Who Else was in the WCTU Cookbook?

Yesterday I posted about the Linn County WCTU Cookbook which I own. While I was researching to see if my mother had submitted any recipes I noticed some other of my relatives were also in the book.

My grandmother, Mrs. O. J. Albertson of Halsey, had 5 different recipes:

      Quick Blackberry Jelly

      Jam Cake

      Buttermilk Cake

      30 Minute Angel Food Cake

      Boston Cream Pie

My Dad's sister, Aunt Vida, Mrs. Cecil Dawson, submitted 1:

      Hot Water Pie Crust

There were 11 recipes from Bond cousins:

Ruby Hayes Standish submitted 4:

     Rice and Hamburger Balls

     Baked Sweet Potatoes

     Ginger Drop Cookies

     Christmas Pudding

Nellie Bond Isom submitted 4:

     Scalloped Corn and Tomatoes

     Chocolate Roll

     Peanut Crinkles

     Grape Marlow

Irene Bond Clingman submitted 2:

     Spanish Dowery Cake

     Orange Cookies

Madge McVey Bond submitted 1:

     Butter Scotch Taffy

And there was 1 recipe from a Falk cousin:

Nellie Falk Vannice

     Steam Pudding

From attending family reunions over the years, I can attest that family members were good cooks.

My Mother's In a Recipe Book

Sometime in the later 1930's or early 1940's the Linn County W.C.T.U. (Women's Christian Temperance Union) published a cookbook. I have a copy in my collection. Some of the recipes included the name of the contributor. Since I knew my mother (Wilma Falk Albertson) had belonged to that organization at one time, I checked through the 60+ pages to see if she had furnished any of the recipes.

And I did find two. Even if she hadn't won the cake baking contest (see blog post: December 13, 2016) she did submit a recipe for Red Devils Food Cake. I don't remember her baking that, but I do remember the other recipe: Washboard Cookies. They were made with coconut and they were really good.

Maybe I'll try to make some myself using her recipe. It will be next year (2017) before I get around to it.

More Christmas Cards From the Past

Last year I posted three Christmas postcards from my father's (Lester Albertson) collection  Here are three more.

She Didn't Win First Prize

I have been reading in old newspapers on-line and found my mother mentioned in May of 1928 in the Harrisburg section of the Albany Democrat-Herald, Albany, Oregon..

It stated that she had an entry for cake bakers at the local Achievement Day. She was Wilma Falk, a teenager who belonged to the 4-H cooking club which had been organized a few months before.

Wilma came in third in that contest. But that's all right because I know that by the time I was her daughter she could bake very good cakes.

The Cottage Grove connection to the Potter Sewing Club

I now live in Cottage Grove Oregon and I discovered that there is a connection between  the 

Potter Sewing Club and Cottage Grove.  

My Grandmother Albertson belonged to the Potter Sewing Club and I posted about that day before yesterday, December 6th. One of the first mentions I found in the newspaper was March 1926 when my aunts assisted the hostess in serving lunch. The hostess that day was Mrs. Jesse Safley. She is the connection to Cottage Grove. How? Her husband, Jesse Safley was a brother of Franklin/Frank Safley. By the 1920 census Frank and family were living in Cottage Grove.

I feel like I have an even closer relationship to the Safley family. One of Frank's daughters was Isabelle. Isabelle Gates Woolcott recruited me to work as a hostess at the Cottage Grove Museum over ten years ago and after her death I continued to work there and am still volunteering. Isabelle's daughter is a member of the Board for the Museum, so see her frequently. I find it so fascinating that her grandaunt was assisted by my aunts back in 1926; so they all could enjoy that "dainty lunch."  

My Grandmother Albertson Belonged to the Potter Sewing Club

In checking the newspapers for Albany and Corvallis, Oregon, I found several items telling about meetings of the Potter Sewing Club in the Peoria area.

A March 1926 Albany paper told that my father's two sisters helped in serving a "dainty lunch."  In November that same year, my grandmother Mrs. Orin [sic] Albertson was the hostess for the afternoon and again my aunts assisted in serving.

The meeting held in March of 1931 was reported in the Corvallis newspaper and Mrs. O. J. Albertson won first place in a memory contest. In March of 1933 Mrs. O. J. Albertson was one of the hostesses and my mother, then Miss Wilma Falk, was one of the invited guests. Wilma won one of the prizes.

It was in October of 1933 that the club held a Halloween party. Mrs. O. J. Albertson was one of those who told ghost stories and she also won one of the first prizes in the "clever contests." Mrs. O. J. Albertson was one of the joint hostesses in June of 1934. Among the invited guests was my mother, now Mrs. Lester Albertson. The Corvallis newspaper reported: "A lovely lunch closed the afternoon."

If only reading the newspaper accounts, the club did more eating and playing games than sewing.

Did Grandfather Albertson Have a Car?

It was on November 28th when I wrote that my Grandfather Falk was listed on the database of Oregon motor vehicle registrations from 1911 to 1946.

But what about my Grandfather Albertson, Oran Jesse Albertson, who also lived in Oregon. I did a search for Albertson and Ancestry provided 214 results from that database. So I started looking at the pages of results with twenty entries per page. It was on the fourth page that I found him: O. J. Albertson of Rt. 1, Halsey, had registered a vehicle in January 1927. It was a 1923 Ford touring car.

This was almost six years later than my mother's father had registered a car. At the beginning of 1927 my father was nineteen years old. Now he had a car that he could use. Could that help him with girls?

Did Grandfather Falk Have a Car?

Day before yesterday (November 26) I posted about the Falk family members who were listed on the

database of Oregon motor vehicle registrations from 1911 to 1946. So I searched for my grandfather, Julius A. Falk.

Yes, he did have a car, but it wasn't until 1921. He was listed as J.A. Falk of Harrisburg for February 1921 with a Reo touring car, not a Ford. I suspect he had used horse and buggy or wagon until then.

My mother, Wilma Falk, would have been nine years old when they got that car. Her sister Lois would have been five and Erma one. I can believe that it was exciting for them. Sometimes it is hard to remember that family I knew personally lived in the horse and buggy days.

The Falks Drove Fords

At least in Oregon in 1913, 1914 and 1915 the Falks drove Fords, that would be Model T Fords
It made me happy when the genealogy site, Ancestry.com, posted a database of Oregon motor vehicle registrations from 1911 to 1946. So I searched for Falk family members in the first five years and found eight entries for them in 1913, 1914 & 1915. All of the entries were for Fords.

In 1913 the only entry was for L. [Louis] R. Falk of Halsey, one of my grandfather's nephews. In August he registered a 1913 model Ford. He registered the same vehicle in January 1914 and again in January 1915.

His brother, C. [Charles] L. Falk Jr. of Halsey registered a 1914 model Ford in June of 1914 and another brother, Henry J. of Halsey registered a 1914 model in January 1915. But by September Henry registered a 1915 model.

I believe it was their father, C. [Charles] L. Falk of Halsey, who registered a 1914 model in April of 1915. That same month his brother, Conrad Falk of Salem, also registered a 1914 model.

I found one more entry during that time period. Another of my grandfather's nephews, G. [George] L. Falk of Salem, registered a 1914 model in March of 1915.

This may not be the typical information found by genealogists, but I find it great information to have. If you want to see more typical information about this family, check my genealogical website, www.joanneskelton.com

Thanksgiving 83 Years Ago

Thanksgiving 83 years ago was 1933. My parents, Lester Albertson and Wilma Falk were married on the 4th of November in 1933, so 83 years ago was their first Thanksgiving as a married couple.  I really enjoy researching in old newspapers and am so happy that some of my newspaper subscription sites include papers that were in the area where my family lived as well as being able to research at the University of Oregon library using microfilm.  The Halsey Journal (Halsey, Oregon) had a small paragraph in their December 9th issue which stated that the following people had enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner in Albany at the home of Rev. B. M. Higbee: Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Albertson Ione Higbee and Mr. and Mrs. Lester Albertson.  I did some further research on these individuals to see why they spent Thanksgiving together. The newspaper did not get all the names correct. It was the home of Rev. Dellno M. Higbee. Arthur and Della were my father's uncle and aunt and Aunt Della's was Dellno's sister. Ione was actually Ion Higbee and he was another brother. Of course Mr and Mrs Lester Albertson were my parents. So my research helped me know where my parents spent Thanksgiving 83 years ago and who some of the others were who were also there.

Learning about DNA and genealogy

Only an estimate of my ancestry from long ago

 

 

 

 

Over the past couple of years I have been reading and trying to learn about DNA testing for genealogy.  I was asked by my local genealogical society (Cottage Grove Genealogical Society) to give a talk about DNA at our regular meeting. What should I tell them when it seems to be a rapidly changing field?

I decided one of the best ways to help the Society members learn about DNA was to share on my blog some links to sites which they could read and study, for DNA is a complex subject. Also by sharing on my blog any of my readers can also have this information.

International Society of Genetic Genealogy  provides many links as well as information on their site
http://www.isogg.org/
http://www.isogg.org/wiki/Beginners'_guides_to_genetic_genealogy  

Introduction to DNA Lectures at Who Do You Think You Are Live at Birmingham England 2016 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi0PrkwL8LY 

A special site for adoption research  includes information helpful for all.
http://dnaadoption.com/

Individuals write about DNA and genealogy
Emily Aulicino
http://genealem-geneticgenealogy.blogspot.com/
Blaine Bettinger:
http://thegeneticgenealogist.com/
Kitty Cooper: 
http://blog.kittycooper.com/
Roberta Estes
https://dna-explained.com/
Richard Hill
http://www.dna-testing-adviser.com/
CeCe Moore
http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com/

The companies which provide testing and utilities for using our DNA results can provide information also.
23andMe
https://www.23andme.com/
Family Tree DNA
https://www.familytreedna.com/
Ancestry Academy video about Ancestry DNA
https://www.ancestry.com/academy/course/ancestry-dna-101
GEDmatch
https://www.gedmatch.com/
DNA.LAND
https://dna.land/

My Birthplace Pedigree Chart

      Many bloggers have been posting their version of a birthplace pedigree chart. Credit has been given to J. Paul Hawthorne as beginning this exercise.  I saw examples on several blogs that I follow, so decided to give it a try. Here is mine with 11 different locations in a five generation chart.