Advent Calendar - December 1 - Christmas Tree

Growing up, our family usually had an artificial Christmas tree, although I do remember the time when we tried to have a live tree.  I believe that the mess and the cleanup it caused was the reason that we were back to an artificial tree the next year.

As an adult, in my family we've always had the artificial tree at Christmas.  Starting out in my married life, I even used a tree or two that was 'recycled', ie. it had belonged to my grandparents or parents.  Talk about a tree that had seen a better day.  Those trees looked a bit like the old Charlie Brown tree by the time I was done with them.

Traditionally, we would put up our Christmas tree after Thanksgiving, though not necessarily right after the turkey was put away.  Mother's birthday was in early December, and as I recall, the times the tree went up seemed to be closely tied to her birthday.

My brother, sister and I would help mom and dad put up the tree and decorations, and that is a tradition that continues at our house today.  Somehow it seems better to make the tree decorating a family project.

Christmas Tree, 2003 model

Family Milestones: November 30th

My paternal 4th-great granduncle, Jeremiah PHILBRICK, was born on this date in 1783.  Jeremiah was the son of Deacon John and Sally (JEWETT) PHILBRICK, and the younger brother of my Joel PHILBRICK.  Jeremiah married ________ EVANS.  Jeremiah died October 20, 1842.  Nothing further is known of his family at this time.


My maternal 5th-great grandaunt, Sarah KIMMER, was born on this date in 1799. Sarah was the daughter of Nicholas and Sarah (FAYLER) KIMMER, and the younger sister of my Elizabeth KIMMER.  Nothing further is known at this time.

My maternal 7th-great grandfather, Seth PIERCE, was born on this date in 1716 in Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.  Seth was the son of Samuel and Abigail (JOHNSON) PIERCE.  Seth married on November 10, 1743 to Elizabeth NYE, daughter of Ebenezer and Sarah (NEWCOMB) NYE.  Elizabeth was born December 14, 1720 and died May 14, 1749 in Mansfield, Windham County, Connecticut.  Seth died on December 5, 1794.  They had at least 4 children.

Chester Arthur Wright : World War I Draft Registration

Thanks to the folks at Ancestry.com, I now have a copy of the World War I Draft registration cards for my maternal great-granduncle, Chester Arthur WRIGHT.  Known by his nickname of "Mike", he was the brother of my great-grandfather, Virgil Lee WRIGHT.

Mike was born October 18, 1896 in Orestes, Madison County, Indiana.  He was a farmer in Monroe Township, Madison County, Indiana.  He was married twice.  His first marriage was March 5, 1920 in Madison County, Indiana to Erma Violet HAYES, daughter of John and Cora (REASON) HAYES.  They had one daughter, Vivian June WRIGHT.  Their marriage ended in divorce.  Mike remarried in 1939 in Alexandria, Madison County, Indiana to Mayme LAWSON.  Mike died June 20, 1955 in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio.

At the time of World War I, Mike was living with his father, John William WRIGHT.  In the 1920 census, he was still living at home, listed as a 23 year old single farmer.