Family Matters

Yes, it has been quite awhile since I last posted here. I had the feeling (correct) that no one in the family was interested. That may still...

A poor set of maps to indicate the travels of our family over the years. Above, sort of where we all are now...except I forgot to add a red...

It's been a long time since I last posted here and I suppose that's because I really have been busy doing all those things that cons...

Once again I've heard from my 3rd cousin, Susan Drake-Johnson (From Vancouver, BC) and she has given me some updates and corrections for...

Imagine that! At the tender age of 66 and 62 respectively, we are about to become great-grandparents…what a privilege! Our grandson, Zachary...

Here's the pier in 1937. I could have been found here ten years later.

Was it the perfect place to grow up? I can’t compare Manhattan Beach to many other places and so I have to say yes. It was a distant suburb ...

Since I started this blog, I have purchased a few Manhattan Beach history books, complete with old photos and they have generated some remin...

We didn't spend every summer at Lake Tahoe, living the life of the rich and famous...sometimes we stayed home all summer and went to the...

As noted...I have been neglecting this blog for some time now. So this morning I reformatted the blog to show 100 posts instead of just a we...

We’re having dinner tonight with Alicia, Karlee and Kyle. This should be fun as Karlee needs to interview me about my relatives, specificall...

Once again I must ask for your indulgence. I guess I am not in the mood to write about the family history...but I will, soon.

I ran across some new software and you might want to check it out for yourself. It's called Personal Historian ( http://www.rootsmagic.c...

As I was walking today, I thought about my cousin Jill and the fact that we have lost touch with her altogether. That's a shame. She is ...

Saturday night movies at the theatre in Meeks Bay. Saturday night movies in the theatre at Chambers Lodge…very fancy! Swimming in Lake Tahoe...

Lake Tahoe Memories II Joe and Francis Gardner were the owners of Tahoma’s Cedar Shadows resort. I’m not sure of the exact tie to our family...

Lake Tahoe Memories (1) This begins a collection (in no particular order) of some of my Lake Tahoe memories. Trips to Obexer’s Marina in Hom...

I guess this qualifies as a proper subject for this blog. It's a memory of mine and I'm part of the family. In 1957, my friend Mike ...

Comment Spam. That is a pesky problem with blogs and so I have added protection by using Blogger's "word verification" for com...

An update. Yesterday, I heard from Sharon Little, our relative from the Riddle side of our family (In Iowa) and she sent along some addition...

This postcard was made in 1948 and shows the dining room of the May-Ah_Mee Lodge. The other photo is a more current view of the pier at the ...

The smells associated with our vacations at Lake Tahoe will never go away. When driving up from Manhattan Beach, we would first get a hint o...

Kitty asked me to write something about our childhood vacations at Lake Tahoe and as I remember them, they certainly included most of the pe...

I seem to have hit an impasse here. Writer's block...I'm looking for a suggestion as to where I should head next in this exploration...

One of my many memories of Uncle Len was of the trips he would make to downtown Los Angeles. I was taken along on a few of those and found t...

Here we are in the galley of the dredge that Uncle Len worked on. I would guess that that I'm about 7 and Julie would be 4 in this phot...

The recent post about the Statler and the comments about Clifton's Cafeteria reminded me of our Uncle Len; Leonard Earl Seymour and Nana...

Here is a photo of the Statler Hotel... This was the site for birthday lunches with Nana. We would be dressed up as if we were going to chur...

Reminiscence...That last post made me think of that odd house that we lived in for a just a few years. It was, as I say, a brick house and t...

Here's a photo that is titled, "Dunn's" and I don't know any more than that. Who are these people? Is one of them Will...

A very small photo...sorry. This is Margaret Thorp and her daughter Ruby Elizabeth. Margaret was Nana's aunt, and Ruby, her cousin.

Here is a photo of 3rd Great Grandmother Phebe Jennings...She looks somewhat stern, but you have to remember that having your photo taken in...

Let me try and explain this, as clearly as possible. If you’re up to speed on the Seymour family, it will be easy. But first we have to go a...

I'm just taking a break from this blog. I will get back to posting as soon as I have some free time. Right now, between the garden, the ...

Another memory came to me this morning as I read yesterday's post that mentioned Auntie Jay. In the late 1940's, Auntie Jay, Uncle R...

Here is Nana at an early age...I'm going to guess that she is a teenager in this photo. And I'm sure that this was taken at a comme...

Here is a photo of the Seymour family. And all 8 children are present so that means Kittie Ann, the youngest is in this picture. Great gran...

It’s still a time for sharing stories of Nana. You will have to excuse the disjointed fashion in which I post these stories; without an inde...

Another interesting day...Kitty had found a link to the Duluth Public library where they had clippings of news stories about our Great Aunt ...

Anonymous writes about how she remembers Nana as “classy” and she was definitely that. But my favorite memory…OK, just one of my favorite me...

It’s been an exciting morning. First, I read that my sister Kitty had found a reference to our great aunt Kitty; her namesake. The Duluth Pu...

Here's a photo of the sisters taken during one of their annual visits to see Nana. Nana on the left, then Kitty and Grace on the right.

I guess I should include a few stories about Nana's brothers and sisters, as they were certainly memorable! I only knew Uncle Len, Aunt ...

Here's a photo of Nana's mother and father...I don't have a date for it. They appear to be fairly young, perhaps in their 30...

Nana was the first born of the Seymour children. The others were, in order; Donald John, Leonard Earl, Margarette Patience, Archie Robert, A...

Here is a school photo of Nana at an early age...second row up, third from the left. (short hair) Must have been taken in the 1890's. A ...

Here's that picture I promised. It was taken in 1939, about 8 or 10 years before our many trips around the block.

I have spent some time now relating stories of dad and so I think it's time to change subjects and write something of Nana. Without a do...

I'm taking a couple of days off to get my garage/glass shop in shape and do some other things that are needed around here.

Here is a photo (from the net) that shows you the type of tower I was writing about.

Here are some more memories of Dad. As I told you earlier, he once worked as a lineman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Bu...

I tried posting this yesterday but ran into problems...here it is, better late than never. This is a 1947 Oldsmobile sedan and it closely re...

I just had another memory appear from nowhere...as most memories do. During one of dad's business ventures, a time came when he and his ...

…Yesterday, as I was going through my collection of business cards, I found one of dad’s old ones. It was for the Dunnell Construction Co. -...

Not a good picture of a comptometer. I thought they were fascinating! All sorts of whirring and clicking would go on while the numbers revol...

I didn’t travel with dad to all of the places he worked and could only go with him if it worked out with my school vacation times. But he di...

Industrial Furnaces. Quite a catchy name isn’t it? The company was owned by Mr. Fr*****r and his name was soon known by all of dad’s childre...

More on Dad's careers... Dad didn’t stay with the DWP, although I think he regretted that; as he told me more than once that I should ge...

Part of the success of the project was the spectacular Boulder Canyon project, now known as Hoover Dam. The DWP, manager of its own hydroel...

When I began this series on my father's life, I thought I knew more than (apparently) I do...Dates that I should know, escape me and I l...

Dad and his sister, Jay. Dad is 19 in this picture.

A brief view of my father’s life…from my imperfect memory. Part One I never knew much about Dad’s early life in Minnesota, but one of the th...

Here's another...I think he may be older. And he was trusted with a knife. Wonder what he was planning on whittling?

Here is Dad at the age of 4 (1919). Summertime in Minnesota.

Since tomorrow is Father’s Day, I thought I would turn this genealogical expedition around and spend some time with photos and tales of my f...

Here's a good photo of Grandpa Ray. Do you see any resemblance when you look in the mirror?

A little comedy...Grandpa Ray is the one with the Uncle Sam costume. Wouldn't you like to know more about this photo? What was the name ...

I wish I had a date for this...Grandpa Ray at a very early age. So solemn.

Here is a photo of Grandpa Ray and Dot. This was during happier times...And notice, he has hair! Not a lot, but you can see it.

Let’s go back to Raymond Riddle Fifer…or should I say “go forward”? Either way, Raymond is my grandfather on my mother’s side. And he was th...

I can’t find out much more regarding the Smith’s…but with that name you have to expect some difficulty. But I do have more to tell you about...

Where do I go from here? That's about as far as I can go with the Riddles for now. I would love to know more but the trail grows cold in...

Now that you have a sense of where Fort Madison is in its relationship to the rest of the world, try these links to see some interesting ima...

Another map

Here is the news clipping I promised... Madisonia…Reviewing our heritage By Ted Sloat The severe drought of 1839 left the Mississippi so low...

I just had a thought about Grandma Hattie...can you imagine her feelings when she left Iowa to come to Seattle with her young family? If you...