[NI0603]
Mora Central High School, Watsonville, CA, June, 1966.
[NI0606]
Meribeth had a serious accident in 1993 and died prematurely of an
embolism, probably due to effects of the accident.
[NI0607] 5lb 11 oz at birth, 3:15 p.m.
[NI0624] San Joaquin Memorial High School, Fresno California, June, 1976.
[NI0625] Fresno High School, June, 1978.
[NI0626] San Joaquin Memorial High School, Fresno, June, 1979.
[NI0642] San Joaquin Memorial High School, June, 1988.
[NI0681] There is some confusion about Esther Robison. It appears that she is the same person named in Evert, Peck, and Richards as "Sarah Robison" but this is un-confirmed. She is entered here as Esther with the aka of Sarah so that she will be found when searching under either name.
[NI0686] Referring to an area of Licking Creek, Juniata County, PA, Everts, Peck
and Richards say, "Thomas McGuire warranted two hundred and eleven acres
October 5, 1767. He sold it to Thomas Hardy, the father of John and Hugh
Hardy.... From Hardy's heirs the farm passed to Merchant John Patterson,
who sold it to Abraham Guss, Sr., father of the writer, who sold parts of
it to Samuel and Henry Aughey. The graveyard adjoining the church is on
the part bought by the latter, and given to him for that purpose."
From this we learn that the writer of the Everts text was born on
property owned by one of our (marginally-connected) ancestors (Thomas
Hardy was the father of Jean, wife of James Robison who was the brother
of Margaret Robison, wife of Joseph Shaver.) Also note that a graveyard
now stands on part of this property.
[NI0695]
Said (Everts, Peck & Richards*) to have moved to New Lancaster, Ohio.
This would have been probably between 1775 and 1800.
* History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys embraced in
the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
[NI0707]
"Young John enlisted, in 1775, with Lieutenant Mcclellan. On January 1,
1776, in the attack on the "Barriers," he, together with many others, was
taken prisoner. Colonel McClean went among these men to ascertain who
among them were of European birth, threatening to send all such to
England to be tried for treason. He recruited a regiment from among
these poor fellows, who shrank from being thus carried away for trial.
Among these was John Hardy. After the Revolution closed eh came back to
his friends on Licking Creek, and excused his conduct as a matter of
compulsion : but the loyal Wigs of those days never forgave him for his
defection. He had taken the oath of allegiance to the British government
: had, it was said, accepted a commission in the British army : and had
married a wife in England before he returned to America. They used to
have 'musterings'in olden days. On one of those occasions, when warmed
up with patriotism and whiskey, there were threats of lynching hardy for
his defection to the cause of independence. Hardy then went to Canada.
There he got some lands from the government for his services, and there
his descendants are to this day. One of his daughters, who had married a
clergyman, visited Juniata many years ago, but John never returned. he
persuaded his brother Alexander to move to Canada (1798), and afterwards sent him back with a power of attorney to lift his share of his patrimony
in the old farm, L293,13s, 7d., 'in full for his brother, John Hardy's,
share of the estate of their father, Thomas Hardy." From Everts, Peck,
and Richards, "History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata
Valleys, embraced in the Counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and
Snyder, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania," 1886, pages 756-757.
From the above, in addition to the colorful story, we learn that John
Hardy was not born in the US, rather in the UK. Thus to, inevitably,
must have been his father and possibly also his siblings. Elsewhere in
Everts it is mentioned that the Hardy's and Robisons may have emigrated together from Ireland.
[NI0720]
The following appears in Everts, Peck, and Richards, "History of that
part of the Susquehanna and Juniata Valleys, embraced in the Counties of
Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania," 1886, at page 758:
"William Cunningham came to the Partner place in 1762. he came back, in
1763, to cut grain and pull at flax. He and his daughters took alarm and
fled over the Tuscarora Mountain on the night of July 10th, and escaped
the Indians. He returned in 1766, and died, and was the first person
buried int he grave-yard at Academia. His resting place is unmarked, but
is in the middle of the yard....
"In her application Mrs. Cunningham says that her husband made 'an
improvement' on this tract five years before the date of her application,
which would be in 1761, and we know of no older settlement on the
creek.... The house stood one hundred yards east of the present brick,
was built of unhewn logs, had a split-log floor, a floor of poles above,
and a roof of rude clapboards. Mrs. Catharine, wife of Jacob Partner,
who long lived on this place, had a most remarkable memory. She told a
curious story of the escape of the Cunninghams in 1763. They fled
because of a warning given by a rooster, which persistently came inside
of the door and cowed so lustily that they became alarmed. The children
were William, died 1836, ancestor of all of the Cunninghams in the
country ; John, married Sarah Robison, of Alexander, an ancestor of
those in Huntingdon County and A. B. Cunningham, of Philadelphia ;
Richard, moved to New Jersey ; David, moved to New York ; Sarrah (Carson)
; and Mary (McDowel). William, Jr.'s children were David, Richard, John,
Sally (Phillips) and Elizabeth (Jeffries). They have all been very
excellent citizens."
Note: The above odd mention of "William, died 1836, ancestor of all of
the Cunninghams in the country" is just as it appears in the Everts
text. I don't know what this means...
[NI0772]
Of Mary Hendrix Stever, Grandma Lillie Parlee Letterman wrote:
"We saw Mary Hendrix Stever; Granddaughter of Aunt Jane Letterman, she
was Uncke Franks Widdow. Uncle Frank was a brother to my Grandfather
Isreal Letterman." (This was in Grandma's letter home on 6-22-67 about
her visit to Missouri.) Since I don't know the names of the missing
generation between Aunt Jane/Uncle Isreal and Mary, I can't connect her
in the database. (SAS 09/18/96)
[NI0793] Roosevelt High School, Fresno CA, June, 1977.
[NI0795]
Roosevelt High School, Fresno, June 1981.
[NI0796]
Roosevelt High School, Fresno, June 1982.
[NI0797]
Ann Hogan, daughter of Green Hogan, is given by Ivalee Hogan Dalton as
the wife of Tude Letterman, but I (SAS) suspect that this is in error.
Other, verified, records give the birth date of Tude's wife as 1879 and
her name is given as Georgia Anna Hogan. I suspect that Ivalee has
missed a generation between her Ann Hogan and our Georgia Anna Hogan.
Consequently, I've entered the decedents of Green McConell Hogan and his
wife Sarah as un-attached to the rest of our family, for now. When the
connection is clarified I will connect them appropriately.
[NI0800] Joseph and Mary Elizabeth moved to Crestline, KA where they farmed and raised a family of eight. (Ivalee Hogan Dalton submission to the Wright Co. MO Historical Society.)
[NI0802] Lisa (Hogan) Pullman and her husband moved to Washington State. (Ivalee Hogan Dalton submission to Wright County MO Historical Society.)
[NI0804] Cynthia Ellen (Hogan) Benfer and her husband had eight children near Whitney, Texas. (Ivalee Hogan Dalton submission to the Wright Co. MO Historical Society.)
[NI0806] William Louis Hogan and wife Elizabeth moved to Webster County around 1892, settled in North Grant Township where they farmed and raised a family of nine children. (Ivalee Hogan Dalton submission to the Wright Co. MO Historical Society.)
[NI0848]
This Ann Hogan is given by Ivalee Hogan Dalton as the wife of Tude
Letterman, but I (SAS) suspect that this is in error. Other, verified,
records give the birth date of Tude's wife as 1879 and her name is given
as Georgia Anna Hogan. I suspect that Ivalee has missed a generation
between her Ann Hogan and our Georgia Anna Hogan.
Consequently, I've entered the decedents of Green McConell Hogan and his
wife Sarah as un-attached to the rest of our family, for now. When the
connection is clarified I will connect them appropriately.
[NI0853] Justin was born with severe defects in his heart. He struggled for all of his young life through several surgeries and numerous near-death episodes, finally giving out suddenly and unexpectedly in October of 1996.
[NI0854]
TOY BEAR'S STORY
By Russ & Karen Wood
My name is Toy Bear. I am brown teddy bear and have big arms that wrap
around my baby teddy bear, so that I never have to let go of him.
I am going to tell you a story. This story is about a little boy named
Trenton, a very brave little boy. He happened to be my favorite boy, and
I was his favorite teddy bear.
Trenton's story starts with a Mommy and a Daddy. First, they made a big
brother, named Justin. Then, they wanted another baby, so they made one.
I'm not sure how that works -- I think they stuffed him with cotton, just
like me. Anyway, they did it.
On March 11, 1994, the wind was blowing hard, the sky was dark, and Mommy
looked like she'd had too much to eat as Daddy took her to Clovis
Community Hospital. Then she had a baby, and the doctor gave her some
stitches in her tummy, just like me. Maybe that's where they got the
cotton from I don't really understand.
Anyway, the new baby was another boy, named Trenton David Weldon. He had
a small crowd of family and friends waiting for him at the hospital. I
guess little boys cause lots of excitement.
Before Mommy even got to hold him, the Little Boy started turning blue,
just like the toy fishies in the bathtub at home. But something was
wrong, because Little Boys aren't supposed to turn blue. So Daddy
followed him on his first trip, from Clovis
Community Hospital to Valley Children's Hospital. A strange lady who I
call the Hospital Auntie met Daddy there, and they watched all the big
people working on tiny, brave Trenton.
The doctors said that he had lots of things wrong with his heart. I don't
understand why there was anything wrong with Trenton's heart -- hearts
are made for loving and he always loved me a whole lot.
The doctors used lots of big words that I can bearly say, like
"transposition of the great vessels" and "pulmonary stenosis", and they
used alphabet soup, like "ASD", "PDA", and "VSD". (I've looked all over
and I don't think I have a VSD anywhere on me.)
I learned later that what they meant was that his heart had holes in the
wrong places. I know those holes were just more places for the love to
spill out, but Daddy and the Hospital Auntie looked sad as they went back
to the other hospital to tell Mommy.
A couple of days later, the doctors put a balloon in the Little Boy's
heart. This made one of the good holes bigger, but he still had holes in
the wrong places. And he was still blue. That was too bad, because if
he'd been brown like me, he could have gone home sooner.
After a long time, the Little Boy got to go home, which made big brother
Jusfin very happy. Mommy and Daddy were happy too.
Two months later, in May, the Little Boy was back in the hospital. This
time, the doctors put a thing-a-ma-bob in his chest, to send more blood
to his lungs. I guess the stuffing in little boys has to stay wet all the
time, but I don't really understand that.
The Little Boy had trouble breathing and went back to the hospital in
June. The doctors used more big words: "respiratory distress" and "viral
infection". Then he came home again. Mommy and Daddy and Big Brother
were happy.
In July, the Little Boy got to go to a big party called a "float" at the
Hospital Auntie's house. (Nobody knew she had a house, she seemed to live
at hospitals.) This was a strange kind of party: all the big people got
in a creek and turned blue and called it fun. Whenever the Little Boy
turned blue, he had to go to the hospital. That's something else that I
don't understand.
The Little Boy cried and cried all through the float party, and so he had
to go back to the hospital. He had another surgery, and more stitches,
just like me. But he got better.
Back to the hospital in September. The doctors put a tube into his tummy,
so that Mommy and Daddy could feed him when he was sleeping. It took too
much energy for him to eat like other people. They also gave him medicine
to make him pee more -~ I really don't understand that.
In December, 1994, the family celebrated their first Christmas with the
Little Boy, and everybody was very happy.
In March, 1995, the Little Boy needed another operation. His heart was
getting bigger. (I guess all that wet stuffing expands.) Mommy and Daddy
were happy to hear the doctors say that this should be the last surgery
for a long time. It was getting harder and harder for them to take the
Little Boy to the doctors and watch him get poked and pricked, even
though it was all for his good.
The Hospital Auntie and her friend, Crafty Lady, made a whole bunch of
pretty red pins that looked like hearts, to remind people to pray for the
Little Boy. I don't really understand prayer, but it sounds nice. Anyway,
lots and lots of people wore those red heart pins and prayed that the
Little Boy would turn pink, and he did. Everybody was really, really
happy.
When Mommy took him to the hospital, she had a good surprise. The nurses
and the doctor were wearing the red heart pins that said "Go Trenton!"
The Hospital Auntie and the Crafty Lady had been there before Mommy, and
she knew that lots of people were praying for her Little Boy.
The Little Boy had to wait in a hospital bed, while big brother got to go
for his first ride on a merry-go-round. Mommy and Daddy were eager for
the day when the Little Boy could ride with Big Brother.
But his surgery was delayed, because another boy needed surgery even
more. All the family and friends at the hospital prayed for that other
boy, too.
While he was in the hospital, the Little Boy had his first birthday. The
family didn't have a party for him, but while he was there Mommy and
Daddy picked up his first studio photographs. They were so proud that he
could sit up at one year old for his pictures. I don't understand that
because I have always been able to sit up.
Finally, the day came for surgery. The doctors said that the Little Boy
should not drink, but he kept pointing toward the sink.
A lot of friends and family were there with Mommy and Daddy, and lots of
people prayed for the Little Boy.
When he got back to his room, the Little Boy mostly slept, just like me.
One afternoon, Mommy looked up and saw fifteen flat noses pressed against
the window of his hospital room, trying to see the Little Boy. (The
Hospital Auntie had the biggest, flattest nose.)
The doctors and nurses kept looking at a machine that measured oxygen in
the Little Boy's blood. One time the machine read "40". That must have
been bad, because Mommy was really scared. But she prayed, and he slowly
got better. Every day, the doctors took fluid from the Little Boy's
lungs. I don't understand why they worked so hard to send blood there if
they didn't want the lungs to get wet.
As the Little Boy recovered, there were more noses against the window
every day. (Somebody probably is still cleaning the glass.) The Little
Boy was not too excited about the noses, but he liked it when Mickey
Mouse came to his bed to visit him in ICU. Mickey Mouse liked the Little
Boy's "Mickey and Pluto" band-aid. I was not yet allowed in the hospital,
and I really don't understand what Mickey Mouse has that I haven't got.
After all, anybody can have big ears and a round nose -- just look at the
Hospital Auntie.
Mommy was especially happy, because she knew that three other children
had not survived the Intensive Care Unit while the Little Boy was there
-- at least he could be fixed, just like me.
After several days, the Little Boy got to go home, with a better heart.
At church the next Sunday, everybody clapped and thanked God.
But the next day, the Little Boy was back in the hospital. Somebody had
cut something inside him by mistake, and the drainage was running to his
lungs. I don't know why God gives little boys lungs, if they're so much
trouble!
The Family spent so much time away from home that Grampa and Gramma moved
the motor home to the parking lot of the hospital. Friends brought
meals, so the Mommy and Daddy wouldn't have to eat so much hospital food.
One of those meals was with a tablecloth and candles on a picnic table
outside the hospital, not very far from the room where the Little Boy
was. Mommy and Daddy laughed with their friends, and everybody prayed for
the Little Boy.
They prayed especially that he would start to gain weight. Daddy was
worried about that: the Little Boy couldn't play ball if he didn't gain
weight. One day the Daddy was very upset and worried about his baby. He
didn't know if the Little Boy would ever weigh twenty pounds. So the
Hospital Auntie promised to have a big party when the Little Boy gained
that much weight. They decided to call it a "20-Pound Party." That made
the Daddy laugh again. That was one of the Hospital Auntie's jobs.
After many days, the Little Boy came home again, but with a bandage on
his foot. I don't understand why he had a bandage there if the doctors
fixed his heart. But, he gained weight. He teased Big Brother. Big
Brother poured water over his head in the bathtub. It doesn't pay to mess
with Big Brother!
In June, 1995, friends had that "20-Pound Party" to celebrate the Little
Boy's gaining weight. The Hospital Auntie announced the party at church
by having people bring to the front a bunch of things that weighed twenty
pounds: a sack of potatoes, a bag of pennies, a case of soda, and some
dumbbells. (It's too bad that teddy bears don't weigh twenty pounds!)
Then she brought the Little Boy up to show everyone how big he was
getting.
At the party, everybody ate homemade ice cream, and they gained weight
too, just like the Little Boy.
His second Christmas came, and then it was 1996.
That was the year the Little Boy needed yet another surgery to fix his
growing heart. The Hospital Auntie and the Crafty Lady made another set
of heart pins to give out with his picture. Hundreds of the hearts and
the Little Boy's picture popped up on refrigerators and mirrors all over
town, other states and even other countries!
Mommy and Daddy were sad to hear that this surgery would be in San
Francisco. To be so far away from friends seemed very hard.
In May of 1996, they took the Little Boy to San Francisco. On the way, he
met me. Until then, I had belonged to a Little Girl. Mommy and Daddy and
the Little Boy stayed with her parents on their way to San Francisco.
When the Little Boy met me, it was love at first sight. (How could it be
otherwise'?) So the little girl gave me to him, and I lived with him at
the hospital He held me so tight that I thought I would need surgery!
The night before the surgery, the San Francisco Auntie took Mommy and
Daddy around the town. The Little Boy ate a huge ice cream cone. I don't
know what they did, but they seemed to have had a very good time!
The next day, the doctors worked on the Little Boy for a long time. I had
to wait for hours to see him. They put a band on the Little Boy's leg
that looked like a flea collar. (Thank goodness! You can't be too careful
of fleas when you're a teddy bear.)
Even in San Francisco, the Hospital Friends, with their flat noses, found
the window by the Little Boy's room. More unhappy janitors.
The Mommy and Daddy were very scared because that little heart didn't
work right after the surgery. All the Hospital Friends had to go home,
and the days went by. Then the doctors came in with more big words,
pacemaker" and "liver dysfunction".
After weeks and weeks, the Little Boy got better and came home to
Fresno. On the way, whenever we looked out the car windows, I wanted to
warn the Little Boy to watch out for those flat-nosed friends, but they
didn't attack that day.
In October of 1996, the doctors removed the feeding tube. The Little Boy
said, "Button out. Doctor fro way." And he grew and got fatter, even
without the feeding tube.
On November 3, the Little Boy went to church with Mommy and Daddy. There
was a carnival that day and there was a pony, which must have come just
for him. He rode round and round. People took lots of pictures of him,
because he looked so happy. The Hospital Auntie painted a hammer on his
face, and he asked for a "Nose Nail" just like Big Brother had. So she
held his fat little face and painted a little nail on his nose. She got a
big hug from the Little Boy.
Early the next Thursday morning, Daddy woke up hearing the Little Boy
coughing. His big little heart was racing, so off to the hospital they
went again. After a few minutes of working with the nurses and doctors,
the Little Boy's struggle was over.
In a room with just Mommy and Daddy, he calmed down and began to go to
sleep. Then he gave two little sighs and went straight from Mommy's arms
to the arms of Jesus. The doctors tried their best to bring him back to
us, but that great big little heart was just too tired to go on anymore.
Mommy and Daddy and I just don't understand that, but we know the One who
understands.
And that is the end of Toy Bear's Story, but not of Trenton's.
(This story was shared at Trenton's Memorial Service on November 9, 1996
by The Hospital Auntie.
His Mommy and Daddy share it with you now hoping that it helps you
understand, as they do, that Trenton is not hurting anymore.)