My granddaughter, Jennifer, has been compiling the family genealogy information for both her mother and father's family - a massive undertaking...which she is certainly up to considering how much information she has gathered in the last year.
My maternal grandmother, Lula, was born near Terra Alta, West Virginia. Jennifer wanted to find the grave sites for my grandmother's parents. They are buried in the Terra Alta Cemetery.
So, the three of us traveled to Morgantown, West Virginia on Friday morning, from western Ohio - traveling through 4 states - across Ohio, into Pennsylvania, and down into West Virginia. During the trip, we also traveled into the western panhandle of Maryland where I also have family ties - thus the 4th state.
The three of us at dinner at the Thai restaurant on Friday night...we certainly enjoyed dinner and also schmoozing with the owner who then took our picture.
After arriving in Morgantown we registered at the hotel in the downtown area-the Chestnut Boutique Hotel, a lovely new hotel, and then took off for rural Preston County West Virginia - where my ancestors came from. This is a very mountainous area - winding roads up and down and around but so beautiful. An hour and a half later (approx. 30 miles) we arrived in Terra Alta, where I, of course, had to take a potty break!
Beth and Jennifer searched the cemetery diligently until finally, they found the grave sites for the family. Jenni took lots of pictures for her records while I soaked in the beauty of the area.
This is the grave site for my great grandfather Joseph Young and my great-grandmother, Elizabeth Nancy Teets Young, who was called by her second name, Nancy. (She is remembered by some as "Fancy Nancy" because she loved flowers on her tables and lace linens, etc.) This particular gene must have been passed down to my grandmother and mother, because they always had flowers on their tables, etc. In the early days of her marriage, she would go to visit her mother on horseback,(probably 20 miles), taking the youngest child with her strapped to her back, and the the other children took care of the house. At this time, the area was very primitive, this was a long trip by horseback - she was a strong woman. I forgot to mention that she also had 9 children.
Across the state border from Terra Alta, my great aunts Agnes and Jessie, settled in Maryland. This home was the home of Great Aunt Agnes Connell, who was married to Arch. She was the post-mistress for Hutton, Maryland for many years.
This is a picture Jennifer took in Oakland, Maryland, where my parents were married in 1936. They traveled from Cleveland to be married there, one of my mother's favorite places. This was during the depression and there was no money for a traditional wedding.
We returned to Morgantown where we ate dinner at Chaang Thai Restaurant - it was delicious - I had the most wonderful red paste chicken curry and delicious plum wine which was plum wonderful.
Beth looks very dubious here - actually she was filled to the gills with her wonderful Thai seafood noodle dinner. I fortunately was the recipient of her mussels, which she doesn't really care for.
We had breakfast in the rooftop restaurant of the hotel, and then took off exploring Morgantown, which is a delightful college town with much old river charm - old buildings lining the beautiful river..
In these pictures we are enjoying the tram which runs the length of West Virginia University - a godsend of students and visitors, because the university lines the bank of the river for many miles. It is a beautiful campus - we were all impressed.
This is our selfie photo on the tram. Below is a picture of some of the university buildings.
All in all - we had a wonderful fun trip with lots of laughter and bonding!
