Family History Trip

Over Thanksgiving, we met my parents in Mishawaka, Indiana to do some family history research.  I have been doing some work on my dad's side for several years now and was really excited to visit some of the sites I had researched.  The South Bend area is about a 3 hour drive for us and a 4 hour drive for my parents.  We had been there a few times when I was growing up to visit extended family and visit cemeteries, but it was long before I had any interest in genealogy. 

We spent a good amount of time in the South Bend Library.  They have an amazing Local History section!  I corresponded with them several years ago and got probably 40-50 obituaries printed and sent to me.  I was able to look up some more while we were there, and even found my paternal great great grandmother, someone who has been somewhat of a mystery.  I wish I had more time to look through all the great resources there.  My dad and Mike helped me in the research while Grandma took the older kids "letterboxing."

We spent some time talking with the sexton/manager of Fairview Cemetery.  He helped us find the graves we were looking for and also looked up some records that allowed us to put together a few new pieces of our puzzle.  We had several ancestors whose grave were unmarked.  He told us of a torn down building on the property  that had pieces of granite lying around and said we were welcome to use them to mark their graves (and if we want to come back and get them engraved later we can).  Mike and my dad went to get the granite.  Walking through the cemetery carrying granite stones looked like they were stealing grave markers.

 Family plot with the newly placed granite for Bertha and Melvin.

We wandered around Mishawaka City cemetery, but had a hard time finding the graves we were looking for.  The numbering system was not as straight-forward as I was expecting.  It was also pretty chilly!

We visited Battell Park where my great grandfather did lots of stone work with the WPA, including this little house.  When it isn't winter, water flows out of it to fill the reflecting pools.

For thanksgiving dinner, we went to a buffet.  It was packed!  We waited in line for about 30 minutes before we were seated.  My mom brought a festive tablecloth and centerpiece (she also decorated their hotel room and door).  We were the envy of all the other lazy cooks (except for the ones waiting in line who just wished we would hurry up and eat so they could come take our places).  I was too self-conscious to bust out the camera, so you'll have to use your imagination.

We attempted a little bit of Black Friday shopping, but our hearts weren't in it this year and we (well I... Mike was just along for the ride) just ended up disappointed.

We enjoyed some good downtime with Grandpa and Grandma at the hotel. The kids were thrilled that they had a pool.  I even got in while Grandma held Josh.  We watched Horton Hears a Who and ate pies that I made at home and brought with us. Grandma brought us some early Christmas presents for us, including a new Kitchen Aid!

 

 This was Grandpa Monte's first time meeting Joshua.  They enjoyed staring at each other.

We really had a successful trip and really enjoyed ourselves! Thanks Mom and Dad!