Tuesday, November 19, 2019

T Stands for Road Trip and Genealogy Sighting


I had mentioned in an earlier post that Himself started getting interested in his genealogy. Since we had time I suggested taking a trip up to Lancaster, New Hampshire where he spent weekend Summers at his grandfather's farm when he was a kid. We could go look for his grandparents grave and get in some leaf peeping, too. It would be a nice long weekend trip. The drive would take 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

We had heard that color had arrived early up north so we picked the last weekend of September for the trip. Peak color would be around the second weekend of October. The roads would be jammed with Leaf Peepers and we hoped to avoid the crowds.


The White Mountains looking very green. Not much color in them there hills. Oh, well.

Himself is the oldest of 5 children and on the way up he told of making the drive on the weekends. Most times he said his family made the trip up at night with the kids in their pajamas so they would fall asleep in the car. That way, no arguments and fighting from the back seat.

When they made the trip during daylight, one of the biggest and most exciting attractions on the side of the road was to watch for the Old Man in the Mountain, a natural rock formation that looked like an old man.  He was really only visible from a certain angle and then all of a sudden would pop out of the mountain. Himself had taken me to see the Old Man back in the mid-1980s when some friends got married up this way.

In 2003, after much weathering, the Old Man fell off the mountain! As we approached the site in Franconia, Himself said, I think this is where the Old Man was.

Where?

Right...there..

I was on the wrong side of the vehicle and I think I snapped the photos too late.




This is what the Old Man in the Mountain looked like. An iconic image that came to be a symbol for the state of New Hampshire.  Himself said when they saw the Old Man, they knew it wasn't much longer to the farm.

If you're interested, you can watch this YouTube video about the collapse, the debate whether to restore the icon, and the solution.



We followed this truck for a long time.

How much wood would a wood truck truck,
If a wood truck could truck wood?
A wood truck would truck all the wood it could truck,
If a wood truck could truck wood.


There's my drink reference. The word coffee etched on the window of the cafe in downtown Lancaster.

After getting settled at the hotel, we took a trip to the Calvary  Cemetery to locate his paternal grandparents grave. He hadn't been to visit since he was a kid. He had a vague recollection of the gravesite. Near a river and at the back corner of the cemetery.

Usually, on a weekday, someone is in the cemetery office can help direct one to a grave site, but there was no one in the office on this Friday afternoon.

Himself parked the car and the Young One and I roamed the cemetery. 


A Mary on the half shell without a Mary (Common to find a statue of the Virgin Mary in a shell)



The view across the cemetery.

From the back corner, The Young One and I didn't really find a river and there no grave stones. Just empty lawn. Himself a short way away from us said his grandparents didn't have a grave stone, just a plaque in the ground.. He saw this monument. This is it! I think the Hartley's are some sort of relation.




Indeed, the Hartely's were some sort of relation. His grandfather's mother. They were his paternal great-grandmother's family. And the original owners of the farm. A working farm in the day, but not when Himself spent Summer weekends there.

Most of the plots in this cemetery were family plots with lots of people buried in the grave.  The stones were badly weathered and covered with lichen. I had a notebook with me so took down all the information. It seemed his grandfather had two siblings which Himself didn't know about, both died young. Some other children who died on the same day. Now came the fun part to try to put the pieces of the who were these people puzzle together.



Lovely ivy vine motif on the Hartley stone.


I was also excited to find a Woolly caterpillar, a prediction of Winter weather. If the black ends of the Woolly Caterpillar are wide and the brown middle is small, a harsh Winter is ahead. But this Woolly was all brown! No black head or tail. Hooray! A mild Winter!


We left stone markers at the Hartley stone


One other puzzle was his grandfather's first name, Irving. It never sounded like an Irish name, and it turns out, the name isn't Irish. It's Scottish and means "green river, sea friend."

I remember Himself's grandfather, a sort of funny memory for me as a kid, but as an adult it's meaning is sad.

I was probably 7 or 8 years old. Himself's grandfather was living with them. At one point, the grandmother was living there, too, but I don't have any memories of her. One morning, I was in my front yard when the Grandfather came out of the house, wearing his red, long johns, shoes, his cane, and a hat. A gentleman never went out without his best hat. I don't know where he was going, but he was off. 


On the way out of the cemetery, I asked Himself to stop the car so I could take a picture of the Smith monument. The most impressive monument in the cemetery. A beautiful Celtic cross with an angel.


Whatever the angel held in his hand had broken. Maybe a bouquet of flowers?


There was something written around the ring of the cross, but it was so bright out and the sun behind the cross so I couldn't make out what was on the ring.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

44 comments:

  1. Nice road trip. It's unfortunate the Old Man in the Mountain fell down. Beautiful cemetery. I hope your woolly caterpillar is more accurate about our upcoming Winter than the one I saw a few weeks ago (after not seeing any for years). I'm glad you found your husband's grandparents' gravestone. I love that angel / Celtic cross. Happy T-Day!

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  2. Great road trip. Love that woolly caterpillar i did not know about the predictions . Its sad when the statues lose parts. Glad to find you from Altered Book lovers blog and now joining in the fun. I will add to follow your lovely blog. Hugs June x

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    1. Welcome, June! I've made some wonderful friends from the Altered Book Lovers site and I especially enjoy the Tuesday posts. Hope to see you online, too.

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  3. Such a nice road trip- especially as you found the grave sites of your hubby's family. And that Celtic cross is just beautiful. Happy T day!

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    1. Grave sighting was a productive weekend as you'll see.

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  4. That sounds like a great trip with lots to see. Nice story about the old man in the mountain! It's always very interesting going through old cemeteries and seeing who was buried there, glad you found some antecedents of your husband. Happy T Day, Valerie

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    1. Still more to come about the trip. Stay tuned 😊

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  5. A very nice weekend away. Am glad you found his great grand parents-perhaps next visit you will find his grandfather. I haven't seen a wooly worm this season so far-at the woods or here. Tomorrow though we are to get into the 60's before it drops again.
    Happy T hugs Kathy

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    1. We did find his grandparents. That was the plaque in the ground buried as part of the Hartley family. He remembered the grandparents grave, but didn't remember the Hartley grave or make the connection until we read all the names on the stone.

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  6. I so enjoyed joining you for your roadtrip 😉. It looks like you had a wonderful time exploring and reminiscing about family, thanks for sharing so many fabulous memories! Sending you Happy T Day wishes! Hugs, Jo x

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  7. Thanks for taking us along on your adventure! You have such a great sense of humor! Sounds like you had a wonderful time:) And a very Happy T day to you!!

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  8. Cemeteries can be so interesting, and beautiful! Thanks for the tag-a-long! :D

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    1. This one was pretty with the mountains as a backdrop

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  9. Is it possible The Simpsons took the Old Man for one of their episodes?

    :-) Sorry, I have to:

    "Fischers Fritze fischte frische Fische, frische Fische fischte Fischers Fritze."

    Happy T-Day!

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  10. What a glorious road trip. I'm looking forward to seeing if you actually saw any trees changing colors. How odd. I was in New Hampshire years ago and never heard of the Old Man until just NOW. Too bad it fell like that.

    How nice that your husband was able to find some of his relatives in that cemetery. I bet he's excited, now. How does the young one feel about these cemetery visits?

    LOVED your drink reference, CJ. Way to think outside the box. Thanks for taking is with you on this road trip. So, how much wood (grin)?

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  11. "Leaf peepers" lol! The loss of the Old Man in the Mountain must've been a shock. It's hard to know what to do there now, but I trust they'll decide on an appropriate action. It's interesting to find the graves of family after such a long time. Congrats! Happy T Tuesday :)

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    1. Yeah, leaf peepers, because they block the roads gawking at the colors. As to the Old Man, they did come up with a very clever way to bring him back, if you watch the little video just above the picture of the wood truck.

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  12. It took me a while to figure out what leaf peepers were, but I get it. On your trip there were no leaves to peep at yet.
    But a great journey by the sounds of it. Interesting the story about the old man and that he has fallen down now.
    Cemiteries are always very interesting. In your vcase even more as himself has found the graves (and some info) about his relatives.
    Yes, the celtic cross and angel are lovely.
    Happy T-Day,
    Lisca

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    1. For me the cemeteries are happy and sad. Sad because a lot of times, I'm the only one in the cemetery. No one seems to visit cemeteries any more. So when I take pictures of monuments I think are beautiful, I like to think I'm probably the only person who has visited in such a long time.

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  13. What a lovely trip. So we were driving through different mountains together;0)
    I hope Mr. Woolly is right about the winter.
    Glad you had fun:)

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    1. So were you in the Blue Mountains while I was in the White? And I hope Mr. Woolly's predictions are true, too.

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  14. what an interesting trip - i enjoyed all the photos you posted about it and for some reason I love that the name Irving means green river sea friend. You have known your "himself" for such a long time since you were kids. I bet that doesn't happen that often anymore....marrying someone from your childhood.

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    1. I have known Himself since he was 2 and I was 3 when his family moved in next door. Yeah, I don't think that girl/boy next door happens much.

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  15. A really interesting post and super photos of your trip. Thank you for sharing your family memories, you were lucky for your families to live so close and know one another.
    I hope you got to see the change in the leaves , it looks a beautiful area you visited.
    Happy T day wishes.
    Yvonne xx

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    1. It is a really beautiful area. You’ll see more next week

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  16. What a great trip and good to find the family grave and to remember fond memories, how lovely that you met when you were so young, I met my husband whenI was 13 ,a lot of people seem surprised that we are still together but he’s my soul mate!
    Jan x

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    1. Ma always said Himself and I were history repeating. Ma and Dad grew up in the same neighborhood. She caught Dad’s eye when they were 13 or 14

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  17. It is ironic your husband comes to NH for his family history and I go to Worcester for mine. (Well it doesn't go back too far in Worcester and I would have to head to northern Europe to do more.) Was there much color in Lancaster when you went? That might have been the same weekend I went through there on my way to VT for the corn maze. And it is sad the Old Man is gone. I wonder how many years in the future his face will be such a strong NH symbol? Hope it was a great T day. Hugs-Erika

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    1. His family is Irish and have been in this country since the 1870s. A lot of Irish came through Nova Scotia, PEI, and other parts of Canada. We haven’t found if his family came over during the 1840s of the Great Famine. So no surprise to find his family roots in NH.

      It turned out to be a spectacular weekend

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  18. Restore the old man. I am starting a petition.

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    1. They did restore him in a very clever way. Did you watch the video?

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  19. Very interesting post, CJ. I love your wood truck ditty. You're too funny.

    Belated Happy T-day! Eileen xx

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    1. What else do you do on a long car ride? Himself says not to encourage me. 😺

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  20. I did enjoy seeing your photographs, it looks a good road trip.
    Pleased you were able to find the grave sites of your husbands family.
    I thought the Celtic cross looked a very nice monument.

    All the best Jan

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    1. The graves helped with the genealogy and brought up a couple of mysteries

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  21. Fun road trip; sure wish I could get my hubby to go on road trips. Oh, well. Happy T Day!

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    1. Maybe get him interested in genealogy and then road trip visiting relatives at cemeteries

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  22. CJ,

    Just a quick howdy! I spotted your comment on Valerie-Jael blog and seeing that we share the same last name I had to pop over. While scrolling through your past posts, this one grabbed my eye. We actually saw the Old Man on the Mountain in 1989 while vacationing in Maine. We drove all over the place with Boothbay Harbor being our resting destination each day. That was a wonderful trip full of fond memories. Anywho, great post filled with a lot of interesting content. It's nice stumbling across your name. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

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    1. Thanks for dropping by. Always a pleasure meeting other Clan Kennedy members. You and my SIL share the same first name though she spells hers with a K.

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