers.

Thanks -- Tom

Happy Memorial Day!

We have this super patriotic friend Craig who actually found this flag - which was destined for the trash bin - at Macy's a few years ago. It's the flag that used to hang downtown, back when it was cool to love America and be proud.

Last night during his BBQ he pulled it out for the kids to see and of course I had to take several photos.

Blast from the Past....

Thursday Night

Thursday Morning

Jo el 3-0

Guess that Relative! Round 3

HI everybody! So happy to see so much action on here. I am posting another photo for a round of "Guess that relative" and you cheaters out there will be sad to learn that I re-named the file so that the subjects in the photo can remain anonymous. Heh heh.

Any guesses??? =) Here's a big hint: the photo was taken in Greenville.

JDRF Southern Indiana Style

Yesterday was our Walk. Hunter has a very good friend who has type one and one of Taylor's best friends has it also. There was 1,720 people!! Holiday World is a Six Flags type park and the owner's son has diabetes. We had a great day and tons of money was raised.

Grandma Hentz & Baby Joe Hentz

I would have no clue who these people are, however their names show up when you double click the pictures!!

"Guess that relative!" Round 2

Good job, Tom.....who was able to guess last post's relatives as Jewell and Jay. Now let's see who can guess these relatives. Don't forget that you can double-click on the photo to enlarge it.

It's Aunt Jewell and Uncle Jay

Tom

Let's Play "Guess that relative!!"

Okay, can anyone guess who these relatives are? You can double-click on the photo to enlarge it if you need to. Use the comment section for your guess! Mom and Dad, you are not allowed to play since you loaned me this photo to scan! =)

Ian's First Big Trumpet Gig

Last night was the 6th grade band concert. They only played three songs =( but Ian had a major part in one of them so I videotaped it.
He was terrified but I told him I thought he looked cool as a cucumber!

Happy 54th Wedding Anniversary

Nils Info

HI Tom - oooh boy am I excited to share some of this info! There are lots of sources and lots of conflicting information, but I will give you what I've got. I'm so glad your request is timed perfectly with my current addiction.

Nils Peter Nilsson born 5 Mar 1854, born in Vasby/Hoganas Parish (map here) . His parents were Pehr Nilsson and Johanna Svensdotter.

Hoganas parish started out as a parish for those who worked at Hoganasbolaget (Hoganas Factory). If they didn't work in the factory, they belonged to Vasby Parish. A book I found in the Bond County library listed Nils as a shipbuilder, but he changed careers several times. Hoganas is a small town now and Pehr Nilsson was a "industrial worker".

Here's the sad part: In June of 1868, Pehr and Johanna lost four of their children to scarlet fever. Hilda died June 13, Gustaf died June 19, Charlotta died June 22 and Emil died June 25th. They were aged 7, 1, 3 and 5. Can you imagine anything more horrible? No wonder Nils got on that boat.

The book I found in the Bond County library (it's in Greenville, IL) says that Nils Peter and his brother Charles emigrated to America from Hoganas, near Malmo in Sweden in 1875. The book says their motivation was the "world depression".

It says they entered America at New York, but Ellis Island would not have been open yet and I have had no luck finding any specific ship records for them. (Even on "official" stuff, I've found Nilsson spelled about six different ways.)

Here's more from the book: "They entered America at New York. Not finding work, they went to New Orleans by ship to build riverboats. In New Orleans they met a member of the prominent Johnson family of Bond County who offered them land to rent. Before going to Bond county, they went to Minnesota. They did not stay. Nils said it was too Swedish."

In 1880, Nils Peter brought his parents over from Sweden and also married Almira File. Nils Peter, Almira, Pehr and Johanna are all buried in Robinson Cemetery at Old Ripley near Pocahontas.

Wanna know how tough Nils Peter was?? He was 86 years old and suffering from cataracts when he was hit by a car on old Hwy 40, which is now Interstate 70. He was hit on July 13, 1940. He suffered a fractured skull and a double fracture of the right leg.

He didn't die until September.

Tell me if this reminds you of anyone you know: "Nils was an active mason, active in his church, president of the school board when the original brick school was built and a county trustee. He was truly a pillar of the community"

I'll be scanning some photos of Nils Peter and Almira in the next couple of days and will post them. I'm having so much fun doing this family history; can't wait to show you all everything.

Thanks for asking!! =) Hope you all are having a good week!

Oh - and btw - HAPPY 54TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY to Mary and Norm on Thurs!

I need some geneology assistance

So anyway I'm playing tennis with this very quiet guy and he's really good so afterward we start talking and it turns out he is a fireman from Sweden -- Paul Bierksson. So I dazzle him with all of my tales of the Swedish relative and he asks me where in Sweden did they live and when did they come over? I told him I would find out and get back to him.

He is from Karlskrona which is a coastal town on the Baltic Sea best known for a Russian Submarine running aground in 1981. I googled it; Paul was not mentioned.

So if any of you who know -- Julie -- can you post here from where Nilson Peter Nilsson hailed and the year he immigrated. Any other info you have would be appreciated and I will fake an accent and make Paul Bierksson think I'm a native Swede.

p.s. How about Henrik Stenson -- another one of we Swedes -- winning The Player's Championship? Paul and I are thrilled.

Tom

Hunter and I spent Saturday night at the Cards-Reds game at the Great Amercian Ballpark. We lost, but it was a fantastic night. They really do a nice job of entertaining. I guess they have to since their team hasn't been that entertaining since the mid-70's! One thing I really found interesting is that most Reds jerseys I saw had a name on it that either is retired or playing for another team! Lots and lots of Cardinals fans. Saw a guy with a Tommy Herr #28 jersey!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day to Mary, Mimi, Patti and Monica! =) Hope you all have a great day!

Neat Genealogy Find

HI everyone! Well now that classes are over I needed a hobby so I bought some new genealogy software to start digging up more sourced info from what I found last time.....and I am having the best time.

So far my favorite discovery has been this ship manifest from the "Charles Crooker", which arrived in New York on May 31, 1852. (You can double-click on it to make it bigger so you can read it.)

Catherine Schmitt, 21, was on board with her sister Anna who was 17. They were from Germany and had gotten on the boat in LeHavre, France.

Catherine Schmitt married Balthazar Vogel in 1854 and their son Henry was Grandma Hentz's dad.

Ellis Island didn't open until 1890, so they docked at "Castle Garden" port which is at the tip of Battery Park in lower Manhattan. The Castle Garden website has Catherine and Anna both listed as "farmers" but when you see the actual ship manifest (above) you can see that the person writing everyone's names down listed everyone's occupation as "farmers". I guess that was the quickest way to do it.

This stuff is so exciting and fascinating to me, thought I'd share. I have lots of census records printed up also, and would love to show you all if I'm lucky enough to see you this summer. Our deck is open and Scott will be starting a new batch of beer shortly so please accept our open inviations to come any time!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day tomorrow. - Julie