Grandma Vesta Pierce Logan. Grandma Violet's Mother. Her Life in Pictures. (Mattson Line)

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello All,
Time again for our digital reunion around our virtual campfire. I see from the look in some of your eyes its been "one of those days". What did you expect for a Monday? Remember the old Carpenter's Song, "Rainy Days and Monday's Always Get Me Down?" Perhaps the smell and crackling of our campfire along with good company will perk your spirits. If not, there are always Smores........

I'm glad you've all come over tonight because I'd like to share a collection of pictures taken of my Great Grandmother Logan. She was born Vesta Althea Dennis at Hot Springs, South Dakota in 1892. She died on July 11, 1978 in California. She was 86 years old. She is buried in San Bernardino California. She had two children, Violet and Walter. She herself was the youngest of six children.

I can't detail her entire life history. I don't know it and neither do my sources (Mother). And if I thought I had to post the entire history with dates and details then I would never get around to it. Writing a family's history can be overwhelming. It would be a full time job of writing and organizing and writing and organizing and so on and so forth. That's why most people won't tackle it. Instead they accumulate mountains of photos with the intent of write something some day but will never get to it because it seems so monumental.

This blog is an example of another way to do it. My philosophy is "don't even try". Attack your family history one photo at a time and hope when your finished it will all be there, as if my magic. I agree this Blog's organization may be helter skelter but the goal of having something in print for posterity's sake is being achieved and the impossible conquered one grain of sand at a time until the mountain is moved.

So, here we go with a campfire remembrance of Great Grandma Logan.
I believe I met Grandma Logan once. She came to Rapid City to visit her daughter, Grandma Violet. We took the five generation picture posted on a previous post at that time. I remember how frail she was. I remember Grandma Mattson took gentle care of her as a daughter would. I remembered thinking how strange I had a Great Grandmother I didn't know.

Here she was as a young child. This picture was taken in Hot Springs around 1894. She was two / three years old. Luella comments about her curly hair with ringlets every time she sees a photo of Vesta. Her father, John Dennis, died when she was very young. Her mother, Isabel Deanora Helgerson McCrilles, was previously married as was her father. They both came into the marriage with children of their own.

This picture show Grandma Vesta with her two children, Walter (4 years old) and Violet (2 years old). This was about the time Vesta and her husband Walter Edwin Pierce divorced. No one knows why they divorced. The divorce was devastating to this young family. Vesta was a single mother living in the early part of the 20th century. Not a good situation to be in.

This picture shows Grandma Vesta with Grandma Violet and Great Uncle Walter. The picture might have been taken in California. They moved to California for two according to Luella.
1. There was a terrible drought throughout the Dakota's and Montana.
2. She wanted to get Violet away from Grandpa Mattson. Walter Mattson was six years older than Violet. You know, one of those mom things. No one was good enough for her Violet.

Grandpa Mattson joined the CC's with Violet's brother Walter Pierce. They worked together throughout the mid west. When they both left the CC's Walter Pierce went back to California and Grandpa Mattson decided to move to South America to work (no one knows why). He made it as far as San Diego and discovered there was no work to be had. On his way back to Montana he stopped to say hello to his friend Walter Pierce and of course, he became reacquainted with Violet. The rest is history, as they say.

Great Grandma Vesta and Grandma Violet standing together in front of the garage Walter Mattson built on their Montana ranch. Vesta came to visit the Mattson family's Montana ranch several times. She'd stay a week or two then return to California. Mother remembers she took the bus. Quite a long trip! Vesta loved her visits to Montana. She enjoyed the great outdoors and her grandchildren.

This is an earlier picture of Vesta on Deaver Ranch, one mile from the Mattson Ranch. She was Deaver's housekeeper for awhile before they married. On the day of their wedding they butchered a pig. It hung in the tree to be eaten later (perhaps for a wedding party). After the wedding Vesta was shiveried (?) (an old Montana custom where the neighbors and friends kidnap the wife after the wedding. The husband must search for her. Strange custom) Upon their return to their ranch they found the pig missing. It was stolen. That was a big thing in those days. Food was always scarce. The crime never solved.

This picture was taken in Belle Fourche Park. The family was on its way from the Montana ranch to Rapid City were Grandmother Vesta and cousin Diane were to collect the Greyhound Bus for the trip back to Riverside, CA. They had been in Montana for a month long visit to the ranch which included some schooling for Diane in the one room school house at Pinelle. Aunt Linda and Diane were both 10 and in the fifth grade. Luella was in school in Brodus. Luella remembers this outing. Their picnic consisted of cottage cheese, pork and beans and sandwiches. They stopped for ice cream on the way home.

Uncle Marvin is on the far left, then Uncle John, Luella, Diana (daughter of Walter Pierce,his only child ), then Aunt Linda. Grandma Vesta is standing behind them. The five of them were her only grandchildren.

Vesta subscribed to comic books for Luella and her brothers and sister. Luella said the kids waited anxiously for the comics to come by mail. Each was devoured frame by frame, word by word.

A picture of Grandma Vesta and Diana. Walter divorced his wife and sent Diana to live with Vesta. Today Diana lives in Placerville California.

This is a picture of mother and daughter, Vesta and Violet. Vesta was living in a nursing home at the time. Violet and Grandpa Mattson moved to California while Uncle John was on his mission. Violet was better able to care for Vesta.

Violet moved back to Rapid City after Grandpa Mattson died to be near her family and grandchildren.

Vesta stayed behind in California and continued to reside in the nursing home. These two pictures show Vesta on a nursing home shopping spree.

This is the last picture taken of Grandma Vesta in the hospital. Diana and her first husband are with her. Vesta died shortly afterwords.

And that takes us to the end of our time together. The fire is dwindling down and its getting cool. Shall we call it a night then?

So until next time.

Simply,
Victor

Grandma Mattson and her Brother as Children in Rapid City

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello Everyone!
I'm sitting in my rocker with feet up on the widow sill. The clock ticks away over my right shoulder reminding me how long I've spent in this chair today. This is today's third post for the Family History Blog! You know, this can become addictive. You get researching a line and you can't let it go until you get an answer, and most of the time you end up in some dark, dank back ally of history that ends with a brick wall and two or three beat up, metal trash cans minus their lids, oozing with trash and smells. That's when you walk up to the dead end, place your forehead against the weather worn bricks and start banging away until you remember its time for 30 Rock (or Modern Family. Both OK in my opinion).

My problem is that I'm interested in our 'Way Back' ancestors AND the ones within my memory. I'm surrounded with wicker cabinets full of old family photographs and documents that will eventually all be scanned and inserted into this blog, providing everyone in the family a complete history of who we are and where we came from. Some of you've written wondering how I have the patience to do this. Well, after spending the full day surrounded by scores and scores of ultra hyper 10 - 14 year olds on field trips to the Space Center and a staff of adolescents suffering from excessive hormonal output mixed with over inflated or deflated egos - the natural highs and lows of being a teenager, the quiet and piece of this chair and the window sill are a blessing. I type and unwind at the same time (until I hit that brick wall and then want to prove that you can rip a lap top in two like a telephone book - which I saw Jake do so I know it can be done. I mean if Jake can do it, well........ anyone can - Right?)

OK, enough said.

I found these pictures of Grandma Mattson (Violet Pierce) and her brother in one of Mom's neglected file folders. They are fading with age. Today they are digitized and locked into a state of preservation for your enjoyment. I used iPhoto to restore the images. What you see is the best I could do, so here goes.

We set our Way Back Machine to 1924/25. Rapid City South Dakota.

This is 7 year old Grandma Mattson (Violet Pierce) sitting outside her home in Rapid City. She lived there with her mother (Vesta) and her older brother Walter. They lived in a neighborhood called North Rapid. Remember from previous posts, Violet's parents divorced when she was about 3 years old. Her mother had no help (no government programs to help single mothers in those days) and had to raise the children on her own working as a waitress. Extreme poverty was the only way to describe their living conditions.

This is another picture taken at the same time. Seven year old Grandma is in a dance pose. Violet once told Luella she wanted to dance so badly that she use to walk into downtown Rapid and peer through the window of a dance studio to watch the young girls dance, then she'd go home and practice what she saw on her own. Of course, they couldn't afford dance lessons. Mother just commented on how thin Violet looks in these pictures.
Violet told Luella that she and Walter walked to downtown Rapid to watch the construction of the Hotel Alex Johnson pictured below on its opening day in 1927.

The New Alex Johnson Hotel


Rapid City as Grandma Saw it in the 1920's

This is a picture of Violet's 8 year old brother Walter on his wagon in front of their home in 1924. Violet and Walter always referred to each other as Brother and Sister, never by their first names.

Doesn't it make you appreciate what you have when you see Grandma's living conditions as a child? It makes you think your kids are spoiled just a bit doesn't it when you look at everything you've given them and then consider the wagon you see our Great Uncle playing with might be his only toy.

Here is another picture of Great Uncle Walter. This picture was taken in 1925 when he was 9 years old. His coveralls are far to big, but you did what you had to do in those days.



And finally, the mystery photograph. Mom doesn't know who this is and of course, Grandma isn't here to tell us. This was taken on the same roll of film as the other pictures. It doesn't look like Great Grandma Vesta so it may be one of her friends or a relative. Another example of the importance of getting these pictures digitized and labeled correctly before we lose the only people that know who they are. The clock is ticking and there are so many pictures.

Simply,
Victor

The Last Will and Testament of our 5th Great Grandfather George Frederick Phlegar, and Photos (Williamson Line)

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Happy Sunday!

We saw the entire spectrum of weather this week in our hamlet of Pleasant Grove. The week started warm, very warm. By mid week the storm front that spawned so many tornadoes in the south and east swept through Utah toward the Rocky Mountains. By Thursday snow was falling in the back yard.

That is one advantage of living in Northern Utah. Our weather is mild and tame considering many other parts of the country. The storms that produce treacherous ice storms, tornadoes, blizzards and flooding in the Mid West usually sweep through Utah first in their mild state. They intensify as they climb through the mountains toward Denver and the East. Perhaps I will send out weather alerts to our cousins living east whenever a front passes through. So, here is a picture of Sunday’s weather as seen from the Upper deck of the “Fortress”.

The Last Will and Testament of George Frederick Phlegar

Today I'd like to let you read the Last Will and Testament of my generation's 5th Great Grandfather, George Frederick Phlegar.

Tom Phlegar, one of our distant cousins, sent this to me. Tom reads the Blog and wanted to extend a hearty "Hello" to all of us from the Phlegars living in the 'Old Country' of the South. Tom sent a parcel full of documents relating to our Phlegar line, many of which I will be posting as time permits. One of the documents was a typed copy of George Frederick's Will.

Let's begin with the first page of the Frederick's Will (notice that he goes by the name Frederick and also notice he calls his wife Maria, leaving off the Anna). Remember, click on the image to enlarge.

I'm interested in how each item of furniture in the home seems to be accounted for. He gives away the "Copper Kettle" and "one iron pot". All of the items mentioned are very typical for a well provisioned home in the late 1700's. From this page we also read about his farm's holdings.
Now Page 2 (Click to Enlarge)

Well Well Well...... It seems our Great Grandfather kept a bit of whiskey around the house. I'm sure it was for medicinal use only. On page two he disperses garden tools and the crop already in the field. He then orders the Plantation sold (150 acres) and all the money used to pay his debts. The remaining money is directed to purchase things for his wife and family.
Now Page 3: (Click to Enlarge)

I enjoyed reading his provision that his daughter Maria Margaret receive "one good bed (which will contain no less than eighteen pounds of feathers) and a bedstand". That had to be one comfortable bed! It seemed he was taking care his daughter had the necessary "hope chest" to ensure a successful marriage.

You'll notice that, with the plantation sold, he orders a home be purchased near the village of York for his wife. It seemed he felt the plantation couldn't manage without him. To be sure his family had the funds to continue living without the plantation he ordered the sum of 200 British Pounds be set aside and the family live off its interest (around $50,000 - $75,000 in today's money).
And now the final page of the Will: (Click to Enlarge)


Life was certainly different in the late 1700's. Remember, this will was signed in 1789, the year Washington was elected to be the nation's first President.

In addition to the Will, Tom sent the following photographs from his family's vacation to Germany to visit the Point of Phlegar Origins where distant cousins of our still live.

The old Lutheran Church in Wiernsheim. Tom wrote that "Records are now in the archives in Stutgart" referring to the church's records of Phlegar birth's, marriages and deaths.

"Main Street Wiernsheim, Germany looking at Rathaus (Town Hall)" Tom wrote on the back of this photo.

And finally, to wrap up this lengthy post on the Phlegar line Tom sent this picture of a business run by one of our 7th Cousins. Notice the family name is spelt differently in Germany.

Thank you for taking the time to read. I'm hoping you found something of interest in this historical peak into the lives of our ancestors from the early days of our Republic.

Simply,
Victor

And Now for Something Completely Different.

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Happy Sunday!
Yes, we start today with something completely different.
Before I started this blog I was unaware of our family's strong German ties on the Williamson line. So, in honor of that strong German, Lutheran blood I'd like to share a bit of German culture with you.
Music...
I wanted to find a song I was sure our German ancestors sang in their homes. My requirement? It had to be as old as our family link to Germany. Take a minute to enjoy this 200 year old German Lullaby and imagine one of our German Great Grandmothers singing it to you.

The Williamson Children. The Early Years. The Very Early Years.

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

For tonight's post we set the Way Back Machine to the early 1960's, Rapid City South Dakota. Rising up from the center of the city was a hill the residents referred to as Signal Heights. The Charles Williamson family lived on the top of hill at 39 East Signal Drive. To the south of the hill was the neighborhood of Robbinsdale, and to the north, a neighborhood called North Rapid.

The Williamson were your typical, and not so typical American family of the time. Charles worked for the South Dakota State Highway Department. Luella worked odd jobs here and there to supplement the family income but mostly was the young mom of a growing family.

Tonight we're going to look at a few snapshots taken of the Williamson children. Brace yourselves, some of the images you're about to see may not be suitable for younger children and those with weak constitutions. That being said, we begin:

This is a picture of Charles and Luella's first two children. You have Princess Kim on the left and Uncle Gomez on the right. I warned you to turn away didn't I, and you didn't heed that warning. I'll wait a moment so your eyes can adjust to image................................................
OK, now that you're not looking at the picture through your fingers I want to say a few things.
1. Notice Kim has the toy. I'm left to my own devices. Can you see the frustration in my face? Can you see me pleading for a toy of my own? Did they give me one? No. So, with nothing to hold in my hands they were left to flap about.
2. Did you notice who has nice pretty white shoes? Notice who doesn't have shoes?
3. Notice who has what appears to be a bunny rabbit on his shirt? What's up with that!? And why am I poised to resemble Jabba the Hut?
4. What's with the bald head? Couldn't something have been done about that? This picture was taken at Penny's Photo Studio. I'm sure they had something in their bag of tricks to cover that head. How about a hat of some kind?

Well, at least I wasn't born with Kim's monster tongue. Look at that muscle protruding from her teeth! It's a wonder she learned to talk at all. Luckily for her she grew into it (although the opposite could be said for those on the receiving end of a Kim DelGrosso rebuke. Zorro's blade has nothing on Kim's tongue. An inherited trait from my Grandma Elda).

Here we are again. We are older and YES, I've been given shoes! I'm still a bit crooked but I'm OK with that. I'm also glad they got a picture of me without my mouth wide open like some newly hatched bird chirping away for something to eat. I'm liking that awesome head of hair coming in (though sad to report much of it is finding its way onto the bathroom and shower floor).
Wow, doesn't that sofa look comfortable? I think I can still remember it. It gave you splinters if you slid across it.

This is a picture of Janice

This is a picture of her twin brother Jonathan.

Notice Jon is also minus a toy but at least he has shoes. Dad got a raise.
What does one say about our family's set of twins? On the baby cuteness scale how does Jon and Jan compare to Kim and I (Although Kim and I aren't twins, we are 11 months apart so that's close enough for comparison's sake)?
Even today Kim and I have a tendency to ooze baby cuteness whenever we enter a room. I, of course, always let her enter first, you know...... to warm the audience for the real zinger about to enter.

Jon and Janice, on the other hand, are...well, Jon and Janice. Are they clever? Yes. But are they "pinch those baby cheeks" cute? Hmmmm....

Legal Disclaimer: OK I'm joking. If I don't say it now neither of them will talk to me at the next family wake. A bit touchy sometimes, but that comes from being middle children. There I go again; best to move on.

And finally we have Kevin. He was the child stuck between Kim and I, and, Jon and Janice. He was truly the middle child, with a temperament capable of melting steel when ignited. Kevin would only take so much sibling abuse and then explode, so you had to be careful not to push him too far. Those of us that lived with him knew when and where to run when he erupted. It was either run and hide or dodge the Tonka Trucks, chairs, knifes, iron, lamps or vases thrown at you with his dead on pitching arm.

Kevin looks so sweet and innocent in this picture but let me say this, you could use this picture as a movie poster for The Shining III. Don't let that innocent expression fool you. It would be a mistake. Others did and are alive today only by God's grace. Behind that face was a cold, calculating brain. A brain that looked for any opportunity to get noticed. A brain that schemed for ways to survive middle childhood. It was a brain that always pondered the proper moves to get that bigger bowl of ice cream or that second slice of pizza.

I always had a lingering sense of fear during the years he and I shared a bedroom. You never knew what he'd do in the middle of the night if you upset him earlier in the day. I always made it my policy to inquire about his mood before shutting off the lights. If there was any doubt I slept with one eye open. A survival skill in a small house with eight children, each odd, and unique, in their own way :)

Simply,
Victor

More on the Soldiers in our Family's Past (Williamson Line)

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello All,
Tonight we take a moment to honor the memories of additional ancestors who I recently discovered served in the armed forces. We already know about ancestors that served in the Revolutionary War, including a Great Grandfather that died at Valley Forge (see previous blog posts). Tonight we learn about a few others. The information on them is brief at best (which is typical for most genealogical research) but worth mentioning and remembering.

We begin with my generation’s 4th Great Grandfather, Bennett Willis. He was born in 1780. On November 13, 1800 he married Katherine Nossaman. She was born in 1779. Bennett was Katherine’s second husband.

Military Recruiting Poster, War of 1812

Bennett enlisted to fight in the war of 1812 against the British. He was 32 years old. He was killed in action on January 18, 1814. I don’t know the battle or the circumstances of his death. He left behind a widow and eight children. One of them was our 3rd Great Grandfather, Jonathan Willis.

Jonathan Willis was born in 1807. He was seven years old when his father died. He spent his entire life in farming. In politics he was a member of the Whig Party, at least until the Civil War, when he became a member of the Democratic Party. The Willis’s were all Southerners proud and true, as were many of the Williamson’s - coming from Virginia, one would expect that. Religiously Jonathan was a devout Lutheran.

John married Arabella Phlegar and with her had ten sons and four daughters! Imagine that, 14 children!

One of their daughters was Margaret Ann. She married my generation’s 2nd Great Grandfather, George Matthew Williiamson.

I’d like to mention two of the other children, our Great Great Great Uncles and brothers of Margaret Ann.
Son Bennet was a soldier in the Confederate Army serving in the Virginia 24th regiment Infantry.

The 24th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly with the Army of Northern Virginia.

The 24th Virginia was assembled in June, 1861, with men from Floyd, Franklin, Carroll, Giles, Pulaski, Mercer, and Henry Counties. It served under Early at First Manassas, then was assigned to Early's, Kemper's, and W.R. Terry's Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia.

The 24th participated in the campaigns of the army from Williamsburg to Gettysburg except when it was detached to Suffolk with Longstreet. Later it was involved in the engagements at Plymouth and Drewry's Bluff, the Petersburg siege north of the James River, and the Appomattox operations.

The regiment contained 740 men in April, 1862, and reported 189 casualties at Williamsburg and 107 at Seven Pines. It lost 4 killed, 61 wounded, and 14 missing at Frayser's Farm, had 8 wounded at Fredericksburg, and had about forty percent of the 395 engaged at Gettysburg disabled. Many were lost at Sayler's Creek with no officers and 22 men surrendered on April 9, 1865.

Son Samuel was killed during the Civil War serving with General Stonewall Jackson in the Confederate Army during a battle a Cedar Creek, Virginia on October 19, 1864.

At dawn, October 19, 1864, the Confederate Army of the Valley under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early surprised the Federal army at Cedar Creek and routed the VIII and XIX Army Corps. Commander Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan arrived from Winchester to rally his troops, and, in the afternoon, launched a crushing counterattack, which recovered the battlefield. Sheridan’s victory at Cedar Creek broke the back of the Confederate army in the Shenandoah Valley. Lincoln rode the momentum of Sheridan’s victories in the Valley and Sherman’s successes in Georgia to re-election.

Estimated Casualties

• 5,665 Union
• 2,910 Confederate

In closing, I want to comment on the diversity in our Williamson family. My research shows a family of many different religions and political persuasions. We have ancestors persecuted for their religion (Quakerism) which motivated them to leave England to seek a new life in the new world. We are a family descended from others seeking to improve their situation in life by starting fresh in the new world (Phlegars, Goodykoontz, Trouts - All German). We have ancestors who fought on the Union side and the Confederate side in the Civil War. We have ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War, and every other war since then.

We are descended from a patchwork of nationalities, beliefs, and traditions which makes us the people we are today. I'm learning of a family of proud and strong individuals who survived the trials and tribulations of life with faith in each other and in their God and Country.

Simply,
Victor

Relationship Chart

Bennett Willis born: 1780. Married Katherine Nossaman born: 1779
to
Jonathan Willis Married Arabella Phlegar
to
Margaret Ann Willis. Married George Matthew Williamson
to
William Jonathan Williamson. Married Effie Helen Victor
to
Vennie, Ima Della, Inez, Lillie Ethel, Josie, Emmett, Walt, Charles, Maurice.
to
Charles Williamson (CB)
to
Me (my generation)

Grandma Violet and Grandpa Walter Over the Years

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

The sky is dark and heavy with clouds this evening as I type by the yellow glow of the lamp. I hear rain water moving through the gutters outside the front window. Behind me I see a sliver of light from the setting sun stretch across Utah Lake. The valley seems peaceful below. Rain has fallen for several hours now - light then heavy then light again. It can't seem to make up its mind.

Nothing profound tonight, just a comment on the the passing of time as seen through two photographs taken of my mother's parents, Violet and Walter Mattson. Both pictures were taken in California. The first shows a happy couple at the start of their married life.

The bottom shows the same couple towards the end of their married life. Its apparent how they changed over the years. The passing of years and the lessons of time changed them. They scratched out a living on a ranch in Montana. They raised three strong children and lost a baby on a cold winter's morning, and in the end their health failed them. There were good days and not so good days. Through it all they had each other and that's what I remember most about my grandparents.

So tonight we take a moment and remember two people that survived the best and worst life had to offer. And in the end they are remembered with fond, loving memories by a large and growing family stretching from coast to coast.


Simply,
Victor

Thanksgiving at Grandma Mattson's, November 1957

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Ah, my first Thanksgiving. These pictures were taken at the Mattson's home in Spearfish South Dakota on Thanksgiving Day 1957. I say this was my first Thanksgiving because my mother Luella was about one month pregnant with me so she was eating for two of us.

Click to Enlarge

The family was small then, just Luella and Charles and mustn't forget four month old Kim in all her glory. Don't know what she was wearing in the picture above. This picture brings fond memories of Grandma and Grandpa Mattson's home. It was taken from the living room looking toward the kitchen. Do you see the open dish washer? I remember visiting Grandma as a kid and being fascinated by that dishwasher. We didn't have one and I didn't know anyone that did, except for Grandma Mattson. I thought it was something right out of the Jetsons; a machine that washed dishes! We use to run up the outside cellar door and peer through that kitchen window.

You know I can almost still smell that kitchen. It had its own smell, as did the entry way right off the kitchen. It wasn't a bad smell at all - just its own smell. Blind fold me, put me in a time machine, drop me into that kitchen and in one inhale I'd nail my location spot on!

I loved everything there was to love about Grandma's house, especially the steep stairway leading to the attic room where Kim and I use to sleep when we'd spend a week with Grandma and Grandpa in the summers. I'll call that stairway "The Broken Neck Staircase" because if you fell down you're neck, back and legs wouldn't survive the tumble. Didn't have a railing either if my memory is correct. To get to the attic you opened a door off the bedroom nearest the kitchen, stepped up one step onto a landing, turned right and ascended one steep narrow step at a time. The attic was wood paneled. It was a perfect play area, except in the heat of the summer when it was just too hot to be up there. I remember laying on the bed in front of the attic window on a warm summer's night and listening to the sounds of the Spearfish Passion Play from up the hill.

Grandpa Mattson use to take Kim and I to work with him at the RV sales lot. He sold RV's and trailers and Kim and I ran around and played in them. What kid wouldn't love that?

Click to Enlarge

Again, we return to the Thanksgiving Feast. In this picture you see Grandma Elda, then Luella and finally Charles with fork and knife in hand working through the contents of his plate. Strange to see Dad eating and Mom just sitting (am I going to get in trouble for that one....?)

Don't know who that is with her back to the camera. I tried to zoom in to see what was on the menu, but no luck. Of course we all remember Grandma's piano. It's still in the family. If you're in the mood to play a piano last tuned during the Napoleonic Wars then make a trip to Jilane's house. The piano sits in their projector room. Kim and I learned to play the piano on that instrument so my memories of it are mixed as one would expect from years of exposure to a device that brought some joy and an equal amount of torture.

The door behind the piano led to Grandma and Grandpa's bedroom. Luella and Charles look young don't they? Mom was 18 and dad was 21 years old. Far too young to be married with one child and another on the way wouldn't you say? Mind you, I'm glad for just my being's sake that they decided to move ahead and not delay in the family department so I'll leave that as said and move along.

Simply,
Victor

King John of England. Our 24th Great Grandfather (Williamson Line)

King John, our 24th Great Grandfather on the Williamson Line, through
Margaret Ann Willis, wife of George Matthew Williamson

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

A Royal Dispatch!
Tonight, after much searching I'd like to introduce you to our 24th Great Grandfather (for my generation).

You’ve heard the tales of Robin Hood. You know that Robin Hood’s enemy was King John of England. King John was King of England from April 6, 1199 until his death. He was the younger brother of King Richard I. He was the youngest of five sons of King Henry II and Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine.

During his lifetime John acquired two epithets. One was "Lackland" because, as his father's youngest son, he did not inherit land out of his family's holdings, and because as King he lost significant territory to France. The other was "Softsword" signifying his supposed lack of prowess in battle. Not much of a warrior I guess.

Of course he is best know for his signature on the Magna Carta (think back to your history class). Our 24th Great Grandfather signed the document that first limited the power of English Kings. It was the one of the earliest steps in the evolution of limited government

The Magna Carta not only changed England, but also affected us today. America’s constitution is based off the idea of the Magna Carta. Each clause protects the right of the English people. The U.S constitution is made up of amendments to give legal rights to the people of America. The people today would not have those rights, without the idea of the Magna Carta; a document to be signed for the people

John's family life was tumultuous, as his older brothers all became involved in rebellions against his father, King Henry. His mother, Eleanor, was imprisoned by Henry in 1173, when John was about five years old.


Not the Nicest Man
Before his accession, John had already acquired a reputation for treachery, having conspired sometimes with and sometimes against his elder brothers, Henry, Richard and Geoffrey. In 1184, John and Richard both claimed that they were the rightful heir to Aquitaine, one of many unfriendly encounters between the two. In 1185, John became the ruler of Ireland, whose people grew to despise him, causing John to leave after only eight months.

During Richard's absence on the Third Crusade from 1190 to 1194, John attempted to overthrow William Longchamp, his father's Prime Minister so to speak, and the Bishop of Ely and Richard's designated justice. This was one of the events that inspired later writers to cast John as the villain in their reworking of the legend of Robin Hood.

In October 1191 the leading citizens of London opened the gates to him. John promised the city the right to govern itself as a commune in return for recognition as his father's heir. While returning from the Crusade, Richard was captured by Leopold V, Duke of Austria, and handed over to Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, who held him for ransom. Meanwhile, John had joined forces with Philip Augustus, King of France, and they sent a letter to Henry asking him to keep Richard away from England for as long as possible, offering payment to keep Richard imprisoned. Henry declined their offer, and once Richard's ransom was paid by his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine (who had to pawn the Crown Jewels of England to do so), he was set free.

Of course John threw himself on the mercy of his father and pleaded for forgiveness from Richard, who granted it and named him heir to the throne.

So, there you have it. You've got royal blood in those Williamson veins! Now walk a bit taller tomorrow on your way to work but don't get too carried away. Asking your coworkers and friends to kiss your ring would be a bit 'over the top'.

Simply,
Victor

King John's Tomb

Charles at School. The Formative Years....

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello All,
Dad goes by different names to the different groups of people that know him. To his older relatives he is known as CB. To us he is Dad. To the people at WalMart he is Charlie and to the Grandkids he is Grandpa.
Oh, I forgot..... Mom has several different words for him depending on her mood or his mood. Some are as close to endearing as they can get considering their over 50 years of marriage and others not so endearing. They really know how to push each other's buttons when they are so inclined.

This is a post of Charlie, CB, Dad and Grandpa's early years in school. He attended school in Lead, South Dakota until his parents divorced. Then he and Grandma Elda moved to Belle Fourche where he attended Belle Fourche High School.

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Here we have living proof that Dad attended Kindergarten. This is his official Kindergarten graduation photo. Dad is the boy on the far right standing. His ears give him away. He doesn't look too happy. Kindergarten may not have been easy, how could it have been considering there were 34 students in his Kindergarten class! Can you believe it?! Today's public would demand a school board's head if we had kindergarten classes that size today. Back then it was the norm. Teachers had a way of dealing with large classes back then. Teachers could paddle you then. You stepped out of line you got the ruler on your palms or the board on your backside. Oh, the good ole days......

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This is the actual graduation certificate. This was the start of what was to become dad's greatest asset - his sharp intellect (according to him). Oh, he also points out the fact that he was considered the best looking guy in the school. Mind you, that statement is a hard one to prove considering most of his classmates are either dead, lost to time or suffering from dementia and can't contradict his memory of the way things were. Of course there are those in our family of advanced years that remember Dad during his school years. I wonder what their memories of Dad are during his school years? Anyone want to share?

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Here is a school picture of Dad when he was 12 or 13. That hair is what set him apart I'm sure. Didn't every boy back then want a flat top?

Cheers to ya Dad!

Simply,
Victor