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NOTABLE AND NOTORIOUS

ENGLISH BISHOP

John Still, dates unknown, appears on Barbara's line and was the Bishop of Bath and Wells, England. From 1577-1593 he was the Master (President) of Trinity College, Cambridge, England.

HARVARD PRESIDENT

Charles Chauncy, born in 1592 and appearing on Barbara's line, was the second president of Harvard University, 1654-1672.

ANOTHER HARVARD PRESIDENT

I am told that John Rogers, the fifth president of Harvard University, 1682-1684, was also my ancestor. I do not yet have the information for him.

HEY, GUV!

Roger Wolcott, grandson of Henry Wolcott who came to America on the Mary and John and cousin to my family line, was the governor of Connecticut 1750-54. His home town was Windsor and his political affiliations are unknown.

PUT YOUR JOHN HENRY RIGHT THERE

Roger Wolcott's (see previous) great-grandson, Oliver Wolcott, a Federalist from the town of Litchfield and cousin to my family line, was the governor of Connecticut during 1796-97. He was also a Signer of the Declaration of Independence.

IT RUNS IN SOME FAMILIES

Roger Wolcott's (see previous) great-great-grandson, Oliver Wolcott Jr., a Jeffersonian Republican from the town of Litchfield and cousin to my family line, was the governor of Connecticut during 1817-27.

"My, my, Mrs. Wolcott, you surely do have a fine son. What kind of work does he do?"

"Oh, he's just the governor, like all the rest of the family."

For more information on Oliver, go to "Melted Majesty"

LONGFELLOW COUSINS

Clarissa Hitchcock is believed to have been 1/4 Chippewa Indian. Her mother's maiden name was Wadsworth, and Clarissa's Wadsworth cousins were related by marriage to the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

THE FIRST ONE CAN COME ANYTIME

The records of the Bishop of Bath and Wells record that on July 17, 1609, Henry Wolcott was: "Had up for incontinence with Elizabeth, his wife, before marriage. They were married two years agone and she was delivered of child within 30 weeks after." Goodness, I was delivered of child (well, children ~ they were twins) within that same approximate time span of 30 weeks and they were my fourth and fifth children!

THIS RUNS IN SOME FAMILIES, TOO!

In the same year that Henry was being held accountable, depositions taken between May and September revealed that: "Hugh Treble was had up for fathering an illegitimate male child on the body of Agnes Saunders, daughter of Thomas Saunders of Lydiard, St. Lawrence some seven or eight years before." Now, Agnes was the sister of Henry's wife Elizabeth. Seems to me that the charges of incontinence should possibly have been placed on the Saunders girls!

SAY IT RIGHT!

The pronunciation of Rudesill is "Rood-eh-sill."

DIGGING UP ELECTA

According to my cousin, Jane Braaten, my great-great-great-grandparents, John and Electa Wilhelm, had a serious fight which led to Electa's moving out of her home to live with a daughter. She died while there and was buried away from the family plot. Later, John decided to exhume her body by himself and move her to the place where they had intended to be buried together or to where he had decided they should be buried together. While he was digging her up, he himself died.

THE STILL BY MOON SHINE

According to my brother Delroy, our grandfather Frank had a still during the depression and sold his moonshine. Once, when he was on his way to sell a load in his new car, he was beset by revenuers who shot at the car. When he got home and grandma saw the damage, he tried to blame the holes on the gravel roads.

DIGGING UP THE STILL

Once, grandma sent dad out to dig up the garden. When grandpa found what he was doing, he beat dad because he had some moonshine stashed there. When my daughter Laura heard this story, she said that grandma probably knew about the buried moonshine and told dad to dig hoping that the stash would be exposed without her intervention.

A BAD FAMILY BLOW-UP

Story has it that Alice Koska, wife of our great-uncle James, died when a kerosene can blew up in her face after she accidentally set it on a hot wood-burning stove.

"SON" OR "SEN"

The "son" in my step-mother's name (Alice Peterson) means that her ancestors were decended from Peter The Great who was banished from Russia and found a new home in Norway. PeterSENS are decended from other lines.

LEARN AS YOU GO

Grandma Koska came to America when she was eight and spoke only German. She had to learn English as she attended school. My brother Delroy says that he enjoyed having her translate German writings, especially those concerned with the war, when he was young.

THE HIDDEN CHILD

My parents divorced before I was born and my mother moved back home with her father. According to Aunt Virginia, my father's sister, she didn't really know for sure that I existed until I came to visit my dad when I was 15. However, she remembers seeing a little pink outfit, perhaps a snowsuit, put under the sewing machine and remembers that her brother, my dad, had something to do with it. Back then, she says, a child did not ask questions but listened a lot for clues, and she suspected that he had a daughter who would have been about two. I remember of several gifts showing up and of some reference being made to my grandma. I have a rhinestone necklace which reminds me of one given to my sister Natalie by grandma and which I always thought came from grandma.

FAMILY REUNIONS

When I was little, mother, grandpa and I would go to a family reunion in Wisconsin every summer. Mother always took a big pot of homemade baked beans wrapped in towels to keep them warm as well as many other potluck dishes. I looked forward to these trips because I would get to play with my cousins Jerry and Roxanne. Whether we were at Uncle Frank's farm, Uncle Lou's house (which had a small barn on the property), or at the park with the swinging bridge, we always found plenty to do. On the way home, we usually stopped at a drive-in restaurant in Durand for the tastiest little hamburgers I have ever eaten. They were even getter than Krystals!

YUM YUMMY RABBIT!

Great-Aunt Maud, Great-Uncle Lou's wife, raised rabbits for food. When we went to her house for dinner, we usually ate rabbit. Once, mother's friend Thelma Anderson (who would later be my teacher for fourth and fifth grade) went with us. She seemed to really enjoy the dinner, and even asked for second helpings of the "chicken." Aunt Maude asked if she meant the rabbit, and Thelma immediately excused herself and headed for the back door!

THE LITTLE SINGING RIVER

In August 1975, right before his death, Great-Uncle Joe told my Aunt Inez Russell Dillon that his father, James A. Russell, Sr., came from Dover, Delaware to Wisconsin with a family by the name of Wilkerson. The Wilkersons were related, but not an Aunt and Uncle as he addressed them out of respect. The family lived many years on the Kinnikinic Prairie, fishing in the little river by the same name. In later years, Inez often listened to both her father Robert and aunt Elva reminiscing about the "little singing river," and also about Uncle Joe rescuing Robert from a quicksand bed in the river. I remember my mother, Marian Russell, and Grandfather, Robert Lee Russell, talking about "Kinnikinic Crick" (creek) when I was young. I always thought it was some place in Minnesota.

THE MAD TATTER

According to my Aunt Inez, her aunt Ina's second husband was an alcoholic which was terribly upsetting, of course, to his wife. As a result, she suffered from a nervous condition, and her doctor told her to take up a hobby to keep her mind off things. She began tatting. Inez was sent to stay with them, probably to give her aunt something more to do to occupy her mind and time, and stayed there during her first grade year. She remembers Aunt Ina walking up and down the hall tatting yards of a pattern called "Mile A Minute". Inez was never taught to tat and assumes that she just picked it up from watching her aunt. Inez tats beautifully. I have a little angel she tatted and Betsy has a little dress with a tatted collar Inez made for her. Cousin Mary also tats and both she and her mother Inez are master quilters. Mary has had quilting books published and has had showings of her quilts including a showing in China. Me? I've tatted a few circles and it liked to have driven me mad!

WHOA, HORSEY!

According to Aunt Inez, her sister Eva had two nasty run-ins with horses in her childhood. Once, Grandpa had instructed her to take the team to the barn. The team was hitched to a mower and, getting a little out of control, ran the mower blade into a fence which stopped them suddenly and threw Eva off the rig. When the team backed up, the tugs of the mower ran over her kidney area.

On another occasion, Grandpa rented out his horse, Prince, to Walt Baldwin at haying time. (Prince was a comic, stealing the men's cigarettes, drinking their pop from the bottles, and fishing apples out of their pockets.) Inez took Prince to Walt's barn where the hay was caught up with a big tongs and raised by rope and pulley to the hay mow where it was caught and swung inside for storage. Inez's job was to ride Prince forward to pull up the hay. While there, someone brought word that Eva, who had been working for Mrs. Baldwin, was sick and that Inez was to take Prince to get her and take her home. Inez unhooked Prince from the harness and went to pick up Eva. When she got to the Baldwin's, Eva got on Prince before Inez could get the tie-down strap hooked on the harness. This strap runs from the bridle to the harness and keeps the horse from lowering its head. Well, Prince took off with Eva and left Inez running behind. Every once in a while, Prince stopped and took a bite of grass. When he lowered his head, Eva would slide over the top and fall off. Then she would get back on without fastening the strap and take off again. Inez was never able to catch up, and she figures that Eva was thrown off six or seven times before they got home.

THE ORPHANED CHILD

The Mahler family on the Timm side came from Alsace Lorraine to Berea, Ohio one generation before my mother-in-law Bertha was born. Later, they settled near Racine, Wisc. Bertha's great-grandmother was from the Frend-German border and her great-grandfather was from the Polish-German border. When Bertha's mother died, her father took his seven children to the Methodist Orphanage in Berea, Ohio. (No doubt he had no close relatives nearby who could care for the children while he made a living for them.)

THE LADY'S THE MAYOR

Bertha Mahler met Clarence Timm in Racine while he was working for the Nash Motor Company. He was also a cook and a barber. They had five children and owned a bowling alley and a restaurant. Bertha herself owned a dress shop. She was also mayor of Plainview, Minnesota ~ one of the first women mayors in the nation. This was from 1950 to 1952.

ALTERED STATES

Clarence Timm's brother Gilfert (Gilly) owned and operated a clothing store in Plainview, Minnesota. My mother, Marian Russell Koska, was a seamstress and did alterations for him.

WAXING ELOQUENT

Apparently, my ancient grandpappy, Bishop John Still (1543-1607), was an "English learned prelate and writer." The first two passages are from Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919, and the third from Giga Quotes.

I cannot eat but little meat,
My stomach is not good;
But sure I think that I can drink
With him that wears a hood.
Gammer Gurton's Needle. Act ii

Back and side go bare, go bare,
Both foot and hand go cold;
But, belly, God send thee good ale enough,
Whether it be new or old.
Gammer Gurton's Needle. Act ii

They shall not miss to have the bliss
good ale doth bring men to.

(Personally, I'm a bit concerned about a bishop whose most famous works are concerned with ale ~ barbara)



Backgrounds Courtesy of "Backgrounds By Marie"
Flowers Courtesy of "Best-Of-Web.Com"




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