Category: family

In continuation of the Dreaded Boxes Project …

Dean and Paul 

An earlier entry introduced you to my mother and her younger brothers, Dean and Paul, at early ages, roughly 5, 3 and 1, respectively.  Somewhere around the mid 1920s.

Today’s exploration of the Dreaded Boxes reveals a series of photos of Dean and Paul, mostly taken in World War II years.  Both of the brothers joined the Navy in about 1942 (remember that Pearl Harbor triggered the war in December 1941, an event I only dimly remember as a 7-month-old infant from my crib).

As I grew through childhood, I had little enthusiasm for most family gatherings.  But after Dean and Paul returned from the War, their presence was something very special to enjoy.   Each uncle had a memorable sense of humor, Dean’s tending to the dry and understated, while Paul was more sardonic, as I recall.  Both seemed to have a strong sense of the absurd.  My brother and I revelled in the tales they would tell and the pranks that they engineered.  One of Dean’s favorite stories was about someone who, driving on a road trip, would announce that he was tired of driving and, without slowing, removed the steering wheel and passed it to a passenger, asking him to drive instead.  I recall that Dean even re-enacted the event while seated with us kids in his old Plymouth (but not while in motion).  Almost everything that Dean and Paul did or said seemed hilarious to us.

(I should add that Dean’s sense of humor and playfulness never left him, as when I saw him during a visit to his Omaha home in the 80s, he showed me a faux golf ball of the type that he would use to surreptitiously place on a rival player’s tee — only then would it disintegrate into grains of a sand-like substance when struck by a golf club.)

Dean

Dean was stationed in Hawaii during the War, where he worked as a Naval mail clerk (foreshadowing his later career with the US Postal Service).  Here are some photos from that time period.

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And this set of photos seems to be upon his return to the States, with some perhaps taken by my mother.

Paul

Paul was trained as a Radioman, and after serving during World War II in Guadalcanal, re-enlisted for a career in Navy radio operations.  Included in the Dreaded Boxes were a couple of pieces of V-Mail from Paul to my mother, in which he mentioned little direct action but some occasional bombing and listening to friendly anti-aircraft fire at night.

Some pictures from Paul’s camp in the Guadalcanal jungle.  We think these date from about 1943.  Unfortunately, nothing is annotated and we lack descriptions and commentary on what must have been a fascinating, unique experience.

In continuation of the Dreaded Boxes Project …

Wash.  George Washington Lukehart, Jr.  But “Wash” was what his old friends called him.  He was my mother’s grandfather, who lived for 106 years.  Born in 1856, he had claimed, according to one of my uncles, to have seen Abraham Lincoln as a child, perhaps at a political rally in Kansas before or during the Civil War.  I rarely spoke with GW, as he tended to terrify us kids by his ominous-seeming presence.  But in reality he rarely interacted with any of us, and kept to himself, reading his newspaper by the winter stove and manually cutting the summer lawn with a scythe (think Grim Reaper) until two or three years before he died.  My brother and I would sometimes sneak into his workshop and inspect his curious, antique tools.

Some local newspaper accounts include descriptions of his 104th birthday celebration, including this excerpt:

He was in a tornado once and the blizzard of 1888. Has been in severla floods and has saved people from drowning several times, including his two young sons, at the time who were eight and twelve years old, when the he and the boys were in capsized. He swam to shoare with both boys. He has been in numerous accidents, but has never been seriously injured. Until the past two years he has been quite active, taking long walks every few days. He still enoys good health, but does not get out much as his eyesight is dimming and he is growing deaf.

Another news clipping tells us how he was congratulated by the White House for his birthday:

He received congratulations and best wishes from President Eisenhower:

Please accept my sincere congratulations upon your birthday. May good health by yours through many more happy years.

– Dwight D. Eisenhower

The White House – Washington
August 29, 1960

Dear Mr. Lukehart

I am delighted to send you my sincere congratulations as you celebrate your one hundred and fourth birthday on September third. Your special Day observance will be another pleasant occasion to add to your collection of happy memories of the years, I am sure.

Sincerely,
Mamie Doud Eisenhower

Some photographs, much as I remember him from my childhood:

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Here is a photograph of GW’s children at much earlier ages. (l. to r. top: Maurice and Roy; l. to r. bottom: Dora and my grandmother Maude).

 

 

This is a photograph of my grandmother, Maude, said to be when she was about 17 or 18 years old.

In continuation of the Dreaded Boxes Project …

You met my paternal grandfather, Del, at age 27 in an earlier post of Julius’ family portrait (detail at left).

Del was born on George Washington’s birthday in 1887, and lived 101 years.  And I’m not sure he ever changed his hair style.

A few pics follow of Del and his wife, my grandmother, Rebecca, and their farm.  I’d wager that is a new or near-new 1933 or 1934 Ford in the first image.  The flood photo was taken on Del’s farm east of Onawa, Iowa when the Little Sioux River flooded in 1936.

 

 

 

[NOTE: What follows is probably only of interest to my siblings and perhaps a few other immediate family members. I should probably start a private blog for this purpose, but for now I'm just needing a place to gather this material.]

You may recall our earlier assault on the “Dreaded Boxes“, over a year ago. Finally more or less ensconced in a new workspace after several months of tumultuous moving, and with a new scanner in play, the tedious effort of examining and processing the Dreaded contents can now continue. Today. We get underway with my paternal great grandfather, Julius.

Here is Julius in a ca1898-1900 portrait, apparently an official photograph taken to mark his tenure as a representative in the Iowa State Legislature. You can read more from the Iowa State Legislative archives on his role there.

 

 

Julius and his wife, Clarabelle, had a family of four girls (including a set of twins) and two boys, the younger of which, Delwin (“Dell”), turned out to be my grandfather. Here is a 1914 family portrait:

(front, left to right: Georgia (twin), Clarabelle (Normand), Julius Marius, Genevieve (the other twin)
(top, left to right: Ruth (age 17), Will, Dell (age 27), Edith)

So far, I have found no photographic evidence of Julius’ parents, but they are identified as William N. Hathaway (1817-1901) and Rachel Sweet Hathaway (1823-1883). Some mention of William (do a text search, perhaps using Ctl- or Cmd-F) is made in this lengthy historical record of Monona County.  (Or check out this intriguing but somewhat unreadable illustrated version.)

The official History of Monona County Iowa (yes, you can obtain a copy on Amazon) includes this account of Julius and his family:

J. M. HATHAWAY

Standing for many years among the leading and most influential citizens of Monona county, and evincing his faith in the prosperity and the future of the county by large investments in its farm lands, Julius M. Hathaway is entitled to specific mention in the permanent record of the annals of this section of the state.

Mr. Hathaway is a native of Iowa, born at Council Bluffs on the 17th of April, 1855, and is a son of William N. and Rachael (Sweet) Hathaway. The mother was born in London, Ontario, Canada, whence in young girlhood she was brought to the United States by her parents. The father was born in North Wilbraham, Hampden county, Massachusetts, and at an early age moved to Cortland county, New York, and was there reared and educated. Later he moved to Michigan, where he lived for a time, and in 1848 came to Council Bluffs, Iowa. In 1856 he came to Monona county, where he acquired land and thereafter engaged in farming until his death, which occurred in 1898. His wife passed away in 1887. In 1863 Mr. and Mrs. Hathaway made a trip overland to California, returning the following year. There were no railroads and their experiences were sometimes thrilling and dangerous. They were harassed by Indians and at one time met a band of eight hundred redskins. However, by diplomacy they succeeded in gaining the friendship of the Indians, and they made their round-trip journey without injury.

Julius M. Hathaway attended the public schools of Monona county and then assisted his father on the home farm until twenty-five years of age. He then entered politics, being elected to the office of justice of the peace and other township offices. In 1891 he was elected county treasurer, serving four years, and was also a member of the school board for many years. He was engaged for a time in the formation of farm organizations, and was elected to represent Monona and Ida counties in the state legislature, serving in the twenty-seventh general assembly. Mr. Hathaway next engaged in the agricultural implement business for four years, at the end of which time he returned to the home farm, buying the interests of the other heirs in the place, and operated it for eighteen years with marked success. He then moved to Onawa and became secretary of the Monona County Mutual Insurance Company, holding that position three years, and also serving as agent for the Iowa Tornado Mutual Insurance Company. During these years Mr. Hathaway wisely invested from time to time in Monona county land and is now the owner of about nineteen hundred acres.

On June 18, 1879, in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Mr. Hathaway was united in marriage to Miss Clara Normand, who was a school teacher prior to her marriage. To their union have been born the following children: Edith, who is the wife of J. E. McNamara, of Castana, Iowa, editor of the Castana Times; Georgia, who is the wife of Arthur Whitehorn, of Great Falls, Montana, and her twin sister, Genevieve, who is the wife of Warren Winegar, of Turin, Iowa; Delwin B., who is a farmer in Monona county, as is William Newton; and Ruth, the wife of J. D. Stone, who also is a farmer in Monona county.

Politically Mr. Hathaway has always given his support to the democratic party and has been interested in public affairs. he served one year as mayor of Onawa, six years as a member of the city council, and six years as a member of the school board, being a member of the committee which had in charge the erection of the present school buildings. During the World war he rendered effective service as a member of the county council of defense. He has done a great deal of traveling, visiting many parts of the United States, as well as foreign lands. He is a close reader, keeps well informed on the great questions of the day, and is a splendid conversationalist and an agreeable companion. Because of his splendid public record, his business success and his attractive personality, he is easily accorded a place in the front rank of the citizens of his county.

The most recent documentation on Julius appears to be this group portrait, said to be to mark Julius and Clara’s golden wedding anniversary, which I calculate to be ca June 1929.

Julius is the gentleman in the cap and tie, standing in the second or third row about a third of the way from the left of the photograph. The young man in glasses and overalls at the extreme left would be my father, Francis. His sister, Mary, stands four people to his left, and his younger brother, Warren, is immediately in front of Mary. Someone named Ruth stands at Mary’s left, and while she bears our family surname, I have no idea who she is (clearly far too young to be the Ruth of Julius’ 1914 family group).  My father’s brothers, Don (older) and Howard (younger) and sister, Jean, are either not identified in this picture or were not present.

Does my connection with Julius have anything to do with my early years of public service and my continued obsession with politics?

This genealogy stuff is exhausting.

Open this link to see the latest Velouria animation …

Talked to Ivi today from my car seat today, interrupted when Charlie suddenly bolted out of the partially open door and streaked across the parking lot.  And we see that Ivi makes a Velouria promotional modeling appearance by way of Instagram: