My maternal great grandmother was born Luella Drucilla Slack on 15 March 1868 to John Gardner Slack and Elizabeth Hahn. The birth was in Paris township, Stark County, Ohio. Luella was the 8th child of the family which would eventually have 11 children, one dying prior to her birth and another living a short time in 1875. She was known by "Lulu" to everyone within the family and it wasn't until the records were reviewed that her official name of Luella Druscila Slack was determined. My mother told me that Lulu was very upset that none of her grandchildren were named after her. Although I was a great granchild, my mother took the responded to her request, resulting in my middle name being Lulu, not Luella. Even her wedding certificate to Howard Harrison Yoder on 28 March 1894 lists "Miss Lulu D. Slack" as the name of his bride. However, the 1880 census with the family address had changed to Brown, Carroll County, Ohio, does list her as Luella D. This area border with Paris, Stark County. Research on the land John Slack owned is still continuing. Two of her older siblings are school teachers (Adella and Tobias). One wonders whether they were schooling Lulu in the 1880's. Howard and Lulu married in 1894. He was the son of James Longacre Yoder and Mary Clark. Howard grew up in Fox township, Carroll County. It may have been a Clark connection that introduced the two, as Adella married into the Clark family. But no stories of their initial meeting exists. Howard and Luella had 3 children. Earl Vern born in 1895 (my grandfather), Mary Elizabeth born in 1900, and Leah Fay born in 1908. They lived on Murray Avenue in Minerva, Carroll County where Howard owned a meat store. The picture below shows the Murray Avenue home with Lulu sitting on the front porch. Lulu was a good mother who cared about her children and worried about their education. When her only son went into World War One, she wrote letters and corresponded with him regularly about what was happening at home and in Minerva. In 1934, Howard passed, and shortly thereafter Lulu moved to Canton to be closer to her youngest daughter Leah. She lived there until her death in 1958, at the age of 90. She died of coronary heart disease. She is buried in the East Lawn Cemetery in Minerva Ohio. Meanwhile, I was called Little Lulu by my father at the beginning of my life, and then Emmy Lou during my early school years. However, as I entered junior high, Emily became the norm. I didn't understand the Lulu at that point, but I still made sure that it was on each of my diplomas as I worked through to my doctorate degree. Today Lulu means something so much more, as I continue to learn about my great grandmother. 1. Ohio, County Births 1841-2003, Stark, birth registers, 1867-1874, vol. 1, page 14, entry 278, unnamed "Slack" born to John Slack and Elizabeth Hahn, Paris township, reported by B.S. Dibbs, FHL 333256. 2. Marriage Certificate, original, 28 March 1894, Howard Harrison Yoder and Miss Lulu Slack, married by Rev. M.J. Maxwell, Filed in Probate Court Carroll Co. Ohio, personal archives, Yoder family. 3. East Lawn Cemetery, Minerva, Stark County, Ohio, tombstone for Lulu D Yoder, 1868-1958, picture taken by Dorothy Yoder (grand-daughter) 1977.
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Beginning a New Year has always meant reviewing what was accomplished in the previous year and setting new goals for the future. The year of 2020 is now in my rear-view mirror, so looking back is something I've been contemplating. My family came through (so far) unscathed by the COVID-19 virus. Looking back at my last blog post in March 2020, was one of hope that COVID-19 would go away quickly. As we have all discovered it has not, and in fact is raging throughout the world in 2021. But the vaccine is here and hopefully everyone will think twice about getting it as their "number" is called.
I had an extremely busy year in 2020, despite the virus. I assumed the new position of registrar for The Flower Mound NSDAR in June 2020 and everyone who was staying home decided that is was a good time to apply to become a DAR member. So my summer became extra busy and we saw a record number of new members apply and being accepted into the DAR. The same busy elements affected with my genealogy business, as I accepted multiple new clients and worked to research without the help of the libraries and courthouses. Some of these research efforts are now complete, others are on hold until we can get back out to the place where many records are held or where derivatives allow us to search for a lead. So, looking back it was a great year. I'm a coordinator for ProGen49, which started in the summer, and I learn monthly from a group of talented genealogists who are working to hone their skills. I'm also working as a mentor for NGS for one of their courses, and again enjoy helping others learn to research and write. I'm also still teaching for OLLI-UNT, and offered a class in the fall on land records. This spring will see a class on Military Records and Publishing your Genealogy. So where does that take me for 2021? I'm working on writing about the family. It is something I have really wanted to do. I've submitted 3 articles to genealogy societies so far, and hope to do several more this year. My hopes is to write a story on each of my 5 patriots, and doing that has already shown me that I have 2 or 3 more patriots for which I should complete a supplemental application. This year also offers me the opportunity to write more blogs. I plan to work on the 52 Ancestor challenge, but not necessarily use it regularly. Sometimes moving off of research to write a blog was frustrating for me, and not what I felt was a good use of my time. Yet, there were prompts that just fit! And when they did, how much fun to tell the story. So, I'm declaring this the year of writing! When you don't see a blog, know that I'm probably writing something longer, but I'll be back to tell you who the newest story is about. |
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January 2022
About this BlogThis blog has been designed to serve two purposes. The first is to leave the written histories of my ancestors.
The second purpose is to offer some of my own stories, so that my children and grandchildren can learn more about my direct family and my childhood. Categories |