Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Wallace Family 4 Generations
Walter William Wallace B: 20 Oct 1858 - Wayland, Stbn, NY D: 11 Jun 1946 - Cohocton, Stbn, NY I have to find out more about him. My brother Ed apparently has the Wallace history so I have to see if there's more there. My mom said because he lived in Cohocton NY, upstate in the Palmyra area (where Joseph Smith had his first vision), he was prejudiced against Mormons. When his son married a Mormon the relations suffered so we don't have a lot of information. This photo is of him as a young man. Scott Wallace B: 16 Apr 1886 - Wayland, Steuben, NY D: 11 Sept 1960 Ogden, Weber, UT He was a carpenter, contractor, and amazing cabinet builder. He loved to fish and took the grandkids to the fish hatcheries to fish. He didn’t join the church till he was in his 60s, but died a high priest. He was of scottish linage. His middle name was Van and thought that made him sound like a Dutchman so he didn’t like it. His aunt lived in Ogden, UTand and he came west as a young man. He met Edith Alberta Pickford married her in ogden. He had a beautiful garden with fruit trees. He Loved to watch wrestling and was a champion boxer as a young man, the Intermountain Middle Weight Champion boxer. He had quite a dry sense of humor and would tease everyone. Glenn Wallace - My Grandfather (this is him in 1944) B: 3 Mar 1921 Ogden, Weber, UT Grandpa joined the National Guard and was sent to Europe. On D day at Normandy he stormed Omaha beach with the second wave under general Patton. He fought in 4 other campaigns, one being the Battle of the Bulge. He only received credit for 3 campaigns however. He stepped on a mine in Germany and lost his leg. My mom remembers when the telegram came to my grandma telling her he had been severely injured, she was in the bathroom and dropped her tweezers and never found them again. My mom was a toddler and asked her why she was crying. My grandma told her that her daddy had a hurt leg and my mom said "put a band aid on it." As a young man he used to play football at Ogden High. He met my grandmother at a Halloween church dance in Logan. Grandma was in high school and he was going to Utah State. He was active as a leader in disabled veterans groups. He was trained as an upholsterer but he was offered a job at the postal service after recovering from war injuries. The government gave him a car with the first automatic transmission because of his disability. My earliest memory of Grandpa Glen was not a great one, but he made up for it later. I was 3 years old and they had a fake aspen tree in the corner of their front room. I was fascinated and when I went to check it out, Grandpa found me pulling leaves off. He was kind of grouchy and told me to get away from the plant and I ran off crying with my feelings hurt. Years later when I was a teenager and over to visit, I was sitting in the front room with him. He was quiet, and then looked at me and said "You remember when you were a tiny girl and you were playing with the plant in the front room?" I was so surprised that he remembered and said "Yes?" He proceeded to apologize for being so grumpy and scaring me. He said he felt very bad about it. I was so impressed that he would show such caring even after many years. Joan Maxine Wallace B: 3 Mar 1943 - Logan, Cache, UT This is a photo of my mom when she was 19, she had it taken for my Grandfather's birthday.
Gunnell Family 4 Generations
Francis Wilson Gunnell [B 1841 - D 1889]. He was from England and crossed the ocean and the American continent with the Mormon Pioneers. He was crippled from a dislocated hip that never healed properly, but he never let that stop him. He was one of the first settlers in Tooele (where he experienced the cricket plague of 1855) and then a few years later was called to settle Cache Valley. He was a choir director, a teacher and a record keeper for the church. Charles Edwards Gunnell [B 1861 - D 1934]. Charles was also a musician with a beautiful voice. A story stood out to me that he related in his history. One day he and his older brother Frankie were working in the canyon hauling wood. His brother Frankie (Francis Jr.), had quite a string of profanities he would use, and things were not going very well; so he began to take the Lords name in vain and swear at the horses. Their mother died when Charles was only 15 months old so he didn't know what she looked like. Suddenly his brother Frankie stopped and said to 9 year old Charles, "See that woman over there sitting on that log." Charles said "Who is she?" Francis replied "That is our mother." Charles said he never heard Frankie swear again. Joshua Brown Gunnell [B 1900 - D 1973] my great grandfather. Joshua was also a musician who sang and played the organ and piano by ear and played semi-professionally in dance bands (notice a trend here with me picking out the facts about my progenitors musical ability). His school teachers said he was the meanest kid in school, he would throw crayons at the other kids (I thought that fact was kind of amusing). He was a sealer in the Logan temple and sealed my Mom and Dad when they were married. This is Hazel Maxine Gunnell [B 1922 - D 2008], Joshua's daughter and my grandmother. This is a picture of her from 1950. But the next Pic is how I remember her... It is because of her that I have these histories. I am grateful I could learn more about these people. Quoting my cousin and blogger buddy Min "It's the Grandma W. in me." My mom is also responsible for scanning the pictures from the histories. Gwen asked in a comment a few weeks ago why exactly I started posting these family history pics. Actually, I was puttering around one day going through the photos on my hard drive. I came across the family history photos randomly and thought it might be fun to post some of those (because after all this is our "Family" blog). I have become interested in doing family history but am just starting. I find blogging to be a great organizing tool. Maybe if I can get to know these people a little better this way, I can put the pieces together and start tracing back a little more. I have felt promptings to do family history for a while now (sometimes those feelings are very strong). I know doing family research is not some super-human ability that some possess and some don't, but sometimes it feels that way. If you have any clue what I have seen my family do with genealogy you would understand. I know I don't have to write 1000 page books and volumes of histories like they did or even expect to get to that level. I just need to start somewhere.
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