52in52: Rachel Sipes Graves (1827-?) and Autoimmune Disorders

Home is actually a difficult topic for me. No, not because anything bad happened. But I'm under 40 years old and I've lived in:
-3 cities in Michigan
-3 cities in Indiana
-4 cities in Illinois
-3 cities in Minnesota
-2 cities in New York

That's 15 different places. Which one do I call "home"? My definition of home has become over the years to be wherever I feel a tie to, so that includes .

So when I saw this week's theme of "close to home", my mind did not immediately go to the location based home, but more so the ancestor that has captivated my heart for the longest time, because I think her story hits a connection to me very close to home.

When I started in genealogy, my purpose was two fold: one, it was because my grandmother gave me a list of her siblings and when they were born just before she passed on, and two, because I was diagnosed with type I diabetes at age 10, and the doctors were knee deep in a study that said type I diabetes was strongly inherited, and my family didn't know anything about how deep or shallow the diabetic connection was on either side of the family.

I researched quite a bit on each side of the family but found that the Graves family had a link to many, many autoimmune disorders that were carried down throughout the family. I just kept working back and working back, and finally I stumbled upon Rachel Sipes, who married Enoch Graves. Enoch is a hoot to research on his own (he has three different obituaries under three different names, none of which is Enoch!) but Rachel has really stolen my heart when it comes to research because of this:

1884 Census from the state of Michigan. Enoch and Rachel's family start with line 14. Click it and it will go full page.

"Line 15, Rachel, 56, female, white, wife, married, no, Canada, New York, Canada, House wife, ulcers on legs, no other infirmity, did not attend school within year, can not read or write, 12 years in Michigan"

Did you catch that part about "ulcers on legs"? Her son Hezekiah has the same infirmity. Before the discovery of insulin in 1921, untreated diabetics often died very young, and found their risk of loss of limb, ulcers, gangrene, stroke, heart attack and death were much, much higher than the normal population. I believe this is where the genetic mutations that have started the progression of diabetics, celiacs, sarcoidosis, LCMH, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, vasculitis, thyroid disorders, and severe psoriasis started. Not having listed these sorts of symptoms on previous records, my conclusion would be that she and her son Hezekiah/Heisikiah had one of these autoimmune conditions that were triggered as she got older.

I've had a lot of experience tracking this woman down. At first, we thought her last name was Shanks. A few hundred documents later, we've pretty much confirmed her name was Sipes. Due to a curious family document, Rachel Shanks was listed with two daughters, Susan and Mary Jane, who were adopted into the family. I had originally thought that she was the Rachael Sipes that married Peter Buckendale the Younger, one of the founding settlers of York, Ontario because she had two daughters listed on the document as . However, that Rachel died young, and the settlers pretty firmly believe that was what happened (though they did admit when I visited that it was possible she just disappeared, never to be found by Peter again).

Susan Buckendale's marriage certificate to James Innis. Is this Rachel my Rachel? 

Rachel captures my heart because of her tie to diabetes in the family, but she's also lived through multiple moves between different cities in Oxford County, Ontario, and Sanilac County, Michigan. And yet she's still a woman of mystery. We can't find a death for her. She's not recorded as being buried next to her daughter Rebecca or her husband in Mt. Zion Cemetery, though there's a disturbing amount of unmarked space around Rebecca's grave.

Photograph by Don & Wendy McCallum from FindaGrave.

And then there's this:

"18 November 1846, page 79, Gore District marriage records of Rev. Robert Lindsay, Presbyterian Church: Thomas GRAVES, Waterloo, to Rachel SIPES, Blenheim. Wit: Thomas Linton, M. McRay."

There's two possibilities here: 1. Enoch uses a different name again, just like his obituary and it is their marriage. 2. Thomas is someone else, perhaps a cousin? He dies quickly, and Enoch marries his widow.

In either case, Rachel and Enoch had a prolific marriage that tied them to generations of family in Sanilac County, Michigan, parts of which are still there today.

Rachel and Enoch's children:
Mary Jane Buckendale Graves 1843 –
Susannah Buckendale Graves  1846 –
John Hazelton Graves  1851 – 1927
Hezekiah Graves  1851 – 1898
Marshall Graves  1855 – 1915
Sheldon Hall Graves  1857 – 1930
Daniel James Graves  1858 – 1916
William Graves  1862 –
Douglas Alexander Graves  1863 – 1919
Burley Graves  1864 –
Enoch Graves  1865 – 1935
Rebecca Graves  1866 – 1881
Charles Henry Graves  1871 – 1945

I know its probably a strange view of "close to home" for an ancestor that is still a bit of a mystery and for which I don't have a full picture. Yet she is always "close to home" because she is that ancestor whom I do have a interesting tie and she never fails to lead me to something interesting in my research no matter how many times that I pick her case up and put her back down. I've always got an ear out to see what I can learn about her and her situation in life.

If you want to learn more about the discovery of insulin, I highly recommend Janice Yuwiler's book:
Yuwiler, Janice M. Insulin. Detroit: Lucent Books, 2005. Print. Great Medical Discoveries. 

Diet Coke

When I said I was going to write one of my 30 days of thanks columns about Diet Coke, the people I told kinda laughed and said I must be running out of ideas if I'm thanking Diet Coke like its some sort of idol.

I'm not really thanking Diet Coke persay. But I do thank it for being the alternative. As a child and a type I diabetic, I was never allowed to have the birthday cake and ice cream, being such a high exchange load it would send me into ZOMG sugar issues even with my insulin shots (kids, this was before pumps were everywhere and carb counting was developed). So I didn't. But every birthday party and holiday, there would always be a supply of them for me. The caffeine would get me a bit buzzed and I'd be able to keep up with the sugar addled kids in the rest of the room and I would feel normal for just a bit.

As I grew older, it got to wear after awhile. Diet Coke AGAIN? No cake, no candy, etc. So when I was a teenager, I rebelled. I tried my first Skittles. I tried my first Starburst. I started drinking iced tea, Diet Dr Pepper, Diet Mountain Dew, Diet Pepsi, and other diet beverages as the 1990s anti-sugar and anti-fat campaign came into popularity. And it was glorious. Course, I still had the insulin shots to deal with but by then I was better at correcting for that. I still didn't have great control, but I had a much more flexible life. And I stopped drinking Diet Coke for a good ten years.

After college I found that the machines at work would have Diet Coke. It was always the cheapest at the convenience store. Since I'm a pretty light drinker, I also found most bars would have Diet Coke which was better than tap water. So I came back to it. It was like meeting up with an old friend and finding they hadn't changed at all. But I had changed. I had to migrate my relationship with Diet Coke from being the "alternative" to being the "mainstay", much like the can design changed from its original style to an updated version. My relationship with this beverage had reached its mature stage, much like Diet Coke reached the mature point of the product life cycle.

I still don't "love" or really "like" Diet Coke all that much. I tend to drink the alternative versions of it - Diet Coke with Splenda, Diet Coke Plus, Cherry Coke Zero, Coke Zero, etc. But its always there when you need it, helping out whenever there's nothing diet to drink (or really bad water/tea). I still don't like to dose insulin in my pump for drinks. And because Coca Cola's been around forever and will probably be around forever, I can always reach for a trusty Diet Coke when I need one.

So here's to you: Diet Coke. Thanks for being there.

What's the Deal?

Okay, so I haven't written a post in forever.

I bet you thought the blog was dead, and nothing new was going up.

Weeelll, not exactly.

There's been a lot of personal turmoil going on.

1. I got a new job.
2. I got into a scooter accident.
3. My husband's job is being shut down.
4. I got an insulin pump finally!
5. I've been doing Yarn Smackdown all summer.
6. There's this little addiction called Ravelry...

So I've been out, but not necessarily about for the past couple months. Luckily, none of these things are particularly bad - I walked away from the accident with only an arm injury that's much better now, and the husband is looking for new work - so I'm around.

Here's what I have planned for this blog for the rest of this year:

1. Updates on the Dolce Cabo dress started this summer. I started it, then had to drop it after gauge problems. I want to get that one done before next summer!
2. The Happy Okra pattern. He's cute and cuddly and I want to make him a star!
3. China's Sweater pattern. China the stuffed panda and I share the same birthday, and I always make her a knitted or crocheted item each year. This year, I've got an adorable cotton sweater almost done for her.
4. Some new loom patterns. Inspired by what I've seen the Spanish and Argentinians doing, I've seen some *interesting* new ideas and want to get some internationally inspired patterns up here!
5. Some holiday stuff...not sure what yet, but the Halloween --> Christmas time of year is great and I want to share the joy!

So, in short, stick with me, guys and gals, and I'll be back strong soon!

Diabetic Baking!

Well, this topic seems to be everywhere this time of year as people are starting to get ready for the holiday madness.

I think this is one of my favorite new blogs as it takes the ingredients that I know of and goes one step further to actually create new diabetic friendly recipes that taste good. There's nothing I know of that infuriates me more when we diabetics have to eat a "special" meal. In other words, feed everyone crap so they get overweight while giving the diabetics the healthy food!

I think most of the people that know me know that I'm pretty liberal in what I eat - a little vegan, a little junk food, a little candy here and there, plus the normal stuff modified to be healthier, like whole wheat pasta, brown rice, etc. I happen to really like sushi, too, and have a weakness for potatoes and ranch dressing, but I try to find ways to work that into my diet.

Not that my blood sugar is perfect or anything but I am trying. Hopefully that counts in my body for something. I've been trying to deduce what causes my high blood sugars lately - crackers seem to be a big problem. The dance classes I've been taking seem to really be helping my blood sugars fall - DH and I are practicing 40 minutes a night.

I'm trying to cut back on the caffeine too but it appears as if I'm increasing it more as the sleep I'm getting at night seems to get less and less. I seem lost without my morning cup of coffee at work anymore. Anyway...

That's my little rant (trying to control myself) but I'm going to follow this girl's blog closely.