Oh my!

Simply stunning photo from Jon Griffith, again!



Courmayeur in the moonlight



Photo courtesy of Jon Griffith



More here but there is a link on my blog list on the right margin as well.



http://www.alpineexposures.com/blogs/chamonix-conditions/3849152-innominata-ridge-mont-blanc

Joslin Family :: Irwin Visits Grandma

According to this letter, Grandma had scheduled Irwin's visit for August 2nd and 3rd, 1969. There are no letters in her files between the one she wrote on March 30th and the next one that Irwin wrote on Tuesday, July 29th, after his visit. So apparently the date of his visit was changed. I'm guessing that the visit was the previous weekend, July 26th and 27th.

I don't think that I was even aware of the visit. At the time, I was living in Fort Wayne, working for the Lincoln National Life Insurance Company in the accounting department, and busy with my own life. Family History was the furthest thing from my mind, at least until the early 1980s.

From Irwin's visit, we have two photographs commemorating the event:

Irwin Joslin and his wife Alice.

Second cousins. Irwin Laverne Joslin and Hazlette Ferguson.
July 1969 - Irwin was 47 years old and Grandma was 67.

This letter from Irwin, following his visit to grandma, was written on stationary from the Westinghouse Air Brake Company.

7-29-69

Dear Mrs. Ferguson,

We had a real nice morning in Fort Wayne then a nice drive home. It rained a little but cleared up as we got near home.

We really enjoyed our weekend at your house. Thank you so much for having us. Hope that you can come to Peoria sometime.

We feel like we accomplished something in Fort Wayne - that is a fine genealogical section in the Library. First we looked over the Whitley County history in the newer book - it is about the same as your book. I made copies of the Troy Township section.

Then we found something we didn't know in a book of marriage records of Whitley County from 1838-1860. Did you know Lysander's middle name was Price? That is what it shows. It says Lysander Price Joslin married Lydia Robison on Aug 23, 1843. I thought that was interesting. Of course he was named for Price Goodrich but until we came to see you we didn't know who Price Goodrich was.

Then we also suspected that James Joslin might have come from Delaware County, Ohio since we knew the Goodrichs were from there. So we looked at the 1820 census for Delaware County, Ohio & the only Joslin listed was a Jonas Joslin who had 1 boy under 5 years old & one between 20 & 30. Then the 1930 [sic] census of that county lists both Jonas & James in Delaware County. It shows that James had one boy under 5 (probably Lysander) & one boy between 5 & 10 years as well as 2 girls - one under 5 & one between 5 & 10.

Therefore it looks very much like Jonas is James father. We got out a book on Delaware County & we knew the township was Liberty so we read through that section but never found his name. The 1830 census lists 10 other Joslins but only James & Jonas are in Delaware County.

So we think we have found another clue. We will keep working at it. We also looked over Mrs. Wessler's book - "the Josselin -Jocelyn Family". They have it in the library there. She has a lot of Joslins listed & if we go back far enough we may be able to connect on to someone she has. I was glad to see the book - I may buy one sometime.

Well, that is about all for now. Hope you have no ill effects from your fall - is your foot still sore? Take care of yourself.

Sincerely,
Irwin L. Joslin

=+==+= Some Notes Regarding the Letter =+==+=

There were two histories published on Whitley County at the time, both are now available online. The 1882 history by Goodspeed and Blanchard is at the Harold B. Lee Library and the other, in 1907, by Kaler and Maring is at Google Books.

Jonas Joslin is listed in the 1820 census on page 95a in Liberty Township, Delaware County, Ohio. In 1830 he is listed in the same location, on page 85 as is James Joslin. In that census, Lysander (born in May 1825) would have been the male 5-10 years of age, not the one under 5 years.

Click on the images below for a larger, legible version.



Other posts in this series:

• Joslin Family :: Heritage Tour and Research Trip
• Joslin Family :: First Contact
• Joslin Family :: Grandma Responds to Irwin's Letter
• Joslin Family :: Irwin's Letter of March 25th
• Joslin Family :: Grandma Invites Irwin to Visit

Bubble Reflection

My reflection in a bubble on Hollow Rock Creek. I was out photographing some small waterfalls on the creek and watching all these bubbles float by. After watching them for a moment I realized that the trees and sky were reflecting in the bubbles. When I stood up and looked straight down on the bubbles, I could see my reflection as well. I decided to have some fun with it :-)

Dark Secret

Last night I posted a picture of a gimlet-sippingbikeyface at dinner, and a reader emailed to ask what bikes we ride when we go out. It would be great, she suggested, to write a post about being out on the town on bikes.



Hmm that does sound nice. But it would be pretty tough. Because the truth is, we didn't ride bikes. Last night our destination was only 15 minutes away and walking just seemed easier. The other week we did the same when going to see a movie. Come to think of it, most of the time we see each other there are no bikes involved. We live in the same neighbourhood and are usually so tired that we stick to local places and walk to them. Does that make us bad bicycle bloggers? Maybe I should have kept this a secret!





When I first began cycling for transportation 3 years ago, I was so excited about it that I would ride everywhere no matter the distance just for the heck of it. I would ride down the block, or to the store around the corner and back. Now that cycling has lost its novelty, it seems too much of a hassle to get my bike out just to ride a short distance. I would rather walk.



In a sense there is some sadness in having lost that beginner's excitement. But I think it also means that I've transitioned to a stage where transportation cycling has become truly normalised. With cycling established as an inherent part of life, I don't feel the need to ride down the block when I can walk. If you've been riding for a while, have you had the same experience?

Mt. St. Helens, Worm Flows

Foursquare Mountaineering split up and climbed 2 different mountains on the same day. This group went south and climbed the St. Helens winter route. What a view!






Pete M. and Dan on top.



Brian, Matthew, Diane, Andrew, Todd and David on the summit.

It was a great day to climb a mountain!

Church Steeple

Photo of the steeple at the catholic church in Old Town Albuquerque, NM. There was a huge prickly pear cactus in the small area to the side of the church. And the sign that was in the previous photo.

Early Summer Morning, Two Island River

Yesterday morning on my way to see the Herons I stopped for some photography along Two Island River just south of Tofte, MN. I've always wanted to stop along this river and after countless times over the years driving right past, I finally took the time to stop. There are some beautiful rapids and gentle cascading waterfalls such as this just above the highway. A little further upstream a nice taller waterfall plunges into a pool at the base of a small cliff. All in all I had a blast photographing this short section of the river and I can't wait to stop there again!