Time Flies...

When you're living through it...

It's been far too long since I opened Anna's journal, and much has changed for me personally. But I am feeling a pull to dive into it again in the new year.

If any readers are related to Anna Christina and have stories, documents or photographs you can share, please comment on this post. It would be nice to have more information to add to the "picture" of her life and the time she lived in.

Thanks,
Autumn

New Year, New Yarn

I can't really believe it's been a year and a half since I've written about or even opened Anna's journal. It's a surprisingly difficult thing to open yourself up to. I am curious, and want to know more about her, yet the journal entries so far have been so matter of fact. It is difficult to perceive emotions and personality. Corn is everywhere, but where is Anna?

I also keep thinking of my father, who wanted so badly to learn more about Anna and her family, but did not get the chance to lay his hands on this book. He would have loved that it still existed, and the story of how it was found again, not to mention the contents.

For those of you who have been following this blog, I am sorry for the long delay. I forget sometimes that many of you count Anna as an ancestor, and that this blog is, in some small way, bigger than both of us.

I am not big on New Years resolutions, but I will do my best to start writing regularly again this year.

Diary for Friday, November 3rd, 1871

Minnie all right. Mrs Renshaw comes to See her this morn about 9Ocl. I take her upstairs 2 Boys help Berty finish husking corn to day they are all glad the corn is done, now they go to haul water. Pa Pays them & one goes home to day Pa Settles all up with Renshaw. owes him 100_&23 dollars & some cts. Pa secures him with corn

Diary for Thursday, November 2nd, 1871

Doctor leaves after Breakfast. left powders for Minnie I give them all day. at 9 to night She gets all through wile & feels quite well. I go to bed after 9o. Minnie rests. three Boys help Berty husk corn all day. Dickey Boy good.

Diary for Wednesday, November 1st, 1871

Pedler leaves after Breakfast & Boys all go out with Berty to husk corn, Netty complaining again as usual 10 Ocl Mr Hazelton, our new Minster & Wife comes first time, stay all day here to Dinner & Tea then go to Motts to stay with Mrs Mott while Mr Mott is in Chicago for new goods. Minnie quite comfortable all day until about 9Ocl. She got very bad again & remained so until 4Ocl. Berty went for medicine, Stayed to Breakfast Tuesday Morn. Minnie got easy & remained so until 9Ocl Thursday night.

The Revolutionary War

I haven't opened Anna's diary in a while. My weekends have been a bit busier but I've also been looking up more information for my PA to CA to IA project. It's becoming a pretty interesting story and even with the diary, Anna's part of the tale remains a bit shrouded. I've found some interesting information about her Grandfather-in law, (Adam) Michael Teeter.

I have seen many references that pointed to Michael fighting in the war. After not finding any official records through my usual channels, I finally decided to sign up for Fold3, a website with historical military records. These records provided many of the specifics mentioned above as well as many of the locations he traveled to and camped at during his service. All of the references I had seen previously matched up with the copies of the records but there were two pieces of information that really stood out. 1) Michael was at the Valley Forge encampment in the late winter and early spring of 1778. We know that he joined the army in July of 1777 so it was likely he was encamped there for the entire winter, but there are few records stating his whereabouts in 1777. 2) Due to exposure (winter of 78/79) he lost both of his feet. From the records, it is clear that he was "Sick (at) Lancaster" for nearly the entire year of 1779.

The map below shows his journey during the war.  For more details see the PA to CA to IA page.


View DAC - Discovery Tour in a larger map

A New page...

First, I'd like to announce that a new page has been added to this blog: The Teeters: PA to CA to IA. On this page I will be exploring the story of the family as they moved from Pennsylvania to Canada and finally, to Iowa. Until today, clues about the last leg of that journey have eluded me. A further exploration of a book entitled A genealogical sketch of the descendants of Andrew and Anna Christina (Palmer) Cook, 1769-1970 has helped me to crack the case! This book contains the will of Jacob Cook, Anna Christina's father, which clearly states that he owned property in Iowa and had left some to his daughter. I am not yet sure why he owned property in Iowa, but having this piece of the puzzle in place is a relief.

Also, to my great and emotional surprise, this book contains photos of Jacob Cook (which I had already encountered) as well as his daughter, Anna Christina, and her son (my 4x great grandfather), Jacob Clarke Teeter. I can see a family resemblance in Jacob...