Chasing History

  Week 26: The theme for Week 26 is “Favorite Name.” Whether it’s the name of a favorite ancestor or you just like the way it sounds, many of us have a name in our family tree that makes us smile. This is a good week to write about the person with that name. Clercy Ray Gross   Born:  24 Apr 1910 Newberry, Pennsylvania Died:  24 Jun 2000 Etters, York County PA Clercy was my 1st cousin 2x removed. I've never met another person named Clercy and especially not one from Newberrytown! Creative names clearly run in the family.  Clercy was born and raised in Newberrytown. He spent his adult life there working as a self-employed mechanic. He was a WWII veteran and rose to the rank of Sargent. I still have some of his army pins for safekeeping.  He was a bit of a recluse, what some might call a hermit. He worked out of Beshore's Garage and he also lived there. To my knowledge, he never cashed the checks from the mechanic work that he did. He would stuff everything in...

Week 25: The theme for Week 25 is “FAN Club.” In genealogy the FAN club refers to someone’s friends, associates, and neighbors – the people we often need to research to find answers about our family. Who is a member of the FAN club in your family tree? Who did you make a discovery about because you looked a bit wider? Or… is there someone in the family who was known for being a fan of a certain celebrity? Be creative! I'm a little late to Week 25. If I'm being honest, I feel incredibly uninspired by this prompt.  When I first read this prompt no one on my family tree jumped out at me.  I'll introduce you to my maternal grandmother, Betty Arlene Erney Weber. Betty Arlene Erney   Born: 11 Feb 1938 Fairview Township, York County, Pennsylvania, United States of America Death: 5 November 2020 Dillsburg, York County, Pennsylvania, United States of America Betty lived to be 82 and sharp as a tack right until the end. I could always ask her questions about family history and she...

 Shameless plug, reminding you that I have 3 books available for purchase on Amazon.  You can also buy copies at Damon & Dora's Vintage Clothing & Antiques in Etters.  They make great gifts for the cook and history lover in your life!  #shopsmallbusiness #shoplocal #localbusiness #selfpublishedauthor  Cookbook V1-  https://a.co/d/iMqO6bh Cookbook V2-  https://a.co/d/ikxY3Gr Then & Now- https://a.co/d/gAWESDA

Shameless plug to remind you that I have an Ebay store. I sell Newberrytown related items and it's also the store for Peanut and Puddin Miller merch.  The Kise Mill and Paddletown Church artwork was created by a talented local artist, F.S. Autumn, back in 2020. I've brought the work back to life through tshirts, mugs, postcards, and more.  https://www.ebay.com/usr/dominish2014

Week 24: The theme for Week 24 is “Artistic.” Is there a painter, crafter, quilter, knitter, crocheter, or musician in the family? This is their week. Dora Elizabeth Casini DeJoesph  Born: 16 Feb 1930 Hersey, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, USA Died: 21 Oct 2014 Texas Dora Elizabeth Casini Coleman DeJoseph was my paternal grandmother's sister. My great aunt Dora was a chain smoker. Growing up, the only time I remember seeing her without a cigarette was when she was crocheting Afghan blankets. She lived in Oregon and would fly to Pennsylvania for family visits. She couldn't smoke on the plane, so she'd crochet to occupy her hands. She couldn't smoke inside of our house when she visited, so she crocheted. She could whip up a blanket in record time! Everyone in the immediate family had at least one of Aunt Dora's handmade Afghan blankets.  She was a talented and longtime seamstress. She made custom draperies and bedspreads for movie and TV shows such as `Golden Girls...

  Week 23: The theme for Week 23 is "Wedding Bells." Do you have a favorite ancestral wedding photo? What about an ancestor who heard wedding bells multiple times? I have some photographs of my grandmother Dominish's wedding.  Yes. That's right. There have been two Dominishs in this world!!! We just didn't live at the same time.  Dominica "Dominish" "Donna" Mae Casini Clark Born: 27 May 1922 Hershey, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA Died: 8 September 1976 New Cumberland, Cumberland, Pennsylvania, USA Paul Richard Miller   Born: 3 Nov 1915 Enola, Cumberland, Pennsylvania, USA Died: 17 Apr 1951 Linglestown, Pennsylvania, USA Funnily enough, Dominish wasn't even her legal name. Her birth certificate lists her as Dominica*... somewhere along the way that got bastardized into Dominish... and then she ended up going by the nickname Donna.  My mom tells the story that when she found out she was having a girl (me) my dad was excited to name me after hi...