Joslin Family :: Grandma Invites Irwin to Visit

North Webster, Ind.
April 6, 1969

Dear Mr. Joslin:

Your most welcome letter received: I have marked my apointment book Aug. 2 and 3 - Irwin Joslin may come here today; I had to use these dates as I work five days a week and the weekend is open and free to entertain you and your family. I do hope you can arrange to be here on these dates as I can show you so many interesting things about your ancestors.

I am enclosing an obituary of your great-gr-grandfather which I found in an old scrap book of Grandma's. You will note that it lists your ancestor as Mrs. Joslin of Okla. I was disapointed that her given name was not used. I told my Aunt Hazlette, about you and she knew all the Elliots here, and as she is now 84 years old she may be able to tell us many things. There is a Robert Elliot in Larwill and she says he is Robert J. Elliots decendent. Yes I know all these people about Larwill. My five children graduated from Larwill High school.

A few years ago I found the 1850 census for Whitley Co. This is in the Ft. Wayne Library and Columbia City Library too. Ft. Wayne has one of the finest geneology departments in the U. S. Hope you can find time to visit there while on your vacation. This is the information I want to share with you:

Census 1850
Lysander P. Joslin age 25
Lydia Joslin 29
Anna E. 5
Mallisa 11 month

James Joslin age 54
Abagail Joslin 45
Edwin 20
Joseph 19
Emily 12
Mary 6
Bela Goodrich 74

Henry Robison age 56
Ann Robison 56
Eliza 22
Henry 17
Emily 15
Elizabeth 10

There are so many ways to find the answers to a lot of things we want to know about these people, but I seem to have so little time to work on it. However, I shall keep at this line now until you come in Aug. in the hope that I can help you. Hearing from you has given me incentive to work harder on this line. I am trying to trace all my ancestors on each branch. All my great grandparents were in Whitley county by 1850 and I am realy having a ball in working on this in my spare time.

=+==+= Some Notes Regarding the Letter =+==+=

I don't know if she wrote more at this time or not. There isn't another letter or page in her files that goes along with this.

The obituary she enclosed was for Robert J. Elliott, father of Luther Joslin's wife, Phoebe Dorcas Elliott. Robert died on December 6, 1893.

Lysander Joslin was found on page 471 of the Whitley County, Indiana census, James Joslin on page 472, and Henry Robison on page 461. No townships were given in the census for that year. Grandma misinterpreted Lydia's age on the census - by comparing other entries on the same page you can see that she was 24 years old, not 29.

Grandma seems to have that age-old problem that most genealogists encounter - not enough time to devote to research!

Other posts in this series:

• Joslin Heritage Tour
• Joslin Family :: First Contact
• Joslin Family :: Grandma Responds to Irwin's Letter
• Joslin Family :: Irwin's Letter of March 25th

Take Me Home Tonight

One thing you can count on in life is that it is full of surprises. And while the idea of the unexpected makes us nervous, it also makes us hopeful - For just as trouble can be waiting around the corner, so can excitement and adventure.

Last night I met Jacqueline... and took her home!

Apologies for the unflattering photo, but it was dark. Jacqueline is a beautiful vintage Waffenrad, which is an Austrian manufacturer no longer in business (more about that once I have some pictures of the bike in daylight). The bicycle is on loan from the collector Wolfgang Höfler, who also runs Vienna Active Tours and is involved in a variety of local bicycle-related projects. He is the one who named her Jacqueline. This bicycle is completely upright and very comfortable, which is why I can ride her despite not having entirely recovered from my injuries yet.

I picked up Jacqueline on Saturday night, and was nervous about riding home across Vienna for the first time. I considered taking the bike on the U-Bahn, but then decided to just go for it and cycle. The foldable basket-panniers even fit my huge laptop bag.

It was a 25 minute ride home, and I had no trouble at all. Figuring out the route was much easier than I anticipated, as was navigating the intersections and other quirks of the bike-path system.

And yes, this was playing in my head as I flew through the night-lit city. It was interesting to notice how much more lighter Vienna is at night than Boston; I never really paid attention to this before. The dynamo headlight and tail light on Jacqueline are dim compared to the set-up I have on my bikes at home, but they are more than sufficient here.

Jacqueline after I dragged her into the hallway of my building. She is tired and delighted.

So am I!

I was worried about cycling after having just recovered from pneumonia, but the Waffenrad requires very little effort to pedal - it just rolls. I wasn't even out of breath when I got home. It is a similar ride to my Raleigh DL-1, but not quite the same. I am not sure yet whether I will use this bicycle for transportation, or just to cycle around a bit in my free time - it depends how I'm feeling. And speaking of that, I suddely feel much, much better.

Great Blue Heron

Jasmine loves chasing the Great Blue Herons. They're big and they squawk a lot when disturbed.

Herons are smarter than you might think... Normally a heron lands on the path and then walks around a bit, looking for a likely place to fish before walking down into the water.

The local ones have learned to land in the pond itself, below Jasmine's vantage point.

Idiotic bored hunters around here sometimes shoot at them, so this one wouldn't let me any closer to take his picture.

Zinnas

These zinnas seem to be the color of the sunsets we have been having.

Thurleigh Circular walk

Led by Barry, with me, Gordon and Eddie. Mostly fine, variable temperature - some muddy fields! Grr!


Just over 9 miles.

Off we go - wagons roll - 'aroo ah???'

Thurleigh church

artefacts to be discovered by future alien cilivisations

More traces of lost cultures

Ready for a shower

No obstacle too great!

Some llamas at Thurleigh Farm park - on our way back!

Yorktown Victory Monument

Today we headed over to Yorktown. While driving around, we came across this monument. We hadn't even heard of this monument before, so we felt quite lucky that we did happen upon it. It was just gorgeous!

Some fun facts:

The concluding battle of the Revolutionary War ended October 19, 1781 in Yorktown, Virginia. General Cornwallis and his 7,157 men surrendered to General Washington. To commemorate the important Allied Victory over the British, the Continental Congress on October 29, 1781, authorized the Yorktown Victory Monument. Construction began a century later with completion in 1884.

Lady Victory, a younger sister to the Statue of Liberty, exquisitely tops a slender pedestal of Maine granite. In 1956, replacement of the original figure of liberty, damaged by lightening, took place.

The shaft is 84 feet high and Liberty is 14 feet high.

This is a monument that we are sure to remember!

Living the life in Historical Virginia!

Sherpa Peak

Sherpa Peak is a large bump on the east shoulder of Mt. Stuart. It does not get climbed near as often as Stuart. It was nice to climb something new in the range. Mark and Doug did it as a day hike.



Climbers near the false summit of Mt. Stuart. There was still a lot of snow at the end of June.




Mark leading the way up the West Ridge.






Doug working his way up.






Sherpa Balanced Rock is a feature visible from all over the Stuart Range. It doesn't get climbed very often. It looks like the wind could blow it over, but it is actually pretty well built. We couldn't leave without climbing it. Mark led the way up and Doug followed. It was nice to finally stand on top of that rock we have looked at so many times.
Sherpa Peak is the shaded peak on the right shoulder of Mt. Stuart as seen in this photo from Longs Pass. It was another memorable day spent above treeline!