Cousins of my father's

Week 51 (Dec. 17-23): Cousins

My challenge is to skip my first choice, which was to have spent time with my first cousins this fall, but I've already blogged about our visit HERE.

So let's look back at cousins that might have been part of the lives of ancestors.

My mother had several cousins growing up. My father met some cousins at one time with his brothers. He may have stayed in touch with them later in life. All I have to go on are a few photos.

I just discovered my external hard drive won't turn on. I'm hoping it's just the connection. Otherwise, that will be a big loss of many old photos. Anyway, blogs have a few of my photos that I can scroll through!

Here are my father's cousins as adults.

My mother, Mataley Munhall Rogers on left, then my dad's cousin, Zulie Winslow Seamans, next to  her mother, Stella Swasey Winslow (Aunt Jim) and then her sister, my grandmother, Ada Swasey Rogers.

Men behind are Uncle Chauncey, his brother my father George Jr. Rogers, maybe his cousin who was close to my father's age, Billy Winslow, then my grandfather in hat, (Poppy) George Rogers Sr.

So Gummy (Ada Swasey Rogers) and Aunt Jim (Stella Swasey Winslow) were sisters. Gummy and Poppy were parents of Chauncey and George Rogers (as well as Alex and James not in photo.) Stella's husband died in 1923. Her children were Zulie Winslow Seamans and Billy (William Swasey Winslow).

I just love the clothes these family members were wearing. I wonder what that fur collar my mother is wearing might be. I am pretty sure my parents and the senior Rogers lived in San Antonio TX at the time (around the time my parents met sometime in 1935 until they got married in 1939.)

Chauncey Rogers, Zulie Winslow, Alex Rogers, and George Rogers, cousins in Kansas City, Mo in 1918. My father, George was 4 as they visited their mother's sister's family.  Zulie was a cousin while Chauncey and Alex were his older brothers. Since the boys all came from Texas, this snow must have a wonderful treat for them! I imagine the took the trip in 1918 on a train from Texas.  

I'm glad I had to check my ancestry files to find out if there was a special event at the time of the Rogers visit from Texas to Missouri. I had a vague date of the birth of cousin Billy (William Winslow) of 1918. But a hint gave me the correct June 2, 1917 date of birth for him. So I guess that had nothing to do with the visit in the winter.

Other details are in the notations of Alex's weight of 40 and date of Feby 10 1918 , and Chauncey's weight of 70 and a date of Feby 12, 1918. All the writing is that of my grandmother, Ada Swasey (Gummy) Rogers.

I wonder if the weights of the boys had something to do with their fares on a train...

Gladly sharing this with 52 Ancestors 52 weeks...as I have for the whole of 2023. Can I finish it?

Grandmother's recipes - maybe

 52 Ancestors, 52 Weeks: Week 49 (Dec. 3-9): "Family Recipe"

I can only say these recipes came from my mother. Not any grandmothers here, except I'm now one. I know my father's mother's recipe for fudge, but it's in my head, never written down. And that is the way it's going to stay. The secret Rogers Fudge recipe.

I've got a wonderful old book where 3x5 cards may be slipped into sleeves, and then placed in an appropriate index section. I must have been given it maybe 40 years back but kept my recipes in the little file box of 3x5 cards for some time, before finally filing them in the book. That's probably why the book is still in good shape...but the cards, well, just look at them!

Some cards are from my mother's cards, copied. Some of her's were from her Betty Crocker cookbook. Some were on her own file cards! And I also opened a library copy of a cookbook and copied some of those recipes, and never have cooked them!

As you can see, I slipped some clipped recipes into the sleeves also. This is in my Mother's handwriting.

Have you noticed a theme here yet?

Baking was my interest, in order to feed those wonderful children I expected to have. (Certainly not for my own tastes!)

These were typed by me, though I didn't have a typewriter of my own. Maybe when I'd been working somewhere I decided to get these recorded. I've obviously cooked them many times. Though I think Florida little critters may have contributed to some of the markings...which we won't think about, since there was already flour, butter and sugary fingerprints on them!

This is one of my favorite cookies. So soon I shall get a baking again.