The Daniel Graves Dilemma

I've cross posted this in one group on Ravelry, the Knitting Genealogists, as well as here. I'll add a little more detail here to help out.

Okay, so I decided to start a topic as I’ve alluded to this situation enough and you guys give pretty good advice ;-)

Here’s what I know:

Daniel Graves was born in 1794 (according to the 1850 census) in New York, or in Vermont (if you ask his kids on their data forms).

He married Mary “Polly” Ferguson in 1813 in Bennington, Bennington Co, Vermont. A Ferguson researcher and I are determining and so far proving that she is originally from Bennington, a descendant of the relatives of the Hezekiah Ferguson family.

Between 1813 and 1815, they somehow manage to get to New York, where their first child is born. I don’t know this for sure, since its info from census/death certs, but its what I have to go on.

After having some more kids in NY (again, census info, biography info, death certs info), they show up in Middlesex County Ontario for the birth of 2 kids, and they’re back in New York by 1830, and have their last four kids concluding in 1838.

In 1850, I have a for sure census entry in Gouverneur, New York. (One of their kids is named Hazelton and another is nicknamed Hawley. Needless to say, its a bit unusual and makes them a little easier to find).

Then they vanish again. Nothing. I have two more kids assigned to them based off of family information, but no years for their birth and I haven’t been able to find them yet.

The problem is, there are three Daniel Graves in roughly the same area with roughly the same age range. One is in Vermont, still another one in Walpole, NH, one is in Middlesex Co, Ontario, and there’s another one that even shows up in Gouverneur about ten years later (luckily, not the same age so I could spot him).

These guys are driving me batty! I have no idea where else to look to find anything about him. The Graves Family Association has no idea other than he might be the Captain Daniel Graves that lived in Barton, VT for a time, since they don’t know the Captain’s wife’s name, there’s no telling. So I’m stuck. I’ve gone over this and over it, and I don’t know where their information could be hiding.

I have to be missing something here, it just doesn’t seem to make sense to me.

Children:
Pittman Graves
Son
b. ?

Rebecca Graves
Daughter
b. ?
New York

John Graves
Son
b. 29 Jan 1815 (also postulated to be 1826)
New York, United States
d. 7 Aug 1866
Bridgehampton, Sanilac, Michigan, United States

Hezekiah Graves (m. Harriet Hart)
Son
b. 29 Nov 1818
New York, United States
d. 22 Sep 1892
Bridgehampton, Sanilac, Michigan, United States

Enoch Graves (m. Rachel Sipes)
Son
b. 2 March 1826
New York
d. 22 May 1904
Oxford, Oakland, Michigan, USA

Sheldon Hall "Hawley" Graves (m. Hannah Jeffrey) - this nickname is carried down so it is confirmed.
Son
b. 26 Aug 1828
Delaware, Middlesex Bay County, Ontario, Canada
d. 1 Jul 1895
Sanilac, Sanilac, Michigan, United States

Hazelton Graves (m. Lovila Green)
Son
b. 17 Apr 1830
Ontario, Canada
d. 18 Dec 1907
Bridgehampton, Sanilac, Michigan, United States

Elizabeth Ann Graves (m. David Daniel Ingerson)
Daughter
b. 8 April 1831
New York
d. 4 September 1903
Bridgehampton, Sanilac, Michigan, United States

Justus "Jess" Graves
Son
b. 1837
New York

Lewis Graves
Son
b. 1838
New York, United States

Snakes, Tacos, and Crafting

I haven't posted here for about a month, so I wanted to assure everyone that I am

a)still alive
b)still crafting
c)still interested in blogging.

:-D

However, my time isn't always as well planned as it should be and I forget to make the posts that I had wanted to make. However, I am hoping that will change with the advent of planned blogging.

Its a concept I read on another person's blog (yes, I do read many blogs, usually via email since I can always download my email and read it offline). Instead of blogging "when you think about it", you set up a series of blogs in one day, and delay their posting until they meet set intervals. Interesting concept...

Then when you want to blog, you can also post "whenever", but once a month you plan the programming for the next month. That's where the word "genius" comes to mind!

So I'll try that in February. We'll see how it goes :-)

But back to the topic at hand....



Doesn't that look like what a glamorous Sea Snake should look like? Its a wonderful pattern by Nancy Nagle of Nangelli.com called "Delicious Diamond".

If you're interested, its a free Ravelry download, too. I found it to be quite fun to work and really worked to the advantage of the short fur style yarn.



Doesn't that look good? Sarahpark on Ravelry wrote up this nifty recipe which included those AND a pattern for a cast iron skillet pot handle.



Isn't that cute? It kind of reminds me of a fish, but it also makes Shawn happy and keeps his hand cool while cooking. A very fun test crochet project - I highly encourage you to to try it when she releases the pattern!

I've been working on some other things, but I'll save some stuff for this weekend to post.

Chicagoland Craft Collective Meeting - 12/16/09

Wednesday was another great Chicagoland Craft Collective meeting. I learned how to make a really cool papercraft - an ornament that was 3D! Its on my tree now.

As you can see above, there are some very talented people in the Chicagoland Craft Collective that I highly recommend people come and meet. They have talents across the board from fiber crafts to paper crafts to sewing to embroidery to beading and jewelry, and there are professional sellers that are part of the group as well as the head of Craft Critique and talented crafters a plenty!

Next month we are going to do needle felting and I'm super psyched for it! I've had a kit at home and wanted to know more about how to use it, but I was going to wait for the class in April at the Westmont Public Library - so this is a lot sooner!

I'm working on a test crochet for a friend-designer on Ravelry that's turning out really cute. I horribly had to start over due to poor yarn choice on my part, but its starting to come together again. Anyway, will update more when I get the Black Raspberry Hat done - its about darn time I released that pattern! ;-)

Festive Winter Bonnet

Festive Winter Bonnet Front
Originally uploaded by roostercf

My new pattern! This was a fun one. It actually started as an idea for a jacket, and then that didn't work, and it sat in my stash on the needle I left it on for months. I was starting to get out my Holiday things and found that the 2002 Holiday Teddy ornament has this adorable bonnet. Then I got thinking, and...

This is a simple drop stitch pattern that has minimal finishing and would be suitable in any fun, furry and nubby yarn. Lion Brand's Fancy Fur would be a good example, since the yarn that I originally made this in, Yarn Bee Playful, was discontinued. Sirdar Valentino might also be an interesting yarn to try.


Find the Festive Winter Bonnet in my Ravelry Store or here.

The Pavement Neckwarmer

Front

SSPX0146
Originally uploaded by roostercf

Back

SSPX0147
Originally uploaded by roostercf

A quick project, a neckwarmer for the husband. The pattern only has two lines across a five row repeat, and then a switch in direction.

Worsted Weight Yarn (I used a mystery grey wool I had laying around)
Yarn Needle
Size F Crochet Hook

(US Terminology)

Chain 30.
Chain 2 at the beginning of every row.
Extended single crochet across row.
Every five rows (as in, 1,2,3,4,5 then this one), do one row of front post extended single crochet.
Stop when desired width is reached.

Extended Single Crochet down width side of project.
Every five rows of Extended Single Crochet, do one row of alternating front post extended single crochet and back post extended single crochet.

Stop when desired length is reached. Leave a long tail.
Sew together and weave in ends.

Simple, tidy, just enough ornamentation to make me not want to go crazy but simple enough the man still likes it.

Crochet Ruffle Scarves

Crochet Ruffle Scarves
Originally uploaded by roostercf

Testing out the new instablogger for photos from Flickr!

Ruffles!

I've been working on stuff for the Xmas sale of the Knitting Guild, and the thought occurred to me that this might be a great chance to use up my smaller stashes of LB Homespun (1-3 skeins) and Fleece Lite (2.75 skeins, really, I started a hat and had to cut it off my loom because it tangled so much). I started with my favorite pattern,
Ruffled One Skein Scarf by Liz Laferty, but had to stop because my knitting needles were bothering my hands. So I started crocheting them and had a very prolific trip to Minnesota this past weekend. I should have brought another project, but oh well, I forgot it.

Anyway, the crochet ruffles are fun because I changed them up as I completed them. Some have more rows, some have more increases, the one I'm working on now has less increases and more rows, etc.

Flickr looks like it got done automatically posting my picture of the scarves, so I'm going to go check it out!

New Post

Just checking in and letting people know I'm still alive LOL. Lots of work at work to do, and I haven't done a whole lot of new stuff.

Genealogy and History: The Military Convoy comes to Wheaton

Hi all! I promised a genealogy entry and I found the perfect topic.

To celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Transcontinental Motor Convoy, a reenactment took place. One of the stops on the tour was practically on my doorstop, at the First Division Museum at Cantigny Park.

Different from the first and second tour, the convoy had vehicles from many wars, all the way up to Desert Storm.



What's that? You never heard of the first Transcontinental Motor Convoy from 1919 or the second in 1920?

Do you have any idea what they accomplished? Well, I didn't either. So I had grabbed a knowledgeable comrade (who's intending to get a Masters in military history), and started some research.


A photo from the original convoy. Source: http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/arch_results_detail.jsp?&pg=27&si=0&st=b&rp=digital&nh=27

The first one was done to raise awareness of the state of the Lincoln Highway. The road was in such horrendous shape that they found bridges collapsing under the weight of the 81 military vehicles, and they barely got 60 miles per day!



At each stop, the convoy was greeted with barbecues, dances and very well received.

Most people agree the first convoy was a success in that they got a world record for the longest distance traveled by a motor convoy, public support for the military and repairing roads was higher than when they left.

The second convoy, done in 1920, was done to raise public support for a national highway system. It was a bit smaller, about 50 vehicles, and found issues with the Mississippi flooding, and impassable desert sands in the Southwest.



Its debated the effect the second one had - while the crew was again greeted with parties and press, they failed to garner support for a national highway bill (though a bill passed in 1921).

Longterm, these convoys did have an effect on the future of America. President Eisenhower, a rider on the first convoy, supported the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 (which created many of the highways we know and love today), partly because of his experiences with the first ride and even told some stories about it in his book, At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends (Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1967).



This new convoy, as we were told, has more than a single purpose -

1. To celebrate the anniversary of the 1st convoy
2. To celebrate the 200th anniversary of President Lincoln
3. To celebrate the fine work of the US military.

In all, I think that it succeeded. They visited Cantigny on the same weekend as the Fine Art Fair, and seemed to have quite a few visitors. Many were little kids who hadn't seen anything like that before.



Anyway, getting back to the genealogy of the convoy...

1. Learn more about it. NARA has a section on their website under "America on the Move".

2. Search the newspapers for the local community. ALL of them would have covered this, as it was a big deal when the convoy came to town.

For example, the Fort Wayne Gazette from Fort Wayne, Indiana on July 19, 1919 discussed the aspect of H. S. Firestone donating vehicles, and the Reno Evening Gazette from Reno, Nevada on September 6, 1919 discussed statements by Lieutenant Colonel C.W. McClure, the leader of the convoy, and the efforts of Captain J.H. Murphy, who was in charge of recruiting.

An article from the conclusion of the trip on September 7, 1919 in the Oakland Tribune, gives a list of official observers from the trip. You never know what you might find!

I suggest if you try Ancestry.com, to search 1919 for keywords "Transcontinental Motor Convoy" and see what happens.

3. The Eisenhower Library has quite a few records about his time in the convoy.

4. Check out more about the new convoy at the MVPA website.


This video was taken by the MVPA as the convoy was going through Iowa.

Sources:
Ancestry.com - Copies of the Reno Evening Gazette, Oakland Tribune, and Fort Wayne Gazette.
MVPA.org
AmericasLibrary.gov
Eisenhower.archives.gov
History.sandiego.edu

New Pattern from Berrocco - HOT! I love it!

I know I've been hard on Berroco before on my blog. They have created new yarns for the fall and reawoken my interest in them.

Cirilia Rose sent out an awesome KnitBits this week getting us excited for Sundae yarn!

It looks gorgeous. But that's not really why I'm posting :-)

Check this out: Bolt Legwarmers

Aren't those incredible? They look like they might be one of the few and proud legwarmer patterns that STAY UP of their own accord and HUG, not slouch.

And the cables make me think they'd be a sexy knit, rather than a poke-your-eyes out stockinette field like so many other legwarmer patterns.

More news to come later this weekend!