Family Time

 Ohio Cousin Reunion 2023

September 17, 2023-Start Left side and going clockwise:
Barbara (Fueston) Grandon, Karin (Fueston) Williams
Donna (Fueston) Culbertson, Jolene (Pate) Decker, Ron Decker, Jake Decker,
Thomas Fueston, Ronnie Decker, Family Friend Dillon, Emerson Pate "Buddy" Jr ,  Wendy Pate, 
Vickie (Fueston), Vivian (Fueston) J Tudor-Rodgers

We met at the Veteran's Memorial Park in Lebanon, Ohio.  Three generations of Fueston's are represented for their military service at this park.  Thank You for your service. 

Warren County Veterans Memorial Lebanon Ohio

photo courtesy Warren County Veterans Memorial park site.

The top brick represents the service of George McClure, the father of the 6 men, his son's, who also served. 

Below are bricks from 2 of his grandson's who served. 

Brick photos courtesy of Thomas Fueston collection

It was a beautiful day! Many, many thank you's to Tom and Vivian for arranging the day and to everyone who could come out wow, no words.  We had several combinations of cousins represented!  

After viewing the bricks of our honored veterans we settled in and began to get to know each other.  Tom brought out some binders and family sheets from his hard work in genealogy.  What a treasure. The work Tom did putting together a list of generation connections for all of us will no doubt be used for future reference. 

Two children of  Ezekiel and Ursley's were represented at the reunion, Robert Clemens Fueston and Henry I Fueston. Robert is my great grandfather and Henry is Thomas, Vivian, Donna, Karin and Emerson's great grandfather.  Basically everyone except me descend from George McClure, Henry I's son.  To me everyone is either a 3rd cousin or 3rd cousin once removed (OR).   

Partial Family Group Sheet I apologize for the blurry view

Here are a few cousin charts that may help us understand how we connect

There are many more charts to look at and use to help figure out connections to cousins over at FamilySearch.org or by doing a search on google  cousin charts

At my last family reunion in California a new term was coined called "Table Talk". It is where we sat around and just chatted and shared our lives and it was a favorite moment for many of us.  I am going to use that term here too so here goes:

                                                                                     

Table Talk

Crafting and art run in our genes-Vivian crochets, Jodi draws beautifully and wants to paint and sew.  Vivian's husband Jeff's father last name Bridges, paints amazing bridges and scenery.

I had the wrong Maggie DeWeese years and  "Willa" connected to wrong ancestor.  Willa is Donna's mother.

Tom has done lots and lots of research on our family history!

We are related to a ton of famous people (list in Family Search /activities) Our Famous Relatives

    John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Marilyn Monroe, Robert Kennedy, Helen Keller and the list goes on.  

    Click here to see how we are related to  Helen Keller  Family Search is a free family tree application 

    with a lot of fun things.  

Movies filmed here in Lebanon Ohio:

The Christmas Spirit 2013 staring Nicolette Sheridan and Bart Johnson with extras Karin (Fueston) Williams, Jerry Williams and it rates #8 with a score of 5.8 sorted by popularity  check out the other Movies filmed in Lebanon

    Harper Valley PTA-1978

    The Old Man And The Gun 2018

    Animal Among Us 2019

    Calamity Jane's Reverence 2015

And finally if you're looking for similarities with  relatives .....Feet matter...  ask Jodi!

And that's a wrap!  

Until next time....keep your family stories alive

Barbara

Tradesman

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks  Week 36  

Prompt: Tradesman

MOONSHINE

photo courtesy of Moonshine Irish buzz (1)

    I'm not certain what Ezekiel C Fueston (1835-1890) distilled.  However, based on his documented Presidential Pardon in 1878, he, and 9 others were arrested for illegal distilling. I'm assuming it was Kentucky Bourbon they were  producing.  I was really hoping to be able to see the land he and our family lived on while here but no records have been proved or confirmed.  Looks like another trip to Kentucky is in order.  

    According to the Kentucky Monthly, The Legend of Big Six, he states "Selling untaxed alcohol is a big no-no, but there still are those who try to get away with it.  They're called moonshiners, and they've been around since 1791, when the federal government placed a whiskey tax on any and all alcohol produced in the United States."  The article goes on to say that "Kentucky was a hotbed for moonshine activities..." A good read I recommend and can  be found at  Kentucky Moonshine

    A few years ago, the History Channel produced a documentary, Rumrunners, Moonshiners and Bootleggers, tracing the history of moonshine per the Kentucky Monthly.  I haven't found the documentary yet but will keep looking. 

    Another great read on history of moonshine with some pictures that could be our relatives is at KY Supply  

    I can easily be judgmental and critical, but after looking over the photos on KY Supply I soon realized our folks worked darn hard.  They got their hands dirty and weren't afraid to make some of the best moonshine in Kentucky per a newspaper article I need to relocate.    

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1878 Presidential Pardon 

Transcript No: 947 Names of persons pardoned: Ezekiel Fueston and nine others Judicial district: District of Kentucky Offense: Illicit Distilling Sentence: Five months imprisonment, each; $100 fine, costs, &c. Date of sentence: Oct. 29, 1877 Date of pardon: Mar. 29, 1878 Remarks: Term expired; held for fine and costs which none of them are able to pay; recommended by District Attorney and Judge; Unconditional. Detail Index to the Executive Documents of the House of Representatives for the Second Session of the Forty-Fifth Congress 1877-1878 Other information List of Pardons by the President Tabular statement of pardons issued by the President. (2)

                 *******

Names of the other men pardoned with Ezekiel are:

   

 James Forbes, John Francis, Calvin Cox, James Miller

Daniel Jarvis, Thomas Gregory, 

Andrew Hensley, James S Maxey

and Edward Weatherford. 

Hayes Administration March 27, 1878

Interesting to note is that Ezekiel's daughter Sarah Fueston marries a man with surname of Francis. Could he be a relation to the Francis arrested and pardoned with Ezekiel?

Map of Isle of Bourbon 

 

oops, this can happen! Photo courtesy Moonshine Buzz

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No post on moonshine is complete without a recipe for moonshine. It may not be what our family made but moonshine none the less. 

Moonshine aka Irishbuzz

Other  notes and fun reads are about Beaver Creek, where Fueston's owned a lot of land between the "black walnut tree and the rocks near the creek."  

 

 The story of the Hatfield's and McCoy 

 

  The Hatfields and McCoys  lived in Kentucky around 1863-1891, the Fueston's from about 1816-1870 plus.  Could there have been encounters?  We may even have a Hatfield in our tree!  

And that's a wrap....

Keeping our family history alive.

Barbara

1)Photos, recipe and map courtesy of Moonshine buzz.

2)Index to the Executive Documents of the House of Representatives for the Second Session of the forty-Fifth Congress 1877-1878