The Cost of Freedom--My Family War Heroes

I wanted to be sure to do a post for Independence Day! Here's my offering along those lines....


The first picture is of my great, great, great grandma, Huldah C. (Town or Tower?)Rice Hill Johnson, my grandpa Benjamin's mother-in-law. I have pictured her before and she is the daughter or granddaughter of our revolutionary war grandfather--we haven't yet solved that mystery completely so we are posting her picture in his place!

The second picture is of my great, great grandfather, Benjamin Franklin Bartholomew. He died on July 2, 1864 in a Union Army Hospital after serving for only a short time in the Civil War. Please do me a favor, readers, and go to my daughter's blog to read her touching post concerning him at http://www.loaded6string.blogspot.com/

Below is series of pictures of my grandpa and grandma Happel. This was before they were married. He was in WW1 and was a soldier sent to cut wood in the great forests of Oregon and Washington to help the war effort. I have written about them before as well. He wanted very much to go to France and do his part, only he was never sent. He and grandma married in 1920 after the war was over. I love grandma's dress. She was very stylish and the WW1 fashions are one of my favorite eras!

The picture (right) is of the Boughtins, relatives that we discovered by accident in a search for other family names. The lady, Mary is a sister-in-law to my Civil War grandpa. She is Huldah's daughter. Her husband William was in many major battles of the Civil War. He suffered injury and disease and still survived. He was honorably discharged and signed up to serve again. She and her widowed sister, my grandma Asenath (I love her name--it's Biblical) served as presidents of the Women's Auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic in our county!

More WW1 pictures of my grandparents. Note grandma's coat and hat. I think they were standing on the steps of a building in Battle Creek. He was stationed at Fort Custer for awhile before leaving for the west.





Next are some pictures of my mother's brothers, Uncle Tom and Uncle Alan (Uncle Goodie, we called him). They both served in WW2. I don't know too much about Uncle Tom's service, but I know my Uncle Goodie was stationed in the Phillippines and suffered from days in waist high water entrenched against the enemy. He contracted malaria and suffered with the after-effects for years.

Last, but not least is my mom. She was in the Women's Air Corps of the Air Force during the Korean War. Isn't she pretty? She served as a nurses' aid down in Texas at Fort Worth.

I am sure there are more heroes in the family, only I don't know about them. Just like Uncle Will Boughtin, there may be others that we are yet to discover.

The cost of freedom is not free. It was not free for Grandpa Benjamin on July 2, 1864 and it is still not free for those men and women in our armed services who are giving everything today to serve us. Will we remember? I am making a special point to be aware at this upcoming celebration that I probably had a grandfather who gave his time and maybe his life to secure freedom clear back in 1776. I believe we will someday soon be able to make the final connections that reveal his name. We know about him from a small paragraph in a book mentioning Huldah Johnson. It makes me feel more connected to the great sacrifices we so often take for granted. Today more than ever we need to get a grip on freedom, our constitution, our heritage, and realize it's worth saving! May God help us stay free! Please check Rhi's blog if you are not already a follower. Today when I read it, it brought tears to my eyes and the thoughts she wrote about affected my entire day! Stay tuned for some really neat pictures that I hope to post in the next few days. Have a great July 4th celebration. Blessings, LORI

Here are a few pictures from our Tennessee trip. This first one is "General Cheatham." He is the resident cat at the Carter House in Franklin. A major battle of the Civil War took place in the backyard of this home. Bullet holes are still abundant and visible in the wood siding on the backporch--right above the 'General!' Dr. Dobson had the story of this battle on his radio program some time ago. The place was fascinating. Our tour guide was a Christian and he was very knowledgeable.
This is a really "scary" picture" of me having a bad hair day! I was posing by the old fashioned soda fountain at an old drugstore in Cross Plains, TN. We had a Coke made the old way. The girl pumped the syrup into a cup, added carbonated water and stirred! Wow! What a wonderful old fashioned experience.

See me on the porch above? don't I look short? What a beautiful old mansion. This is Rippavilla. We had toured the home on our last trip. Several Confederate generals met there to strategize before the battle. This historic home is just outside Spring Hill. There is a family cemetery and beautiful gardens on the grounds. The next picture is me eating traditional southern food at the Loveless Cafe near Nashville. It is an old motel that was turned into a restaurant and gift shops. They serve wonderful food. I was eating sweet potato fries and you can see I had okra and turnip greens still on my plate!

This last picture is of my Great, Great Grandfather's grave in the New Albany national cemetery, New Albany, Indiana. This town is on the Ohio river just over into Indiana. My grandfather enlisted in January 1864 and died July 2, 1864 while walking home from the war. We don't know many more details, except that a son was born into the family after he left for war and he never saw the boy. We have my grandpa's picture in uniform and are trying diligently to locate more information about him. We suspect he died of disease because grandparents always said he had been a prisoner of war. We are unsure.

More pics hopefully on the next post. Have a blessed day! LORI

HOME FROM TENNESSEE!

We arrived home from a wonderful family vacation this evening about 6:30. We left Tennessee this morning at 9:48 Michigan time, stopped for a leisurely lunch and several little stops. We got slowed down in some traffic and took a wrong turn in Indianapolis. So considering all that, we made it in really good time!

We were able to spend some great time together as a family, deepening our relationships through times of fun and fellowship. We also really got to know the people that hosted us at their lovely guest house. Such wonderful Christian fellowship we had with them enjoying their 100 acre property in the rolling hills around Nashville. Rhiannon and I are anxious to return in late October/early November to take a little vacation after harvest is over, since she wasn't able to go with us this time. Can't wait! It's good to be home, but I really had a hard time leaving. I shed a few tears because I've grown so attached to that area after several trips there to visit family and just do the tourist thing!

I felt like I was just able to give my brain a rest this week. The stresses of everyday work were lifted and we just relaxed and entertained Emma! We visited the zoo and a waterpark, some parks, and a little farm that served ice cream and had kid attractions especially for her enjoyment.

I will try to start posting on courtship again with some tidbits of information gleaned from my grandparents' letters. I was sorry to pass by the military cemetery where my Civil War grandfather is buried both on our way down and back. There just wasn't time to stop. We did stop there last fall and got Emma's picture beside the grave. It is a family tradition to go there and take a picture--my cousin and I did that when we were on a family vacation in the early 70's. Several other family members have visited as well. My grandfather (actually great, great, great grandfather!) appears to have enlisted in January of 1864, I believe, went to war, was captured and became a prisoner, was sent home (walking) and died and was buried the same day, July 2 or 3, of 1864. He had a son born after he died, a son he never saw. The son was named after him and became my great, great grandfather.

Just a little bit on the WW1 letters from my grandpa and grandma--this is so sweet! He asked her if she would like to have a set of buttons from his uniform as a keepsake. He tells her in the letter that several of the guys buy a set of buttons and send them to their sweethearts! Apparently it was the thing to do to show a special bit of caring for a girl back home. How innocent! If we would return to such honorable innocence, wouldn't we all be better off? Blessings, LORI