Christmas time brought a lot of memories to my father Wells CLAY (1911-1960). Many happened in his family around Dec. 25th. His parents, natives of JoDaviess Co.IL wed in December 1896 at Stockton IL. They had had 8 children, & with one living but a few hours. They farmed 125 acres Pleasant Valley Twp. On December 26, 1906 they moved to Brown Co. SD, to take over & run a livery business for an older relative & also had 5 acres for a milk cow & a garden. On Dec. 24, 1910 they were forced to return to IL because my grandfather had a heart attack and was no longer able to do manual labor. Their 15 month old daughter died just six days later on Dec. 30th. They leased & ran a small general store in Zion Grove of Woodland Twp. Carroll Co. IL Grandpa felt he could manage & direct activities from his chair. Even that became too much when Grandpa had a second attack became bedridden. Grandma decided to close the store, after business on Christmas Eve day in 1920. The two oldest daughters were married by now & a 3rd worked out on "confinement cases". The family moved to Savanna IL (on the Mississippi River) where there were doctors and an chance to earn a living in some way for her family. Later that evening, after closing the business for good, the children were allowed to select a gift for themselves from any of the merchandise that was left in stock. My father remembers picking out a pocket knife & a pair of work shoes that were about three sizes too big. (he stuffed rags in the toes) His sisters chose yards goods for themselves. The family moved into an old house in Savanna IL. With four rooms down & two up, she converted the two front rooms into a public lunch room, that she named the Cottage Inn. Grandpa's invalid bed was in a 3rd room next to the kitchen where Grandma cooked. That is where my father learned to be such a good cook & baker. Grandpa died there on December 25, 1927. Grandma kept the Cottage Inn until December 24, 1930 when she was remarried to one of her regular lunch customers. A bachelor, 10 yrs her junior, a Capt. in the USA, having been stationed at the Proving Grounds in Savanna after he returned from China in 1920's. He was being transferred to Selfridge Field MI and did not want to leave this lady behind. The day after Christmas in 1930, my paternal grandma moved to MI with her new husband, my father & his brother six years younger. That is how I came to be born in MI. I now understand, in part, why my father always seemed to be so melancholy at Christmas time. He never had a Christmas tree until he was married himself.

Hi I have a relative that was born in Germany . She died in 1913 in Vermillion. Does Huron have a Geneology group I could contact? I am trying to find out where she was born. The information I have is she was born in Hitchenhausen Riehn, Bayern. I or anyone else. Itried the German Research Assoc. Here In SD Ken with no luck. They tred the phone directories CD's with no luck. ----- Original Message ----- From: NM Meyers <nmmeyers@centurytel.net> To: <OHLORAIN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2001 8:35 AM Subject: [OHLORAIN] non-OH memories > Christmas time brought a lot of memories to my father Wells CLAY > (1911-1960). > Many happened in his family around Dec. 25th. His parents, natives of > JoDaviess Co.IL wed in December 1896 at Stockton IL. They had had 8 > children, & with one living but a few hours. They farmed 125 acres > Pleasant Valley Twp. On December 26, 1906 they moved to Brown Co. SD, to > take over & run a livery business for an older relative & also had 5 > acres for a milk cow & a garden. > On Dec. 24, 1910 they were forced to return to IL because my grandfather > had a heart attack and was no longer able to do manual labor. Their 15 > month old daughter died just six days later on Dec. 30th. > They leased & ran a small general store in Zion Grove of Woodland Twp. > Carroll Co. IL > Grandpa felt he could manage & direct activities from his chair. Even > that became too much when Grandpa had a second attack became bedridden. > Grandma decided to close the store, after business on Christmas Eve day > in 1920. The two oldest daughters were married by now & a 3rd worked out > on "confinement cases". > The family moved to Savanna IL (on the Mississippi River) where there > were doctors and an chance to earn a living in some way for her > family. Later that evening, after closing the business for good, the > children were allowed to select a gift for themselves from any of the > merchandise that was left in stock. My father remembers picking out a > pocket knife & a pair of work shoes that were about three sizes too big. > (he stuffed rags in the toes) His sisters chose yards goods for > themselves. > The family moved into an old house in Savanna IL. With four rooms down & > two up, she converted the two front rooms into a public lunch room, that > she named the Cottage Inn. Grandpa's invalid bed was in a 3rd room next > to the kitchen where Grandma cooked. That is where my father learned to > be such a good cook & baker. > Grandpa died there on December 25, 1927. Grandma kept the Cottage Inn > until December 24, 1930 when she was remarried to one of her regular > lunch customers. A bachelor, 10 yrs her junior, a Capt. in the USA, > having been stationed at the Proving Grounds in Savanna after he > returned from China in 1920's. > He was being transferred to Selfridge Field MI and did not want to leave > this lady behind. > The day after Christmas in 1930, my paternal grandma moved to MI with > her new husband, my father & his brother six years younger. That is how > I came to be born in MI. > I now understand, in part, why my father always seemed to be so > melancholy at Christmas time. > He never had a Christmas tree until he was married himself. > > > ==== OHLORAIN Mailing List ==== > Visit the Lorain County Genealogy page > http://www.centurytel.net/lorgen > >

Vermilion is in Lorain and Erie Counties. Erie County has a mailing list. It's been run by Maggie. This is from her welcome message: "What is OHERIE? A mailing list for anyone with a genealogical interest in Erie County, Ohio. Interested individuals may want to check out the Erie County OHGenWeb page (http://www.infinet.com/~dzimmerm/Erie/erie.htm). Mailing address for postings is oherie-l@rootsweb.com. To subscribe send the word "subscribe" (without the quotes) as the only text in the body of a message to oherie-l-request@rootsweb.com (mail mode) or oherie-d-request@rootsweb.com (digest mode). " I am sure they have a Genealogy Chapter. I don't have that information. Gail in Ohio, Wishing all a wonderful 2002 > Hi I have a relative that was born in Germany . She died in 1913 in > Vermillion. > Does Huron have a Geneology group I could contact? I am trying to find out > where she was born. The information I have is she was born in Hitchenhausen > Riehn, Bayern. I or anyone else. Itried the German Research Assoc. Here In > SD Ken > with no luck. They tred the phone directories CD's with no luck.