Saturday, March 18, 2017

Fearless Females 2017 :: Week 2


This week's prompts were very difficult for me for some reason.

Document Narrative:
Take a family document (baptismal certificate, passenger list, naturalization petition, etc.) and write a brief narrative using the information.

 I do not possess any of these types of documents for my female ancestors. My 3rd Great Grandmother, Elizabeth Chalmers, was married in Edinburgh, Scotland on March 25th 1832, and gave birth to her first child in Manhattan, New York on January 4th 1833. I do not know when the newlyweds left Scotland, but I do know Elizabeth was most certainly pregnant during the voyage across the ocean. Arriving in a strange new land with little time to set up a household before giving birth. Was she alone? Did she have neighbor women to help with the delivery? What courage this must have taken!

Religion:
What role did religion play in your family? How did your female ancestors practice their faith? If they did not, why didn’t they? Did you have any female ancestors who served their churches in some capacity?

Many of my female ancestors were minister's wives. Those women traveled from place to place, children in tow, as their husbands rode the circuit in pioneer America. Others were of the Quaker faith and played a larger part in their church. I know several of the ministers wives were involved in organizing local churches along with their husbands. And one Quaker ancestor was a land owner in her own right. I haven't pursued that yet.

Tragic Death:
Did you have any female ancestors who died young or from tragic or unexpected circumstances? Describe and how did this affect the family?

No tragic deaths! I was surprised. Most all of the women out lived the men, some by decades. I come from a hardy stock of females. My namesake lived to be 101. The one exception would be my paternal grandmother, who died when my father was 15. I really don't know much other than my father used to say she was 'sickly'. My father was an only child so this must have been a lonely time, but like so many men, he never really spoke of it.

Occupation or Career:
Working girl: Did your mother or grandmother work outside the home? What did she do? Describe her occupation.

Both my maternal grandmother and my mother worked. My grandmother was forced into it, her marriage was rocky and she needed to take care of herself and her children. She went to stenographer's school, which makes me laugh, she was a horrible typist! She was a House Mother when her youngest son and daughter went to college. Later she took on a role as a travel companion/live-in house manager for an elderly man in Bel-Air CA! She got to travel the world during that time.

My mother went back to school when I was about 12. First to nursing school, later she went on to get her Masters in Social Work and eventually became the head of the Social Work Dept at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn IL.

Courage:
Moment of Strength: share a story where a female ancestor showed courage or strength in a difficult situation.

I'd pick my great grandmother Carrie Twining Potwin, when she accompanied her husband, newborn daughter in tow, to the frontier of the Oklahoma Territory on one of his money-making schemes. Men!

Newsworthy:
Newsmakers? Did you have a female ancestor who made the news? Why? Was she famous or notorious? Did she appear in the social column?

IF anyone had been paying attention I think my 2nd great grandmother should have made the news. Twice divorced, a child from a previous marriage, getting married in different counties ..... or different states! I would love to know the real story there.

Six Word Tribute:
Write a six-word memoir tribute to one of your female ancestors.

Twenty presidents, three wars, long life.

Ladies Who Lunch:
If you could have lunch with any female family member (living or dead) or any famous female who would it be and why? Where would you go? What would you eat?

My grandmother, I think. We'd have wine and talk about genealogy! She's the one who started this, after all.



........until next week..........

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