Duchess of Weaselskin

Bayfield, Colorado - Remember the "hoola-hoops" of 50 or 60 sixty years ago? They are still going strong today. At the "Taste of Durango 2011" held to raise funds for the Manna Soup Kitchen, They were selling hoola-hoops on the downtown Main Street of Durango, Colorado this Sunday afternoon from 11:00am to 4pm, 15 May 2011. When was the last time you tried a hoola-hoop?

NW Okie clicked this shot of two unidentified young girls showing us how easy it was to keep that little hoop moving around their bodies up and down from hips to their necks. OH! Only to be young again to try! When was the last time you tried your hoola-hoop? How many and how long could you keep it going?

Check out in this week's OkieLegacy newsletter of an old photo of the Oklahoma University Pharmacy Association (O.U.Ph. A.) group members of 1936-37. My Dad, Gene M McGill is listed as a member of that group and graduated from OU in 1937 with a B.S. degree in Pharmacy, as did Howard J. Schuhmacher.

Mother's Day Wood Bowl Mid-week of last, NW Okie received a fantastic Mother's Day gift from her youngest son, Robert. He had wood turned a piece of juniper (cedar) that he had found at a tree limb dump site. I love all the natural openings, grains in this cedar bowl. It gives it so much great character!

Have you been over to the Library of Congress (LOC) National Jukebox website and LOC Jukebox Playlist? Don't forget to checkout Songs by George M. Cohan!

The Library of Congress presents the National Jukebox, which makes historical sound recordings available to the public free of charge. The Jukebox includes recordings from the extraordinary collections of the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation and other contributing libraries and archives.

Good Day & Good Luck on this mid-May Monday of 2011! View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

This Day In History (May 16)

America - On May 16, 1868, the United States Senate failed by one vote to convict President Andrew Johnson as it took its first ballot on one of 11 articles of impeachment against him. (Johnson was acquitted of all charges.)

On May 16, 1882, Anne O'Hare McCormick, the American journalist who became the first woman on the editorial board of The New York Times, was born. Following her death on May 29, 1954, her obituary appeared in The Times.

Also - On This Date (May 16):
1770 - Marie Antoinette, age 14, married the future King Louis XVI of France, who was 15.

1920 - Joan of Arc was canonized.

1929 - The first Academy Awards were presented during a banquet at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

1966 - The album "Blonde on Blonde" by Bob Dylan was released.

1966 - The album "Pet Sounds" by the Beach Boys was released.

1975 - Japanese climber Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

1990 - Entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. died at age 64.

1990 - "Muppets" creator Jim Henson died at age 53.

1991 - Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress. View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

NW Okie's Ancestrial Lineage

Bayfield, Colorado - Last week I promised a bit more possible information concerning a really distant connection to one of Benjamin Franklin's older sisters. As I have recently found, it turns out that Benjamin Franklin was a brother-in-law of the 1st cousin 3x removed of Samuel Geddes Craighead (husband) of our 2nd Great Grand Aunt, Nancy McGill, daughter of Wm Nathan McGill, Jr. See Notes and Link. In another feature of this week's OkieLegacy newsletter we have included a short biography of the infamous printer, inventor, politician, statesman and free-mason, Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790).

As I said earlier, Mary Franklin (1694-1731) was an older sister of Benjamin Franklin by about 12 years. Mary was married twice. Her 1st husband was Arthur Aylsworth, when they got married and Mary was 14 years of age, in 1708 and had her first child in 1710. Mary's 2nd husband was Robert HOMES, married 3 April 1716, in Boston, Massachusetts. Mary and Robert Homes had three children: William, Abiah and Robert, Jr.

Robert Homes (1720-1744) was a 1st cousin 3x removed of Samuel Geddes Craighead, who married our 2nd great grand aunt, Nancy McGill, daughter of Wm. Nathan McGill, Jr. and Anne Nancy Luttrell.

Samuel Geddes Craighead (1814-1889) of Tennessee, was a son of Wm. Craighead and Jane Gillespie; Wm. Craighead was the son of Capt. Robert Craighead and Hannah Eleanor Clark; Capt. Robert Craighead was the son of Rev. Alexander Holmes Craighead and Jane Agnes Brown; Rev. Alexander Holmes Craighead was the son of Rev. Thomas Craighead and Margaret Holmes Wallace, which leads us back to Rev. Robert Craighead and Agnes Hart, and their daughter Catherine Craighead, who married Rev. William Homes, who had the son Robert Homes that was the second husband of Mary Franklin. Are you thoroughly confused yet?

This is how the Franklin lineage from Mary Franklin (1694-1731) runs through the HOMES, CRAIGHEAD AND MCGILL ancestry to this NW Okie and her sisters.

Ancestry Lineage:

• Mary Franklin (1694 - 1731), wife of 1st cousin 3x removed of husband (Samuel G. Craighead) of my 2nd great grand aunt (Nancy McGill);
• Robert HOMES (1694 - 1727), 2nd Husband of Mary Franklin;
• Catherine CRAIGHEAD (1672 - 1754), Mother of Robert Homes;
• Rev. Robert Craighead (1633 - 1711), Father of Catherine Craighead;
• Rev. Thomas Craighead (1664 - 1739), Son of Rev. Robert Craighead;
• Rev. Alexander Holmes Craighead (1706 - 1766), Son of Rev. Thomas, Craighead;
• Capt. Robert Craighead (1751 - 1821), Son of Rev. Alexander Holmes Craighead;
• William Craighead (1778 - 1835), Son of Capt. Robert Craighead;
• Samuel Geddes Craighead (1814 - 1889), Son of William Craighead;
• Nancy MCGILL (1814 - 1898), Wife of Samuel Geddes Craighead;
• William Nathan MCGILL Jr. (1783 - 1832), Father of Nancy McGill;
• David Milton MCGILL (1808 - 1850), Son of William Nathan McGill, Jr.;
• William Pearson MCGILL (1835 - 1918), Son of David Milton McGill;
• William Jacob MCGILL (1880 - 1959), Son of William Pearson McGill;
• Gene M MCGILL (1914 - 1986), Son of William Jacob and Constance Estella Warwick. Gene married Vada Eileen Paris in March 1940, and had four daughters: Connie Jean, Dorthy E., Linda Kay and Amber Ann.

Col Kirkbride Memories

Alva, Oklahoma - ~Merrill Schnitzer commented in our OkieLegacy Feature #3899 concerning memories of Col. Bob Kirkbride, "I well remember Col. Bob, including his taffy pulls. In the early '30's he drove a big Buick. In winter snows he would attach a large sled (as wide as the car and about 8 feet long) behind the car and slowly drive the streets of Alva. Kids would run, jump on and drive a spell. According to rumor he finally quit when one youngster broke an arm getting on or off. Col. Bob, an auctioneer, m.c.'ed Yahoo Night (similar to Bingo) at the Rialto theater on Wednesday nights. A large dial was projected on the screen; the pointer would spin, stopping on a number. When a person's card was filled, they would yell "Yahoo" and would win a sizeable (for those days) monetary prize. Needless to say, the theater was full every Wednesday evening. Without a doubt, he was the best known person in the county."

~Bill Barker also commented in our OkieLegacy Feature #6037, "Col. Bob Kirkbride and my father E. M. Barker were good friends. One time I was attending an auction he was conducting. I think I was about nine years old. He saw me look longingly at a magnificent ten gallon Stetson hat (like Tom Mix wore) that was in the auction. He asked me, 'You like that hat, little Bark?'
"I sure do." I replied.
He said, "How much money have you got."
I said, "$2.50"
He quickly knocked the hat down to me for that price. I spent the rest of the time I was there fending off disappointed bidders who had their eyes on that magnificent hat too. My Daddy took the hat with him when he went to work at the shipyards in San Francisco during WWII." View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

America - I was checking out some information over at Ancestry.com and found some interesting facts about the inventor, printer and the man that makes up one of our "Founding Fathers." Benjamin Franklin, while on a visit to England in 1758, commenced to collect materials relating to his FRANKLIN and FOLGER ancestry. His mother was Abiah FOLGER, daughter of Peter and Mary (MORRILL) FOLGER of Nantucket and granddaughter of John and Meribah (GIBBS) FOLGER who came from England in 1635 and settled at Martha's Vineyard. You know who Folger is, don't you!

Benjamin Franklin was born 17 January 1706, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts and died 17 Apr 1790, Philadelphia, Delaware, Pennsylvania. Franklin was born the 15th of his father's 17 children with two wives. His father taught young Benjamin the value of hard work and diligence.

One item of interest concerning Ben Franklin was found in an ebook on Google, Benjamin: His Autobiography, With a Narrative of His Public Life and Services. Ben stated, "I learned from my ancestry research in England that I was the youngest son of the youngest son for five generations back. Ben's grandfather Thomas was born in 1598, lived at Ecton till he was too old to continue his business, when he retired to Banbury, in Oxfordshire, to the house of his son John, with whom my father served an apprenticeship."

Benjamin Franklin, under the pseudonym "Richard Saunders," was the writer of the popular Poor Richard's Almanack, which featured bits of wisdom. Benjamin Franklin was also known to have joined the Freemasons, quickly rising to a position of influence in this secretive society.

Ben Franklin was a man of many talents, who dabbled in science; negotiated for French support during the Revolutionary War; and started one of the nation's first newspapers. His inventions included bifocals, the lightning rod, library chair, swim fins, Franklin Stove, catheter, and Daylight Savings Time.

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Early History of Middle Tennessee

Middle Tennesse - The 1908 book of Early History of Middle Tennessee, by Edward Albright, Chapter I explains the first inhabitants of Middle Tennessee as belonging to a race of people called "Mound Builders," because of the mounds or monuments they erected and left behind.

No one knows for sure from whence they came, how long they remained or where they went. Around many lasting springs, and in various localities along the water courses, early immigrants found acres of graves containing their remains. These burial places five evidence of having been made long before the whites, possibly several hundred years previous to the beginning of the 17th century.

One of these ancient graveyards covered a part of what is known as Sulphur Spring Bottom in Nashville. Another was located in North Edgefield. A third was clustered about the mouth of Stone's river, above the city, and a fourth (the largest of all) was situated upon the farm of Mr. O. F. Noel, South, adjoining Glendale Park.

Others were found throughout Sumner County, especially at and around Castalian Springs, formerly Bledsoe's Lick. These burial places of interment were also numerous along the Harpeth River in Williamson, Cheatham and Dickson Counties. The Mounds and stone graves can also be found in Humphreys and Hardin Counties.

It is said to be related of the "Long Hunters." the first organized band of adventurers coming to this region, that no trace of human habitation was visible to them. In dry caves on side of creeks tributary to the Cumberland, down the course of which they traveled, they found many places where stones were set together, covering large quantities of human bones. These were conical shaped mounds left throughout Middle Tennessee by these early builders that afford evidence of industry, and also a measure of skill. The remnants of one of these mounds at Castalian Springs was formerly surrounded by a low wall or embankment enclosing a small acreage of land.

Following the Mound Builders came the Shawnees (Algonquin race, a part of the Iroquois Confederacy and are known by historians as the "Gypsies of the Forest"), who were the first tribe of Indians to settle in Middle Tennessee. The Shawnees journeyed from a region surrounding the Great Lakes about 1650 and built their villages along the banks of the Cumberland. The boundaries of this settlement extended north to what is now the Kentucky line, and as far west as the Tennessee River.

Until the time of the Shawnee coming the country comprised of Kentucky and Middle Tennessee had been held as neutral territory by the Indians, and was used as a common hunting ground by the Iroquois on the north,a nd by the tribes composing the Mobilian race on the south. Chief among the latter were the Creeks, Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws and Seminoles. Chapter VII, The Long Hunters:
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Robert Craighead (1633-1711)

Scotland - The Rev. Robert Craighead (1633-1711), was a native of Scotland. Robert obtained his M.A. degree from the University of St. Andrews, Feb. 15, 1653. Robert settled in Ireland where he lived 30 years. He was Pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Donoughmore, 1657-1658. He was one of the "immortal thirteen" ministers who comprised the Presbytery of Lagan and was subsequently minister at Londonderry when the gates of the city were closed against the forces of James II. He escaped during the seige and made his way to Glasgow. He later returned to Ireland and died in Londonderry on Aug. 22, 1711.

Robert Craighead married Agnes Hart; baptized Dec 17, 1648 in Dunino, Fife, Scotland; Agnes was the daughter of Rev. John Hart and Agnes Baxter. John and Agnes were married on Apr 2, 1644 in Edinburgh Parish, Edinburgh Midlothian, Scotland. Rev. John Hart received his M.A, from St. Andrews in 1637.

Robert and Agnes had children:

B-29 Crew Rescued by Submarine

Japan - Ellis Raymer sent us this link of the B-29 Crew Rescued by Submarine after their plane was shot down in 1945, 70 miles off the coast of Japan. The entire rescue was filmed in color video but then sat in a guy's closet until now. This is a story from a Denver TV station of one of those rescued aviators to whom the video was delivered. It also shows their transfer to another submarine that is likely headed back to port before the one that accomplished the rescue. Can you imagine 65 years after your rescue, attaching it on film?

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Last Born Resident of Fairvalley

Fairvalley, Oklahoma - We heard from Wes Devine this last week who was the anonymous writer that sent in the story about being the last born resident of Fairvalley, Oklahoma. he sent us a couple pictures showing his brother and himself (image on the left) and a photo copy of their genealogy (on the right) written in his grandmother's handwriting. Wes says, "The first picture is of my brother and myself. Out two sisters live near Leon, Kansas where we grew up. The second picture is a photo of our genealogy. The original was in my grandmother's handwriting. It had been folded and I cleaned it up some. Naoma is my aunt and a sister to my father, John Charles Devine. We grew up in Kansas with our grandparents on our mother's side. I have been working on tracing our family roots.

"I can tell you that there were two Henry Devine's born in Brownington, Missouri. Our grandfather was the younger of the two. We are fairly sure that the older one was a brother to Herman Devine born in New York. Michael was born in Ireland and we believe his father's name was Martin. Most of the family was in or near Clinton, Missouri in an 1880 census. We are fairly sure they all came to the Fairvalley area during the land rush. We have not been able to keep invert close contact with our father's side of the family. We have family in Waynoka and El Reno, Oklahoma. Our grandmother married a Baker and I know that my father had a half brother or two, one of whom was Lynn Baker. I presently live near Olathe, Colorado just north of Montrose." View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

OU Ph. Assoc. 1936-37 Photo

Norman, Oklahoma - While searching on Ancestry.com I came across a group photo of the Oklahoma University (OU) Pharmacy Association that was a page of the OU yearbook for 1936-37. In that photo my Dad, Gene M McGill, was not in the photo, but his name was listed as a member of the OU Ph. A of 1936-37 (See photo on the left). Also on that list was Howard J. Schuhmacher. Some of you NW Oklahomans might remember Howard through his Schuhmacher Drugstore on the Westside of the downtown square in Alva, Woods, Oklahoma. What were Howard's wife and children's name?

The second photo on the right does have a photo with the same group, OU Ph. A., in the 1936-37 OU yearbook. Gene M McGill is on the fourth row, fourth from the left. You can not miss Gene's recognizable thin physique, with his hair combed straight back, and he is also sporting a thin mustache. There is no mistaking it as my Dad. I believe I could pick out that image of him instantly. Just like others who knew him.

When I found the first image on Ancestry.com, I wrote to the OU department connected with yearbooks to see if I could find more information and possibly an old 1936 and 1937 yearbook and gave them the time periods of when Gene attended the pharmacy school and graduated.

I did not find an old yearbook to purchase, but Bird Library at OU Health Sciences Center (HSC) did find, scanned and sent me an old photograph of my Dad, Gene M McGill.

In the Publication Centennial: A history of the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy 1893-1993, they found his name listed as receiving the Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in the year 1936-37. When they went to the yearbook for that year, The Sooner, 1937, there was a page of photographs of the seniors for that year, but Gene's photograph was not among them. They did find a group photograph of members of an organization, O.U. Ph. A., and its members where he photo was included. View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Poor Richard's Almanac

America - Poor Richard's Almanack featured bits of wisdom written by Benjamin Franklin under the pseudonym Richard Saunders, but it was common knowledge that Franklin was the author.

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