Not At All Wordless Wednesday

So, as I was running through anniversaries related to this date I came upon the fact that today is the 114 anniversary of the birth of my 1st cousin 4 times removed, Lorna Holden DeBoer. She was the daughter of Kendric Charles Holden (son of Charles and my Chapin’s youngest sibling) and Minnie Isabel Porter (George’s middle sibling). She married John DeBoer in 1921 and they had two children Gaylord and Eleanor. Eleanor in turn married my Great Uncle Darcy (my Great Grandmother Crystal’s brother).

And it seems a great time to express my thanks to the Holden and Porter family who have shown an interest in our common relatives and inspired me to continue researching. As I’ve mentioned before, Lorna penned a book on her aunt, Xantippe, which fellow researchers pointed out to me early on. In my early days as a librarian in Rockford I had the great luck to reconnect with Phyllis (Porter) Dolislager as well as take an informative life writing workshop from her. And the Porters and Holden’s have been tremendous donors to the Rockford Area Historical Museum—where I found countless bits of family memorabilia, family history, and photographs. So many of you have come forward to help with, share, or just be a great audience for my research and I really appreciate it. And that includes Carole, Janet, Uncle Aaron, Uncle Louis, Kathy and my original Porter source, Grandpa Bailey.

Thank you all!

Happy hunting,

Jess

This photo was copied from the Rockford Area Historical Museum and is a picture of Lorna Holden.

Carole Christensen Says:

June 26, 2013 at 11:18 am

Good Morning Jess!

Thank you for mentioning me in your post this morning! As you spelled my name correctly (with an “e”) I know it was me.

So glad to read about Great Aunt Lorna, it has brought back many fond memories of spending an overnight mini vacation on their farm on what is now called Old 14 Mile Road.

I keep in contact with Eleanor and Phyllis, they are their mother’s daughter and in Phyllis’s case her Grandmother’s granddaughter. By that I mean they are like G. Aunt Lorna.

My Grandpa Lynn Holden and Lorna are siblings. My dad Merlyn Holden was a farmer…Darcy Porter was a farmer. Besides being 2nd cousins they both were farmers and so a lifetime of visiting and “keeping up” with each others activities was a must! Besides that, Eleanor has always told me that my Dad was her favorite cousin making it a win win situation!

The Holden plot in Rockford Cemetery contains the graves of Kendric and Minnie; Lynn and Lola; Lorna’s 1st husband M. Curtis Phillips; John and Lorna’s deceased children Barbara and Gary; their son Gaylord along with both of their graves. September 2011 my sister Julie’s husband Ron Pyne was also buried in the Holden plot.

We (my sisters Julie, Ruth and I) have taken care of Kendric and Minnie’s graves along with Grandpa and Grandma Holden’s for many many years.

I feel it is a privilege (in recent years) to make sure there are flowers on the six graves of Aunt Lorna’s and to make sure there is a flag in Gaylord’s flag holder each Memorial Day.

Love your Genie Posts Jess and feel we are connecting each time I receive one.

Carole Holden Christensen, Rockford