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“All inferences from experience suppose … that the future will resemble the past” \u2013 David Hume, 1777<\/p>\n“All inferences from experience suppose … that the future will resemble the past” \u2013 David Hume, 1777<\/p>\n
Restated by Charles Lyell, 1830s – “The present is the key to the past”<\/p>\n
The past has always held a fascination for me; sometimes it seems more real than the present, and certainly more so than the future.\u00a0 I love to imagine conversations I could have, if I met people from different time periods, or characters from favorite novels.<\/p>\n
As a child, I liked to tie my desk chair to the foot of my canopy bed, and drape the top with blankets, making my own wagon.\u00a0 I\u2019d pile my dolls and stuffed animals on the bed, and pick up the reins and tell my chair, giddy-up.\u00a0 We were traveling on the Oregon Trail.<\/p>\n
Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, today the past is ever-present.\u00a0 I have enjoyed watching genealogy shows, such that I started to make my own inquiries, trying to fill in some gaps in my knowledge of our family tree.<\/p>\n
A few stolen hours here and there, and a few snippets of scanned newspaper articles, and old documents, some nearly illegible, and their stories have come to life for me.<\/p>\n
Come, children, quickly.\u00a0 We must away to the fort. Indians are attacking homesteads along the river.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be safe there. Bundle up, it is cold.\u00a0 Hurry, pack what you can carry.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n
The night came dark and swift.\u00a0 We trudged through the fading January light, hoping to make the fort by nightfall.\u00a0 Once there, we settled in for a long, cold night, huddling close to the fire for warmth.\u00a0 The attack came in the early dawn light.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Surprised how easily I was able to take certain branches of my family back in time, I stumbled across four male ancestors, curiously with the same death date. \u00a0After some quick searching, I discovered my ancestors had been victims of an Indian attack in Ohio in 1791, known as Big Bottom Massacre.\u00a0 Luckily, most of the women and children were spared, including my five times great grandmother, Mary Hahn. \u00a0She would go on to give birth to my four times great grandmother, also Mary Hahn, who later married, and gave birth to 11 children.\u00a0 The youngest, wed my three times great grandfather, Matthew Perry Bateman, who was a sawmill proprietor in Wisconsin, and fought in the Civil War.<\/p>\n
Today, I rode to the land office in Eau Claire, and took quill to paper, signing my name with a flourish, my heart pounding the whole while, near fit to bursting with excitement and pride. I am a landowner!\u00a0 Mary and I will now settle on our farm.\u00a0 I think with satisfaction and eagerness of the improvements I will make to our land, planting, and harvesting of timber. I will build us a fine home, to be ready before the arrival of the baby.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
My three times great grandfather, purchased his first parcel of land in 1848, at the age of 30, after being in the US just a short time. \u00a0 By the provision of 1820 Land Act, several others would follow, three in total, each signed by a different US President.\u00a0 The Land Act required payment in full, but lowered the cost per acre, and the minimum parcel volume, so would-be settlers could access land in the western wilderness of what is today, the mid-west and plains states.\u00a0 A few months after the purchase, my two-times great grandfather, and my maternal grandfather’s namesake, Allison Perry Bateman, was born.\u00a0\u00a0 My family in Wisconsin went on to a number of adventures, including the Gold Rush of 1850, owning and operating a sawmill, and involvement in bringing the railroad to the area.<\/p>\n
I have loved my journey to uncover my family\u2019s past. \u00a0I am amazed at my ancestors\u2019 fortitude and bravery,\u00a0and their stories have stayed with me. But, none more so than Violetta\u2019s.<\/p>\n
It was dark and dank.\u00a0 The ship tossed, like a toy boat upon the waves.\u00a0 The ocean held us captive, and sometimes it seemed as if we were moving back instead of forwards.\u00a0 But our new lives awaited us.\u00a0 I thought of my beloved, and wondered what this strange place would be like, Michigan.\u00a0\u00a0 His brother and wife had settled there for years, and their letters told of a good life.\u00a0 Violetta kept in good spirits, although she was ill.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n
On fair days on the ship\u2019s deck she smiled and pointed at the gulls that followed the boat, excited to see other life.\u00a0 We all were, save the endless blue in all directions.\u00a0 Finally, one morning, there was shouting on the deck.\u00a0 We came up to see.\u00a0 Everyone was leaning over the rails, pointing.\u00a0 The harbor glistened off in the distance, the rising sun at our backs.\u00a0 New York!<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I was ecstatic to find my great grandmother, Louisa\u2019s, sail record from Europe to the US. \u00a0It was so amazing to open this old, scanned document.\u00a0 I excitedly scanned the rows, and there she was, Buscarini, Louisa, age 20.\u00a0 But, no mention of my great grandfather Mario.\u00a0 She was just a girl really, to make such a journey.<\/p>\n
I always imagined my great grandparents sailing together from France or Italy.\u00a0 He was Italian, she French, from a town near the border.\u00a0 They met at a dance in Italy.\u00a0 But, I knew it was not uncommon for couples to separate, the husband going ahead to make a start and sending for family when money allowed.\u00a0 Based on the dates, it seemed their separation was relatively short, just a year.<\/p>\n
But, Violetta surprised and confused me. \u00a0\u00a0I squinted at the record, and there below Louisa\u2019s name on the ship\u2019s roster, was Violetta Buscarini, age 1 year and 2 months. I had so many questions.\u00a0 I thought Ozzie was their eldest child, and now a girl, born in 1913.\u00a0 My great Aunt Violet was not born years later, until the 20\u2019s.\u00a0 Why nearly the same name?<\/p>\n
Some more digging revealed what I feared:\u00a0 a death certificate from 1920.\u00a0 Violetta died at age 6 and 10 mo of a complication from a serious infection.\u00a0 I can imagine Louisa\u2019s sorrow, the crushing grief, losing a child, but needing to go on for her other three children. The dates reveal my great grandmother became pregnant with my grandfather shortly after.\u00a0 I wonder what the early days of my grandfather\u2019s infancy were like, so soon after Violetta\u2019s death. The next year after my grandfather, Alfred\u2019s birth, in 1922, my great grandmother gave birth to another daughter, Violet, my fabulous great aunt. At 93, she is energetic, sharp-witted, certain, and loving.<\/p>\n
I wonder at my great grandparents\u2019 decision to use the same name; I know it was a common practice for the times. Did it ease their grief?\u00a0 What was this time like for them? I thought about my own pregnancy with Michael, so soon after a miscarriage, and how his early days were somewhat shadowed by my grief.\u00a0 He burst through my hurt, guilt, and confusion like a shooting star.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not sure my grandfather knew of this sister who died before his birth; she was never mentioned.\u00a0 Why was she buried in a different cemetery, all but forgotten?\u00a0 I had to find her, to know her.<\/p>\n
Some calls and an unplanned visit, and there she was, Violet Buscarine, 1913-1920, Cathedral Cemetery, lot 24, subsection E. Violets for our Violetta. \u00a0It felt like coming home.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“All inferences from experience suppose … that the future will resemble the past” \u2013 David Hume, 1777 Restated by Charles Lyell, 1830s – “The present is the key to the past” The past has always held a fascination for me; sometimes it seems more real than the present, and certainly more so than the future.\u00a0… Continue reading Finding Violetta<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p78aL7-2s","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lynnricker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lynnricker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lynnricker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lynnricker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lynnricker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=152"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lynnricker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":435,"href":"https:\/\/lynnricker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions\/435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lynnricker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lynnricker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lynnricker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}