Saturday, October 6, 2007

Day 40:Life and Death in Amish Country...

Today we set out to see the Amish community in and around Lancaster County, PA and to search for evidence of ancestors...



There are so many tourists here on the main roads... so after we went to this General Store in the town of "Bird In Hand" to find my dad a leather belt...







We headed out into the "back country" to see the beautiful Amish homes and farms and visit the family shops and markets...



This method of hanging the laundry, via this pulley system, is prominent throughout the area, allowing the laundry to be hung without leaving the porch...







We passed a very beautiful mill on Newport Street where a large Amish function was taking place... across the street, these young boys were fishing in the mill creek... it was like a scene right out of Tom Sawyer...








This little guy wanted to be down there with them but was too young...










The Amish farms and home are huge and very well cared for...






This is another example... when someone gets married, they just add to the home and the older members move to the smaller area of the home, while the young marrieds add a new section (usually bigger than the last)...



Debra took this great photo of a team of horses pulling a corn stalk bailer...





I spotted this one...







Here is another huge farmhouse...





This was on Scenic Road... a very picturesque view...







We found this covered bridge in "Intercourse"...








Got this photo of Deb sitting next to the bridge...












One more amazing farmhouse and barn...





Then we headed to Akron to find this home where my Great-grandparents Horace and Mary Ann (Price) Daniels lived at 801 Main Street, the childhood home of my grandmothers Maude and later Olive (Daniels) Tradup...





This is the view looking North down Main Street...






And this is the view looking South from in front of their home...





This plaque...

And this clock, are right across the street from the home...










We then searched for cemeteries in Akron in order to connect some dots in my family history on my mother's line...

In the cemetery behind the Mt Zion United Methodist Church just a couple blocks from my great-grandparents home, we found the graves of my great-great-grandparents Price (these are Mary Ann Price's Parents)...





and two of their children who died very young (Mary Ann's brother and sister)... one 14 years and the other 2 years old...







We also found the graves of many Adams and Leids who were cousins to my grandmothers Maude and Olive (Daniels) Tradup... Marian Adams lived in the house on Main Street with her cousin Helen Leid after my great-grandparents moved out until she died in 1987 shortly after my parents visited her.




In the cemetery behind the Zion Lutheran Church a few blocks farther down Main Street, we found the graves of Tobias and Clara Daniel and many of their children... I was not sure how they were related but was sure they were...





When I called mom tonight, she said that Tobias was her grandfather Daniel's brother, which he spoke of often, when he lived with them in Milwaukee, WI, when she was a young girl...






Tonight, because of what we found today, Debra has found records on the internet that reveals the identity of my great-great-great-grandparents William and Maria Price and their children... we will hopefully find definitive documents tomorrow when we visit Genealogical Society in Reading, PA tomorrow! (We are also going to return to Akron and Ephrata to search the cemeteries again before the trip to Reading).
If we find all that we are looking for tomorrow, we will start towards West Point, NY tomorrow evening to visit where Deb was born before heading to "Boston in the fall!"

I never thought I would say this, but I am getting a charge out of this genealogy stuff... I have always liked detective work... and with Deb's skills on the document research stuff, I think we make a pretty good team.

More news at eleven!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Dear son and daughter De:
You guys never cease to amaze me! You are doing such fantastic family research. It pays to have a talented researcher like you,Deb,helping Scotty. and it helps to have time to do it also. When we were there we were rushed for time.
actually, now that I think of it, I wanted to get back home in time to take you deer hunting. However, the little time we did get to spend there was rewarding. Frankly, I was amazed that you went to Bird-in-Hand. I like the store there. Like I told you before, we managed to get lost on all those country roads. We stopped to ask a young Amish boy some directions. He was in the process of mucking our a dairy barn and was standing in cow manure clear up to his knees in his bare feet. I could not believe that. That product is hot. He quite willingly gave us some right directions and we went on down the road and bought Dorothy a whole roll of Lebanon (sp?) baloney that is a specialty of the Amish people. Now you can appreciate it,the stories I told you about the huge homes the Amish build. They only send their, or atleast they use to, children to the 8th grade. I guess they figure that is all the education they need to grow corn, tobacco, etc. Have you noticed any of the huge barns with the boards kickes out at the bottom to allow air in to dry tobacco. They don't smoke but they chew. No mustaches but beards.
Called Dorothy today and she told me that you had telephoned her. I'll be here at Ken's till Monday morn and then it is back home. I miss my sweetheart. Hunted today and saw four bucks. Unable to shoot any of them. One of them, a forked horn buck was grazing on the grass in the front of a home in Pine Hollow. They are wild pets to those people. If you were to shoot one them they would no doubt shoot you, the people that is. I tried to get conference on the computer today but failed in my attempt. Will try again tomorrow. I did find out, however that Elder Eyring is the new counselor in the first presidency. Elder Cook was called to something but I have yet to find out what was/is. Probably to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Time marches on. I did find a KSL's web site and gleaned other in on their open forum. There are weird people out there with some strange ideas about our church.
Anyway, it's after midnight and I about to crash so better hit the hay. I really enjoy your blogs. Ken is looking at and enjoying them, too. Love ya!
Dad