Time Marches On

 I really cannot believe I have let this blog languish for 9 years! What genealogy gems could I have discovered?

My sweet Daddy and Mama have passed away, Daddy in November, 2015 and Mama in March, 2020. I have lost 2 nieces, Amy and Jenna. 

Nine years older...I'm 65 now. I started researching my family tree 41 years ago. I was so very young back then. I need to renew my efforts so that I can leave my research to my grandchildren and those who come after, so they can look back and know I was alive and have hopes, disappointments, and dreams just like they do.

In genealogy there is always something new to discover, no matter that time marches on.

Wordless Wednesday

John Stanley Cross

My father on the Cross farm

Webb, Iowa

circa 1935-1938

Gifts on Paper

From my personal blog: Gifts on Paper: Cross, Teachout, Freeman

Wordless Wednesday (well, a few words)

Basil Noah Cross Family

This is my great great grandparents, Basil Noah and Mary Jane (Boroff) Cross, their five sons, daughter, daughter-in-law and 2 of their grandchildren.  My great grandfather Henry, is the young boy standing between them.  He was born in 1875.  I am guessing that he might be 7 or 8 in this picture.  Basil died in 1885 so that would mean this was taken a few years before this death.  It is probably the last family picture they had taken (maybe the only one they ever had taken.)  The exact location is unknown, but it most definitely was taken in Iowa as in 1880 there were living in East Waterloo, Iowa.  In 1885 when Basil died they were living in Fredericksburg, Iowa.

This is the only photograph I have of my great great grandfather Cross.  I will share more of his story in another post.

How Much Did a Haircut Cost in 1935?

My father, John Cross getting a haircut, circa 1935
Haircut cost:  40 cents
Webb, Iowa
Picture: priceless

A song from my childhood that I remember hearing my grandfather, George Cross, (and my parents) sing:

Count Your Blessings

When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Refrain:
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.

When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.

So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Veterans in My Life Past and Present

The men pictured below are from my direct lines.  Many more of my ancestors also served our country.

Basil Noah Cross, Union Veteran, Civil War
My 2nd Great Grandfather

James Mortimer Van Riper, Confederate Veteran, Civil War
My 2nd Great Grandfather

Cyrus Augustus Teachout, Union Veteran, Civil War
My 2nd Great Grandfather

John Stanley Cross, Marine, Korean War

My Father