Dwane’s Grandparents and Parents

A long time ago, Elizabeth Midkiff and James Frederick Harris had a beautiful daughter named Mary Ruth in Owensboro, Kentucky. The date was 23 January 1927. Almost two months later, Johanna Mae Elder and Hilary Oswald Knott had a handsome son named Francis Leo. It was 17 April 1927, and the place was Browns Valley, Kentucky. Mary and Francis, who everyone called Leo, are my parents.

Mary and Francis married on 17 August 1946 in Owensboro. I was born in October the next year. My brother Cletus James was born on 9 June 1949 and the twins, Mary Paula and Joseph Paul, on 3 December 1952. The four of us born in Owensboro. Early in 1952, the family moved to Peoria, Illinois.

We lived on NE Adams street in an apartment until my parents bought a house on Vohland Street in Beverly Manor, Illinois. We moved in the summer of 1953, in time for me to begin first grade at St. Patrick’s Elementary School in Washington, Illinois. Cletus and the twins followed when they reached school age.

Lori’s Grandparents and Parents

A long time ago, a beautiful daughter was born on 27 July 1933 to Mary Elizabeth Neubauer and Robert Joseph Green in Donna, Texas. They named her Virginia Louise. James Alexander, Jr, a handsome boy, was born to Margaret Sarah Sherlock and James Alexander Cameron, Sr on 31 July 1929 in Minot, North Dakota.  Virginia and James Jr. are my wife’s parents.

Virginia and James met in Corpus Christi, Texas, and were married there on 29 July 1950.  They had three children born in a Corpus Christi hospital. Colin James was born 24 July 1951,  Flora MacLeod (Lori) in January 1954 and Heather Jenny in November 1967.

Virginia and James bought a house on Rosedale Street sometime before Colin was born and lived there all their lives.

I hope you enjoyed the brief glimpse into our family history. Questions or comments are appreciated and enjoyed.

Be safe in this trying time.

We attended Ronald’s ninety-second birthday party last year on Easter. It was the first time we met my wife’s relatives in Ohio in person. Read about it here.

We had dinner Friday night with Lori’s cousin, Jennifer. I was a third wheel as they caught up on the past year’s happenings with her family in Ohio and our’s in Maryland. How comfortable they are with each other amazed me.

Dinner finished, they went shopping, leaving me to fend for myself. Fortunately, there was a Half-Price Books store in the mall. I perused the stacks to kill time. After a suitable length of time, I paid for the one book I found interesting and went to rescue my wallet. My surprise, they were finishing, and my wallet wasn’t empty.

We thought we arrived early for the party only to find almost everyone already there. Missing was Heather and Heather. One is my wife’s sister and the other a cousin. They came in minutes after us, so we weren’t the last.

Everyone doted on Ronald, the guest of honor, all afternoon. His smile lit up the room when his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and family from Texas and Maryland sang and wished him a happy birthday. The great-great-grandchildren could not attend. Later, he joined in singing some Scottish ditties to our delight.

The day’s excitement tired Ronald and about 7:30 it was time for him to rest. We said goodnight and goodbye to Ronald as Jennifer and Heather took him to his room.

Cousin Heather invited us and my wife’s sister Heather to her house. We spent several hours visiting before having to call it a night to rest for the drive home.

I may have mentioned it rained on the drive home. It rained, it poured, it drizzled, and it rained seven hours of the eight we drove. It couldn’t dampen () our good feelings about the weekend.

We had a great time and looked forward to the next visit.

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My wife and I spent part of the Easter weekend with members of the Cameron Clan living in Ohio. The rest spent traveling to Ohio and back home. We found the drive safe. The weather cooperated, and only a small part of Friday’s trip saw rain.

Ronald McDonald Cameron heads these branches of the Cameron tree. My wife’s father was James Alexander Cameron, Jr. He and Ronald are cousins making Ronald my wife’s first cousin once removed. He will be 92-years-old on 23 April 2018.

Many families spent the weekend visiting with family, but for us, it was the first time to meet these relatives. Eighteen months ago we learned this branch of the Cameron tree lived just a short eight-hour drive away. They were having an Easter Sunday luncheon and invited us. It was time to meet them.

We met Jennifer, one of my wife’s second cousins, Friday evening. After the hugs, we spent several hours getting to know each other and learning the weekend schedule. Each of us expected a busy weekend.

Saturday

Heather, my wife’s sister, flew from Texas to join the family reunion on Saturday.  While waiting for her to arrive, we attended Jennifer’s granddaughter’s third birthday party. We met her children and grandchildren. (More persons to add to the family tree I maintain.) We spent the rest of the day and evening meeting more cousins and their in-laws. We met Jennifer’s sister Heather and brothers Colin and Gordan. The evening ended with everyone going to dinner at a small eatery and bar in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

The eatery sits near an old train station. The space where the rails once ran has been paved over and makes a wonderful bike path. This is a picture of the train station.

Sunday – Cameron Reunion

Sunday started with picking up a special cake. The cake top had the Cameron tartan and crest. We took the cake to the nursing home where Ronald lived.  He joined us before the families arrived. They warned us he was a special character, and he proved to be such. Ronald, almost 92, entertained us with stories of family, singing, and telling jokes.

Animated conversations followed the potluck luncheon. Several centered on the Texan branch and others on the Ohio side. Pictures followed every discussion to commemorate the occasion. Cell phone batteries died by the score.

We packed to leave for the drive home and were in the car when called back. The piper had arrived. We rejoined them. A cousin’s son entertained everyone with two Scottish bagpipe renditions. It was a proper conclusion to the reunion of members of a Scottish Clan and those of us lucky enough to have married into it.

We left promising to return soon.

Tell me how you spent the weekend using the comment form.