Handed Down

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Handed Down

While meeting my cousin Virginia Kentzell for lunch during the late fall of 2021, Virginia pulled out some photos she brought along to share and said "I was going through some photos mom had" and then she did it, she asked the question!  With a handful of photos spread out on the table-

The question:  "do you know who these people are and what their story is?" 

                    This is a sampling of the photos she had with her.  While we chatted about the photos I couldn't stop thinking of all the information I had tucked away for "a rainy day" back home.  The mantra that had played in my head for years was "I'd get to those boxes of stuff one day." So then it began, my journey into family history.

                        Of course I'd heard the names and knew a little bit but I also was thinking of the handed down boxes of  family genealogy back home.  Problem is that information was several hundred miles from where we were meeting for lunch.  But the seed was sown and when I got home I pulled out all of the stuff I'd inherited from grandpa (William Richard Rollins Sr).

Several of the well preserved boxes I'd inherited from my grandfather, William Richard Rollins, Sr.

Miles and miles of track fed computer paper which every single one of his family members were familiar with were laid out and looked over.  An Ancestry.com account was finally started so I could track all of what he'd spent a lifetime collecting.   Grandpa would mail these pages to everyone along with instructions to fill in the blanks and send them back to him so he could put them in Family Tree Maker. 

  

I had had enough foresight to know what he gave me 20 plus years prior,  in 1999 was valuable.  I'd carefully packed all of the stuff and keep it in a cool dark place.   This 'stuff' included Family Tree Maker discs, rolls of tractor fed paper with miles and miles of family tree information. There were letters he'd written over the years to all family members, genealogy societies, and to various towns for vital records.  

For many,  many weeks after cracking open the treasure-trove of documents, photos and such, my dining table looked like these photos. We didn't eat a the table much during that time. 

After sorting and labeling files some stories were beginning to make sense. The photos Virginia had shared now had answers to her question.  I finally knew who the people were and how they fit into our lives and made their way into Virginia's mom stuff.  

L-R: Barbara Fueston, Gerald Grandon, Virginia Kentzell 2021

Thank you Virginia for asking "The Question". 

The second handed down love is from my grandmother's quilting days.  When I was a little girl she loved to have us over.  She would sort fabric and make quilts.  

I have inherited her love of quilting and now I stitch together not only quilts but family story.  Thank you Nana (Ann Olsen).

Quilted by Barbara Fueston Grandon 2021

Stitching Together Family History

Barbara Fueston Grandon Dec 2024