Beyond Fiction

This is one of my favorite pictures in my collection. I guess because it is so down to earth! It was given to me by my cousin, Dorothy (Landers) Fisher and I have it on display in my home!

I’m not sure of everyone in this picture. Someday I will take the time to identify every person, but for now I do know the three main players. The man sitting with the baby on his lap is my great-grandfather, William Henry Gamble. The woman beside him is my great-grandmother, Abigail Mae (Miller) Gamble. I’ll write something more about her later! The third character is the little girl on William Henry’s lap. That is my grandmother, Ora Elizabeth Gamble.

I’m not sure where the picture was taken but I do know that my grandmother was born in DeKalb, Bowie Co., Texas and since she is still pretty young I surmise that they may have still been in DeKalb.

I hope you have enjoyed this photo. As I identify the others I will be sure to update this post!

Have a great day,

Ken

It’s been a while since I participated in the Smile For The Camera blog carnival, but I would like to return to participating as often as I can. The prompt for this time around is “School Days”. I searched through a lot of photos of school pictures and had several that would have been nice but I decided that this would be the best one.

This is a picture of my mother, Patricia,  and it would be estimated that she is about 15 or 16 in this picture. Never mind the fact that she is not smiling, it’s just a very nice thing to be able to find a school picture of one of my parents. I had one that was supposed to be my dad’s school picture but he always said he was hiding underneath the school. That one wasn’t very nice!

As you can tell, it’s a very good picture but it does have that one crease going across her face. I have thought of trying to fix it up but have had no luck. Either way it is nice but I am always left to wonder what it would look like if it had an opportunity for someone to restore it. I really believe that if it was restored it would look almost exactly like my younger sister.

So, anyone have any suggestions on how to fix this up? Remember, I’m not made of money right now so I am looking for suggestions on how to do this in Paint Shop Pro or something! (I have version 7) I hope it is OK to do this while also submitting to the carnival. The main point was to showcase the picture but it would be nice to see if any of the photo experts out there had any ideas.

Have a great week,

Ken

My Maternal 2nd-Great Grandfather

George Washington Forbes

(Husband of Rachael Ann Seeber)

Born – April 13, 1818 in Onondaga Co., New York

Died – April 15, 1903 in Omro, Winnebago Co., Wisconsin

Buried in Omro Union Cemetery, Omro, Winnebago Co., Wisconsin

Inscription reads:

He has gone from his dear

ones, his children, his wife,

whom he willingly toiled for

and loved as his life.

It’s Monday and it’s Labor Day! Unfortunately, this Labor Day has been rained out big time! That’s alright though, I’ve had a great time just sitting around and watching movies with my wife and daughters!

As is my routine now, I would like to share my Monday Musings with you. Today, I want to bring you all up to date with what is going on my life. I know that in the past I have posted things that make it seem like things are just so bleak, and at times it sure does feel that way. However, I would like to think that, perhaps, things are starting to take a turn for the better.

First off, I’m glad to report that I have finally found a job! It’s not something that will make me rich and that has never been my purpose. I just want something that will help us to pay the bills and live comfortbably. For my family, that doesn’t take much. We are a simple, down-to-earth family.

My new job is working at Food Lion. I am the head stocker. That’s just a glorified way of saying I am a grocery stocker with Food Lion. Of course, being head stocker will have more responsibility. I will have to be there to open the store, unload the truck and make sure that the others get in alright also! I will be responsible for downstacking the truck, separating it on floats, and then making sure it gets stocked. In other words, I will have a lot of the responsibility resting on me. I can handle that. I’m just glad to have a job!

So, how does this change life for us? Well, up until Thursday of last week, I was to the point of making plans to go back to Texas, find a job, and then move my family back to Texas once I had secured a place. Things were getting that bad here! Of course, I’ve been around long enough to know that things can change again in a heartbeat but I would rather dwell on the positive at this point. Now, we can begin to make plans for our stay here in North Carolina. Our lease will be up in a couple of months and it is a given that we will be moving into another place when that happens. Now that I have a job, perhaps I would be better served to move closer to that job! It’s nice to be looking at different places to get an idea of the prices for everything. The good thing for us is that most of the deposits have been paid and we would only have to pay transfer fees when we do move. Once we do get moved, we can then begin to settle in and just enjoy life again. We can also begin to make plans for vacation time since I will have vacation time earned within a year! It would be nice to take a little time and go visit my loved ones in Texas.

It’s good to finally be able to put down some good news on my Monday Musings. I apologize if I got a little negative in any of my posts in the last month.

On another note, I just realized that last month was a record for me! I have been so busy the last year or so that my posts had dwindled down to so few. Last mont (August) I posted 43 different items to my blog. I think just finally being here in N.C. and getting a lot of the stress that I had off has spurred me to finally begin writing again. I have even had more fun with the social networking since I have narrowed it down to one Facebook account. Having a steady job with hours that don’t rotate every two weeks has brought a since of normalcy to me and has helped me to once again be focused on what I enjoy.

So, there you have my thoughts. I look forward to sharing with you again next week!

Have a great week,

Ken

Yippee! It’s time again for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun! I look forward to this even though I don’t always participate.

When I first saw Randy’s challenge, I thought there was no way I could do this. After much consideration, I decided I would give it a shot but I hope that I don’t let anyone down with my choices.

The assignment for this Saturday Night, should you choose to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible music again), is:

1) Identify three of your favorite genealogy blogs to nominate for the Family Tree 40 list, and fill out the nomination form for them.

2) Tell us which three you chose, and a reason why you chose it, in a blog post on your own blog, in comments to this post, or in a Note or comments to this post on Facebook.

3) For purposes of this assignment, please don’t name Genea-Musings as one of your three (obviously, I would be honored to be nominated, and you can do so at your pleasure). What I’m hoping is that by writing about three of your favorite genealogy blogs, that you will introduce many blog readers to more outstanding blogs, for the benefit of all of us.

It is so hard to choose 3 favorites. I mean, no matter who I name, I feel I am leaving out so many who are also worthy of being named! Alas, I must choose only 3. My logic in choosing these three is simple. I’ve been blogging for about 2 and 1/2 years now and there are a few blogs that I have followed faithfully during that time. Why? Obviously, the content is interesting, they are written well and it almost feels like I’m visiting a friend when I read them. What more could you ask for? Here they are, in no particular order:

Creative Gene – If not just for her efforts in the Carnival of Genealogy, this blog is so awesome. Just the way Jasia writes and puts you into the middle of the story. What’s more, she shares more than just genealogy. She invites you to be a part of her life also! Great job, Jasia!

Ancestories: The Stories Of My Ancestors – Oh yes, she who hosts the ScanFest each month as well as keeps us on our toes with the latest in genealogy news! I’m a faithful fan, Miriam, and will continue to be! (Yes, I will eventually try to join in on the ScanFest fun!)

~ Shades Of The Departed ~ footnoteMaven! I so enjoyed your original blog (and still do). When you took on the challenge of starting a second blog, I’m sure you must have been excited! Did you ever dream it would take off and become what it is today? I so enjoy reading the articles here and will continue to follow as it just seems to keep getting better and better!

Once again, I am so sorry for those who I didn’t include. There are so many more I would have loved to put here but these three are definitely ones I have followed since I discovered genealogy blogs! If I only followed these three I would still get so much information!

Have a great weekend everyone,

Ken

Woo Hoo! I just wanted to write a quick post to let you all know that the newest edition of The Carnival of Genealogy has been published. Our host this time around is M. Diane Rogers over at CanadaGenealogy, or ‘Jane’s Your Aunt’ and the topic is “Family Reunions“.

I’m excited to finally be able to attend another Carnival! It’s been so long since I participated. I hope to get back in to attending every opportunity I get! Here’s a link to my post: I Love Family Reunions!

Be sure to check out all the entries. I haven’t had time to go through all of them but there is always some great reading to be found at the Carnival!

Have a great day everyone,

Ken

OK, it’s time to tell you about this picture. Up until yesterday I had never even seen this picture!

This is a picture of my grandmother, Ora Elizabeth (Gamble) Spangler, and her 4 children. I don’t have any clue where my grandfather was at the time! Maybe he is the one taking the picture!

If I am not mistaken, and I am quite often mistaken, starting from left to right you have my Aunt Irene, my father – David Isaac Spangler, my Aunt Helen, my grandmother and my Aunt Jo (Martha Jo Spangler). I don’t know if you can tell by looking at the picture but my Aunt Helen doesn’t look like she fits in this picture. I’m not being mean, I’m just trying to bring out a point. My Aunt Helen was adopted by my grandparents. I am not really fully aware of the situation but I do know that they raised her from a very small child. She did take on the name of Spangler eventually but I believe her birth name was probably Parker! I only say this because on one of her children’s birth records it lists the mother as Helen Parker.

A quick shout out to my sister Kim for posting this picture on Facebook. I know I grabbed it and used it on my blog but I am so glad to have finally found this picture! I believe it is awesome!

Have a great day everyone,

Ken

My Maternal Great-Grandparents

Archibald Edelbert Forbes

Born – July 9, 1852 in Cascade, Sheboygan Co., Wisconsin

Died – November 1, 1922 in Jefferson, Marion Co., Texas

And

Adelaide Eliza (Beal) Forbes

Born – February 18, 1862 in Wisconsin

Died – February 14, 1940 in Karnack, Harrison Co., Texas

Buried in Pope City Cemetery, Woodlawn, Harrison Co., Texas