October 29, 2017

Archive

The Eby Migration: A Quest for Religious Freedom

We ask you Holy Father, to show your grace and mercy to us all, throughout the whole wide world. Graciously draw us together with your blessing, care, and protection. Do not let division and disunity come among us. -Excerpt from Die Ernst­hafte Christien­pflicht (Prayer Book for Earnest Christians), translated by Leonard Gross Theodorus “Durst” eby Durst Eby sat in prayerful contemplation. The year was 1704 and he was mourning the recent death of his lovely wife, Margaret. A peaceful man, Durst’s only desire was...

Growing Up Gregoire, Part 2: Brother’s Shenanigans

SMOKING IN THE BARN BY VIRGIL GREGOIRE I think I was about 7-8 when there were men at our farm tiling the fields to drain the flooding low land into the dredge ditch. It’s the ditch north of the farm. Some of the men smoked and Marvin and I watched them, fascinated. We decided to try smoking, too. The tilers slept in the barn and laid their cigarette papers and other belongings on a crate or box thing. We snuck...

Growing Up Gregoire, Part 1: Minnesota Farm Life

Cover Photo: Four Generations, Virgil (Marvin aka Bumpa’s brother) and Father Robert in back with Grandpa Joseph Gregoire and Virgil’s oldest son Dennis. the runaway cart Story by Virgil Gregoire and Rita (Gregoire) Mockel (Siblings of Marvin Gregoire) We had a Shetland pony named Spot.  She didn’t like to be hooked up to a cart and got skittish and tickly if we did.  We also had a dog named Chummie.  Marvin, Rita, and Virgil were always the three getting into...

Jennie Powell Sequichie: Surviving the Trail of Tears

“We walk across the frozen earth. Nothing seems right anymore. The cold seeps through my clothes. I wish I had my blanket. I remember last winter I had a blanket when I was warm. I don’t feel like I’ll ever be warm again. I remember my father’s smile. It seems like so long ago.” – Samuel Cloud (9 years old on the Trail of Tears) as told by his great-great grandson, Michael Rutledge, in his paper “Forgiveness in the Age...

The Ove Family Tintypes

These Tintype photos were passed down from our Ove relatives. Initially, we only recognized Jacob Ove (in the furry hat above), but using DNA relatives on the Ancestry.com site I connected with a cousin who helped us identify Anna and Peter. If anyone has ideas about the people in other photos, I would appreciate your assistance in identifying them. Jacob Ove moved to the US from Norway as a small boy and married Marn (Mary) Larson Haselhaugen in 1888. For more information...

Alfred Shull: Kansas Jayhawker

Alfred Shull stared at the newspaper headline, which detailed the nearby Lawrence Massacre, in horror, “Lawrence Burned! 134 Citizens Murdered. Those Missouri Bushwhackers have crossed the line!”, he fumed to wife, Elizabeth. It had been difficult establishing his farm in Linn County, Kansas while the feud over the upcoming popular sovereignty vote warred between the anti-slavery “Free Staters” and pro-slavery “Bushwhackers”. Alfred moved his family from Ohio to Linn County, Kansas in the mid-1850’s when the territory opened to new...

Siste Lavoy: Les Rébel

In the late hours of October 12th, 1837, Siste Lavoy lay hiding in the woods near the western shore of Lake Champlain, New York, in fear for his life. Just hours before he had taken up arms as a Patriote in the Canadian Rebellion and was now wanted by English soldiers. How had this simple farmer with a wife and three children come to this? Siste’s path to becoming one of Les Rébels of the Patriote movement began years earlier...