August OCS

It feels like forever since I've blogged. I have been busier than busy taking care of sick family. My son ended up staying home the whole week, but thank goodness I was able to go to work for a couple of days last week and now Dad is under the weather. Being sick on the weekend is nerve wrecking for me because as a caregiver, you have to find alternatives. I took Dad to urgent care just to get him checked out and get some meds and I totally didn't think that taking a dose of cough medicine with codeine was going to throw Dad for a loop, but now I know...It was an experience in more ways than one. Dealing with the unexpected is so draining for me and all I can do after all the ordeal is to sit down and have a good cry. Anyway, enough drama about me!

Today, I wanted to share with you my card for the August one card swap. Linda, who is the organizer for this monthly card swap, has asked us to make our card using an Asian theme. I almost forgot! I got this fun image from Tiddly Inks and her name is Chi. I had so much fun coloring her and making this card and I hope my partner KaRen likes it!

Here's the inside of the card. The symbol on the front (happiness) and the sentiment inside of the card (thank you) is from a Hero Arts clear stamp set. Pearl embellishments is by SU. I also wanted to share the beautiful sunflowers my Dad grew in the front yard. They are so cheery and happy! Here's a really close up shot of the flower.

These flowers are not too large and guess where he got the seeds from? The wild bird seed mix...he picked out the sunflower seeds and stuck them in the ground.

Here's the patch.

I want to thank you all for your continued love and support and for still coming to my blog and leaving me comments. I'm working on finding my balance and will try to post as much as time will allow so I can share some creative ideas with you!

1871 Voter Registrations: L-W

The following L-W pages complete the reproduction of the Bass River 1871 Voter Registration Booklet. There were no X's, Y's or Z's. The M's and S's are not posted as they were previously posted for Beverly Mathis Robinson who requested the Mathis family pages (Click here to go to the ""M" pages.) and John Yates who is related to the Sears family (Click here to go to the "S" pages.).

I hope that Don Maxwell and others out in the Blog-O-Sphere were able to identify some relatives and were not surprised by their political party affiliation.

Pete S

1871 Voter Registrations: E-K

Following are the Bass River 1871 Voter Registrations, E-K for Don Maxwell.

Pete S

Ronald Lewis Mathis' New Gretna-Tuckerton Ancestors

I got an email from Anonymous requesting information linking Ronald Lewis Mathis, who died in Toms River, NJ in 2003, to the Mathis family in the New Gretna-Tuckerton area.

I found the following information in Jean and Murray Harris' book, "The Mathis Family of Little Egg Harbor". They trace Ronald Lewis Mathis, the son of Byron Everett Mathis, back to the Great John Mathis, the first permanent settler in Bass River. The four digit numbers in the Harris text are family reference numbers to help readers navigate through the book.

Pete S

2110. Byron Everett /Barney Mathis, son of Samuel L. (2071) and Ada (McCambridge) Mathis, born November 1913 in New Gretna, died January 3, 1956, married (a) Mary T.---, and married (b) March 9, 1937 Julia Harriet Margaret Linder, a widow and daughter of Frederick and Julia (Newman) Linder, born in Tuckerton in 1916. In 1937 Byron was a coast guardsman. Children:

i Harold

ii Ronald

iii Keith

2071. Samuel L. Mathis, son of Joseph K. (2033) and Loudella (Adams) Mathis, born January 19, 1890, died July 19, 1936, married Ada McCambridge, born May 4, 1889, died July 16, 1980. Samuel was an oyster watchman.They are buried in Miller Cemetery, New Gretna. Children:

i Wilbert Samuel, married H. Mildred Marshall

ii Byron /Barney E. (2110), married Julia M.---

2033. Joseph Kirkbride Mathis, son of Phineas K.(2016) and Mary Ann (Cramer) Mathis, born December 29, 1849, died February 15, 1928, married December 24, 1876 in Atlantic County (a) Sarah /Sallie Eliza Wilson, daughter of Asa and Sarah Wilson born June 4, 1853, died March 19, 1891 and (b) Loudella Adams, born 29 August 1873, died January 16, 1940, daughter of Hezekiah and Sarah A.(Berry) Adams, who later married Samuel F. Cramer. Joseph was an oyster planter. Sallie and Joseph are buried in Miller Cemetery, New Gretna. The first six children are Sallie's

i Harry Clinton, married Emily H. (Johnson) Reed

ii Winfield S., born July 25, 1880, died July July 19, 1882, buried Miller Cemetery

iii Curtis Wilson, married Elizabeth ---

iv Augusta/Gussie, born September 1883,worked in Absecon for John Cordery in 1900.

v Elizabeth

vi Richard, lived in Lewes, Delaware

vii Samuel L. (2071), married Ada McCambridge

viii Sarah, married --- Strickland

ix Joseph K. Jr. married Elizabeth Thomas

2016. Phineas Kirkbride Mathis, son of Aaron (2007) and Margery (Kirkbride) Mathis, born 1819, died February 9, 1885, married Mary Ann Cramer, daughter of Joseph B. and Mary Ann (Mathis) (2014) Cramer, born 1826, died 1866. They are buried in Miller Cemetery, New Gretna. Children:

i Caleb, born 1843, died 1847, buried Miller Cemetery

ii Samuel, born 1845, died 1848, buried Miller Cemetery

iii Joseph Kirkbride (2033), married Sarah Wilson

iv Sarah E., born 1851, died June 14, 1929 married Amasa E. Mathis

v Mary E., born 1853, married Charles Goldecker son of Charles and Catherine Goldecker and moved to the Oklahoma Territory

vi Georgianna, married Joseph LeMunyon

vii Enoch, born October 27, 1856

viii Lavinia, married Jarvis Gerew.

ix John O., married Ida E. Allen

x Elizabeth, married --- Gifford

xi George, married Mary Griffey

xii Ophelia

2007. Aaron Mathis, son of Daniel (2002) and Phoebe (Smith) Mathis, born 1790, died June 28, 1851, married May 19, 1814 Margery Kirkbride, daughter of Phineas and Martha (Rogers) Kirkbride, born 1790, died January 28, 1851. They are buried in Miller Cemetery, New Gretna. Children:

i Daniel M., married Rachel W.Gifford

ii Phineas Kirkbride (2016), married Mary Ann Cramer

iii Enoch, born October 3, 1826, died November 5 1895, unmarried, buried Miller Cemetery.

iv Phoebe, married (a) Thomas Cartright and (b) John P.Leek

v John O., married Elizabeth O.Sears

vi George W., married Abigail Mathis (1008)

vii Aaron Jr., married (a) Zelphy Anderson and (b) Esther A.Rake

viii Marjorie, married Lemuel R.Adams

ix Martha Kirkbride, born December 15, 1815, died December 29, 1872, married Jauary 18, 1840 Samuel Oliphant Shinn, born January 27, 1804

x Leah

xi Esther married Joseph Church, no children

xii Elizabeth married Jerry Church

2002. Daniel Mathis, son of Job (2001) and Phoebe (Leek) Mathis, born July 21, 1761, died March 10, 1836, married 1786, Phoebe Smith, daughter of Micajah and Sara (Owen) Smith of Port Republic, born June 30, 1764, died September 1, 1836. They are buried in the Methodist Cemetery, Tuckerton. Children:

i Owen Mary, married Jonas Miller

iii Sarah, married James Downs

iv Aaron (2007), married Margery Kirkbride

v Leah

vi Micajah Smith, married Nancy (Gamage) Mathis

vii Daniel Jr., married Elizabeth White

viii Phoebe S., married Captain William French

ix Anna Maria, married Francis French

2001. Job Mathis, son of John and Alice (Andrews) Mathis, born May 13, 1719, died 1771, married May 15, 1760 Phoebe Leek, daughter of John and Phoebe (Deviney) Leek. He is buried at the Tuckerton Friends Meeting House with no stone. Children:

i Daniel (2002), married Phoebe Smith

ii Enoch, married Nancy Gamage

iii Phoebe, married John Forman

iv Mary

1000 John Mathis, or Mathews, is said to have emigrated from Wales to Oyster Bay, Long Island around 1700. According to one family tradition his birthplace in Wales was Merthyr Tydfil. There are early colonial deeds to show that he accumulated property near the village of New Gretna. By 1714 he had moved to an island along the Bass River. In 1716 John married Alice (Andrews) Higbee, the daughter of Mordecai and Mary Andrews, and the widow of John Higbee. Some sources list Edward Andrews as her father, but reference to the will of Mordecai Andrews shows that she was, in fact, the daughter of Edward's elder brother Mordecai. John Mathis died October 23, 1779 and is buried beside the Friends Meeting at Tuckerton. John and Alice had seven children, as follows:

i Micajah, married Mercy Shreve

ii Job (2001), married Phoebe Leek

iii Sarah, married (a) Marmaduke Coate (b)John Leeds

iv Daniel, married Sophia Gauntt

v Jeremiah, married Hannah Andrews

vi Nehemiah, married Elizabeth Cramer

vii Eli, married Phoebe Devinney

Ronald Lewis Mathis Obituary

I got the following email requesting information on Ronald Lewis Mathis' amcestors and how they might tie in with the New Gretna-Tuckerton Mathises.

Byron Mathis is my dad's father. Can you please track the family history for me. My Dad Ronald Lewis Mathis cut off his family, and I don't know any of the Mathis Family from Tuckerton, Atlantic City and New Gretna

Anonymous

I don't know off hand the New Gretna-Tuckerton connection to Ronald Lewis Mathis but will do a little research. Meanwhile, perhaps someone out in the Blog-O-Sphere can help out.

Following is the 2003 obituary of Ronald L. Mathis from Toms River. I suspect the Anonymous above may be either Mark or Jeanne who were mentioned as Ronald Lewis Mathis' children in the obituary.

Pete S

1871 Voter Registrations: A-D

I got the following email from Don Maxwell requesting that I post the remainder of the 1871 Bass River Registered Voters List. I'll do so over the next few days.

Pete,

Please continue with the 1871 voting list from Bass River Township. It is most interesting. I noted my great grandfather, Edward Allen, registered as a democrat, and I always understood him to be Republican. In fact, nearly if not all the Allen's in New Gretna in my day there were hard core Republicans. Well, I guess anyone can change over time.

Don Maxwell

I have already posted one page of the "A'" pages showing the Allens, the "S's" pages showing the Sears, and the "M" pages for Beverly Mathis Robinson, so I won't duplicate them. Today's postings are the "A's" through the "D's". Hope you enjoy them, Donald!

Pete S

Mathis 1871 Bass River Voter Registrations

Beverly Mathis Robinson had requested that I post the 1871 Bass River Voter Registration pages that listed members of the Mathis family. Below are the "M" pages from the Voter Registration Booklet.

Pete S

Tamiko's Thursday Teasers - 3D Thursday!

My dear friends...thank you SO MUCH for the extra love and support you are showing me with your kind and caring words of encouragement and concern. Brings me to tears reading all of these comments that mean so much to me. I will take all of your suggestions into consideration and we'll see where that leads me. You guys are the best!
Well, it's already Thursday and time for Tamiko's Thursday Teasers. This week, we are doing a 3D project, yay! 3D Thursday!! Here's what I came up with. I bought this cute Sizzix die which is made for cutting chipboard. These dies are called Score board dies and are so neat! All of the scoring is cut so perfect. Before you cut out the chipboard, you need to cover the chipboard with your choice of designer paper (Elmer's Craft Bond works best for me). The ribbon and paper I used for my project was purchased from Tamiko's online store. She's got some good prices going on there, so please go check it out! The image I used is from the Creepy Crew and is called Wednesday. Kind of funny...Wednesday for Thursday's post... Here's what the box looks like opened up. I used some self-adhesive velcro to close the box.

Please click on over to Tamiko's blog to check out the rest of the fabulous 3D projects that the Creative Team came up with. You will be totally delighted! Thanks for stopping by today!!

Food Blogger Wannabe

I know this is beginning to look like a food blog, but I had to share these classic cupcakes with y'all! And in fact, I will be finally talking more about what I've gathered about food and all the proverbial movements that accompany our grub these days  - so stay tuned!

My sister-in-law turns 21 this week, and we made a huge Mexican-themed family dinner last night to celebrate - complete with vanilla and chocolate cupcakes at the request of the birthday princess.

Other than the recipe - I wanted to share some insights I had while whipping the pound of butter that went into these cups (they don't call it buttercream for nothin', kids).

So first: Here is the recipe. I hadn't used this food blog before, but the cake was so good with that buttermilk in it, and the frosting an excellent consistency (and without the finicky mess of egg whites).

I realized how much Daniel and I had been cooking since we've been with family these last couple weeks, often to celebrate something (birthday, being home, August produce, etc.). For me, this means cooking the best food I can both dream up and successfully pull off in the kitchen. Food is often central to our festivities in life, it's a marker that something special is happening, a marker of special time (sometimes sabbath perhaps?)

So as I labored for hours over just the cupcakes (not to mention the chicken mole, homemade salsa, green rice, beans, or fried green tomatoes), I thought about all the short cuts we've given ourselves to accomplish such meals:

• boxed cake mix and frosting in a tube
• salsa in a jar
• quick rice in just 15 minutes!

...not to mention the prepared food we can buy for such occasions.

I get that people are in a hurry.
And I know a lot of people don't like to cook.
But I think there is something fundamental about spending a day in the kitchen, making what you are able, spending time on the preparation and savoring the basic ingredients that go into each dish. Eating is necessary. Thus, preparing food is necessary. The more we take ourselves away from that process, the more time we create for things that are perhaps not so necessary, not so nourishing, and definitely don't taste as good. Because cupcakes just aren't the same when all you do is "add water and egg."

Bass River 1871 Registered Voters List

I came across a list of 1871 Bass River Registered Voters while going through a box of old deeds and surveys. It was compiled by the local Democratic Committee. I found it interesting, in that it listed the political party of each voter - Republican, Democrat, or Doubt. I guess "Doubt" means not sure. Perhaps that would correspond to our Independent, today.

The names are listed alphabetically by last name. There is usually one page for each letter in the alphabet; however, in some cases there are 2 or 3 pages, especially when the Cramers or Mathises were involved.

Below, I posted the two "S" pages as a sample, as my history buddy, John Yates, is related to the Sears family. Sunday and or holiday dinners in the Sears family must have had some interesting political discussions, as the family was pretty well split between Republicans, Democrats, and Doubt.

I also posted the "A" page that listed the Allens for Elaine Allen, one of my favorite Blog readers who is now living in Alabama with her son, Mike, and daughter-in-law, Helen. John Allen, up in New Hampshire, should also find it interesting as would his mom, Sally Allen, and her daughter, Noreen Clark, in Port Republic.

Sorry to report to Jim McAnney and Rickie "White Shoes" Steele, two friends and avid Blog readers, that the McAnneys and Steeles were not listed in the booklet. I don't believe the McAnney and Steele families were in New Gretna at that time. Bummer! However, both Jim and Rickie's maternal side of the family, the Cramer family, are well represented in the Voter Registration Booklet. Jim's mother, Margaret, and Rickie's mother, Almira, were both daughters of Doughty and Alberta Cramer who lived on Allentown Road, now North Maple Avenue.

I can't reproduce the entire booklet here at the Blog due to space restrictions; however I would be happy to post the page or pages related to your family if they were a Bass River registered voter in 1871. Want to see the political affiliation of your ancestors? Just drop me a request in the comments section below or in an email.

Pete S

PS- Note that there are only men listed. Women didn't get the right to vote until the 19th amendment to the Constitution was passed in August, 1920.

August 2010 Class Projects - the rest of it!

OMG, my apologies for being so tardy in posting these projects for the ladies who have kits to go. The only excuse I can share is that I drove myself crazy getting ready for the big social gathering this past weekend as you probably saw on some of the creative team's blogs...those photos will come later as I need to share these photos first! And after all of that madness, my son got sick and we already made a couple trips to the doctor. He is on his way to recovery, thank goodness, but in the mean time, Mom here was drained even more. Only so much my tiny body can handle, know what I mean? I've kind of lost my mojo in the process, so after a couple of posts, I might be taking a short break to find my mojo and to catch up with some things like Thank you notes and birthday cards that I've been trying to do! If only I had more time in a day to do these things! Okay, enough blabbing and onto my class projects! This will be a long make up post, so go get a snack and a cup of coffee before you start reading (wink!)
I love this cute little purse that we made as our "bonus" project. The funny little story behind this one (short story) is that I bought this XL sizzix die when it first came out and had the hardest time putting it all together because the bottom was round. Then, when I went to my upline's house for a Hana Hou party, she had this cute little purse as one of our projects and I knew that I needed that die! Oh, I didn't tell you that I had sold the original die to my friend because I hated it back then...*sigh* Here's the front view. We used one of the extra flowers from the first project I showed you in my last post. Used taffeta ribbon - can you believe that this is the early expresso color? I imagined it was going to be darker. Here's the back

and a side view. The inside is a 5X7 piece of cardstock...I'll have to share that with you on another post...want a mini tutorial? Let me know here!

We made a cute matchbox and this time, embossed the outside of the box, so pretty! Love the new lace that SU is selling. The cute mini tag was not on my wish list, but when I saw this sample in the SU catty, I knew I had to have it!

A while ago, I bought the Sizzix Big Shot Pro (from J's) and I'm so glad that I did. Here, I cut out the tall bag with Concord Crush (new in color) and embossed it with one of SU's newest embossing folder called Vintage Wallpaper, it's so elegant! Used pink taffeta ribbon to close the bag and the cute owl punch...I love this owl!

Side view of the bag

Sorry that this was such a long post...I owed it to you! Thanks so much for stopping in today. I'm also sorry that my mojo is lost somewhere and I can't find it, so if you see it, send it back to me!

There's alot going on in my little world here and I can't seem to find the right balance lately. I've even considered closing my blog because I can't keep up with the posting. And then I think about YOU, my friends, and faithful readers who have supported me through this wonderful three and a half year journey and don't want to disappoint you. I will let you know what I decide...I was told to not be hasty so I will think it over and let you all know! Thanks for all of your love and support!

A New Descendant with New Gretna Roots

I got the following email from Cindy Gray Dickey. It has some good genealogy information on the Gray and Mathis lines which I thought worthwhile to pass along, in addition to a cute photo of Cindy's grandchild.

Pete S

Hi Pete!

As you probably have noticed I am new to this website and am thrilled to have found it !!! I have attached a newborn picture of my first grandchild, Austin Henderson, born August 18, 2010.

The linage from the Gray side:

John & Mary Gray had a son William-(b 1897-d 1954)-the younger of the two Gray brothers.William married Virginia (Darby) Gray (Sears)-(b 1906?-d 1967) they had a son William (Bill, my father b-9/2/1931). Bill married Jean (Atkinson) Gray (my mother b-1/18/1934)-they had me, Cindy (b-7/9/1955) & my two brothers. Cindy (Gray) married Michael Dickey. We have a daughter Brandolyn (b-8/10/1978) and a son Ivan (b-10/12/1980). Brandolyn married Scott Henderson. They had Austin Henderson today! (b 8/18/2010)

The linage from the Mathis side:

John (b 1831? d 10/19/1912-81 years old) and Chatharina (b 4/2/1838-d6/25/1894) Bowers had a daughter Mary Bowers. Mary (Bowers) Thomas (b 1869-d 1902 dates approximate) had a daughter Elizabeth Thomas. Elizabeth 'Lizzie' (Thomas) Mathis (b 11/3/1894-d 5/4/1985) married Joseph K. Mathis (b 12/14/1892-d 10/101975) -they had five children-the oldest, Margaret Mathis (b 5/5/1913-d2001).Margaret (Peg) married Carl Atkinson-they had three children whom were raised by three different relatives. The youngest is Jean (Atkinson) Gray. (raised by her maternal grandparents Joseph K. and Lizzie Mathis). Jean (Atkinson) Gray (my mother) b-1/18/1934 married William (Bill) Gray b 9/2/1931 -they had me, Cindy b-7/9/1955 & my two brothers. Cindy (Gray) married Michael Dickey. We have a daughter Brandolyn (b-8/10/1978) and a son Ivan (b-10/12/1980). Brandolyn married Scott Henderson. They had Austin Henderson today! (b 8/18/2010). William 'Bill' Gray and Jean (Atkinson) Gray is where my linage meets.

Cindy Gray Dickey

Austin Henderson, born August 18, 2010

Pilot Project Stories

Awhile back I submitted some drawings to Pilot Project, a book that a few friends of mine curate and produce. Recently they ran a short story contest, encouraging readers to write short stories based on some of the art in Pilot, and a few people wrote stories about my drawings. Although I had to pick a 'winner', I thought that they were all pretty great.

You can see the submissions here and here.

Tamiko's Thursday Challenge - Sketch

Here we are creating for Tamiko's Thursday Teasers and this week, the team is following a sketch. I have to apologize for not remembering where I got this fun sketch from. I see the name Dominique in the watermark, but my poor eyesight won't let me read the rest. Anyway, if this is your sketch, please send me an email so you can get proper credit for this fun sketch and thank you in advance. Here is my take on the sketch. I decided to use Dylan from The Greeting Farm Roll Call stamp set. This set is an awesome set - you get 10 full sized images and sentiments too! Check it out at Tamiko's store HERE. Back to my card - I always seem to migrate to the cutsie girly images but this time, thought that I should challenge myself and do a boy. Dylan is so cute and I thought fit right in with this sketch...what do you think? Want more inspiration? Check out the rest of the Creative Team and their take on this fun, fun, fun sketch HERE.

Hope you are all having a great Thursday! Please come back tomorrow to see more of my August class projects! Thanks for dropping in today and thank you for always leaving me such nice comments!

August 2010 Class Projects

It's been a hectic last couple of days here. I'm trying to finish up a bunch of projects and time just escaped from me! Started this post the other night but just couldn't get it done, so here we are, today is Wednesday *sigh*...
Well, here is the first of our class projects. We used a pre-made box and added a marina mist square to the top of the cover. Using the flower folds XL sizzix die, we cut out 2 each of the flowers (cherry cobbler cardstock) and embossed them with the vintage wallpaper embossing folder. The layers are held together using stamping dimensionals. White flower is from the pretties kit and finished off with an antique brad (new and so pretty!). We made three 3X3 cards (with envelopes), stamped the circle image from the stamp set called Just Believe in Marina Mist and mounted it on a cherry cobbler scallop circle. I was very pleased with this color combo and thought that the blue just popped out when paired with the red.
I'll be sharing more projects on Friday. Come back tomorrow to see what I created for Tamiko's Thursday Teasers. We created a card using a fun sketch!
Thanks for stopping by today!

The Great Enchephelis Scare of 1959

Two comments were recently posted on the Blog regarding the encephalitis scare of 1959. They are reprinted below.

Didn't the encephalitis outbreak occur in 1959? My grandmother Estella Harris Adams Mathis died in the fall of 1959 and my grandfather "Boot" Mathis told my mother not to bring my sisters to NG because the outbreak was affecting both the very young and the very old. Mosquito spray was being distributed to everyone, too.

Beverly Mathis Robinson

1959 sounds right. I was four years old at that time living on Marine St in Tuckerton. The little boy across the street died from it. I remember my parents not allowing us to go outside to play and wrapping us in blankets to carry us to and from the car when we went to New Gretna to visit 'Memom', 'Pepop', 'Mom mom '& 'Francy' (AKA Lizzie Mathis, Joseph Mathis, Virginia Gray Sears & Francis Sears)

As young children my brothers and I used to like the smell of the mosquito spray from the trucks that dispersed it around town.

Cindy Gray Dickey

Seems that Beverly and Cindy are pretty much on target. The great Encephalitis Scare did occur in 1959. The following newspaper article deals with the scare. Unfortunately I don't know what newspaper it came from (It would either be the Tuckerton Beacon or the Atlantic City Press.) Nor do I have the exact date, except that it definately was in 1959.

In order to fit the entire article in the narrow format of the Blog, I had to divided it into multiple sections, so that it is readable. Sorry about that, but that's the function of the Blog program.

Renard "Jack" Wiseman spraying for mosquitoes during the Great Enchephelis Scare of 1959.

How many of our Blog readers can remember the Great Encephalitis Scare of 1959? I know Rickie "White Shoes" Steele and Mike Allen should have some recollections, as their mothers, Mrs. Clarence Steele and Elaine Allen (Mrs. Benjamin Allen), were interviewed in the news article. Let's hear from anyone who has memories of the incident.

Pete S