Tombstone Tuesday: John William and Ellen (King) Wright

My maternal 2nd-great grandparents, John William and Ellen (KING) WRIGHT, are buried in the I.O.O.F. cemetery in Alexandria, Madison County, Indiana.

John William was born February 21, 1860 in Brown County, Ohio, the son of Joseph W. and Rebecca (HEATON) WRIGHT.

Ellen was born August 24, 1888 in Frankton, Madison County, Indiana, the daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth (SHAW) KING.

John and Ellen were married on May 13, 1888 in Madison County, Indiana. They lived out their lives on the family farm in Monroe Township, Madison County, Indiana.

Children of John and Ellen (KING) WRIGHT were:

• unnamed WRIGHT; the 1900 census lists Ellen as the mother of 3 children with 2 living
• Virgil Lee WRIGHT (1894-1972); married Edna Muriel PIERCE; 3 children
• Chester Arthur "Mike" WRIGHT (1896-1955); married Erma Violet HAYES: 1 child
• unnamed WRIGHT; the 1910 census lists Ellen as the mother of 4 children with 3 living
  

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.