Let me first set the stage for this letter. I am starting to transcribe the 79 pages of my 4th great grandmother Sarah Busick Bright’s application for her widow’s share of her husband James Bright’s Revolutionary War Service Pension. This is going to be a long tedious job as file is all hand written, at times not in the best penmanship. Currently I’m trying to translate this letter that’s in response to Andrew Johnson’s letter of September 1848. At the time he was her representative in the House of Representatives and apparently her lawyer had asked him to help in securing the pension. Yes Andrew would become Lincoln’s Vice-President and President upon Lincoln’s assassination but that was in the future for these letters. Mr. Johnson writes
Will Cal Edwards please inform me what has been done in this case – these papers were left with the comm. before I left the city.
A Johnson
This letter appears next in the file as if to reply (I think)
Here’s what I got so far with blanks for what I can’t make out.
Blountville Sept 7 1848
Dear Sir
I sent you about 2 mo. ago old Mrs Bright’s old P certificate with her application to be continued on the role. – I have not heard from it – Will you please drop me a lin and inform me what you did with it ________ What think you? Is not the election between Cap & Van Buren It seems to me that this old Hero of Buena Vista & Regular(?) after 40 years out do well ___ ____ on the roll of the army. Is it not a strange thing _____ the _______ a party should take a regular _____ ____ and that only of the army and offer him as a candidate for an office of ________ magnitude I tremble for the President
How A Johnson
Yours truly
Saul Rhea
a line by next mail will much oblige
I’m not quite sure how that ending goes with the big pen scribble in the middle there. I don’t get exactly what he’s saying either about the election or what it has to do with Mrs Bright’s application for the widow’s pension.
Any way give the original a look over and see if you can help fill in any blanks or divine the meaning of this reply.
As always love comments, ratings, and likes. You know where to find me until next time!
Way back in the early eighties or late seventies during the study of Medieval History my beloved high school teacher Mrs Elizabeth Morrell started my interest in red doors. She mentioned that in that time when most people weren’t literate information was communicated by used of symbols. One example she gave was the red door – a symbol of sanctuary.
St Matthew Episcopal Church Kenosha
Red doors were unlocked; red doors were places you could go and not be pursued; red doors were shelters from the elements without eviction; red doors could offer spiritual saving as well as physical; red doors were sanctuary from the travails of life. I was impressed that this meaning held so much that if the king’s men were pursuing you and you ran into a red door – the only way to get you was via negotiation or wait until you emerged. That’s why during this time most churches had red doors and many do today.
I’m not sure why the concept has stuck with me for thirty years. It has and it’s echoed in my mind at the sight of every red door since. I think somewhere deep inside I wondered ‘if I go through that red door will I find my sanctuary from the travails of life?’ Not found that door yet, but then again like any good story it’s the obstacles that make life interesting.
Now when I have camera in hand and spot a red door I take a picture of it. I like documenting the various doors to various types of sanctuary. The one above is a traditional door on a traditional church. This one isn’t.
Wine Knot restaurant and bar offers a different type of sanctuary.
It’s the back door to the Wine Knot restaurant and bar here in Kenosha. True this one has a visible lock on it. I’d guess the one above has a lock of some type, times just call for it today. Still I’m amused pondering the type of sanctuary offered by Wine Knot compared to St. Matthews. Though honestly I’d prefer the sanctuary of a good meal with friends in a comfortable cozy restaurant over a sermon while sitting on a hard wooden pew. That’s just me, to each his/her own. I’d say my ultimate sanctuary for dealing with life travails is solitude. That’s when I negotiate with the king’s men perusing me in life and come out to life on my own terms. It’s not behind a red door, or at least not often but I found it.
I also liked that the Wine Knot door wasn’t perfect, it was weathered and worn from years of offering sanctuary to hungry souls. I played about with different filters and frames for it. You can click on the image to go to my Flickr account and see other versions.
My fascination with red doors will continue. I’ll try to make a picture of various ones I encounter in my travels. I wish the library had red doors. I find sanctuary in there quite often. Maybe that’ll be a suggestion of mine for the historic Simmons Library downtown – paint the doors red.
As always you know where to find me until next time!
I have a shameful secret to admit. I majored in history (my second time in college my first degree was a business one) yet when I lived in Charleston, South Carolina area (Mt. Pleasant to be more exact) I never went over to Ft Sumter. The very place that fired the first shot of the Civil War I never saw.
My 2nd great grandfather James Madison McCravey was a Confederate.
Heck the boats to it left from my island just a few blocks from where we had an apartment and I never went. **hangs head in shame** I went to the Yorktown and the ships there, I knew the historic district downtown like I knew my own palm, toured Fort Moultrie several times…but never made it to Sumter. I deeply regret letting that chance get away.
After photographing the Southport Beach House here in Kenosha and learning it is on the National Registry of Historic Places. I decided I would visit all the places on the National Register that I could here in Kenosha.
First step was to get a list of the places and that called for a visit to the website of the register . Ah-ha there are twenty-seven places in Kenosha county that are on the register. WOW! more than I thought. I look through the list and determine five of them I can’t visit. Four are restricted/location not disclosed as they are prehistoric fossil sites and they don’t want unauthorized digging there. These would be the Barnes Creek Site, Chesrow Site, Wehmhoff Mound, and Lucas Site. One is a sunken ship in Lake Michigan the USS Wisconsin an Iron Steamer. I won’t be visiting those that brings the number down to twenty-two.
I go over the list again. I can check off the Southport Beach house. I’ve done it. It started this whole evaluation process. Also the Kemper Center and Durkee Mansioncan be marked off as I did it on the Christmas tour last year. Though I hope to get a better look at the Kemper center inside.
Kemper Center in December 2011
So that leaves what? Twenty places to go. Some are private homes. That’ll mean just a shot of the exterior from the street. The Library Park, Library Park Historic District, and Gilbert M Simmons Memorial Library – did those just before I got sick. That’ll be going through the images doing a reshoot of things that didn’t turn out and writing a post.
The Gilbert M Simmons Memorial Library in Library Park in Kenosha. This area counts as 3 National Register of Historic Places Library Park itself is #00000733, Libaray Historic District #88002657, and the Simmons Library is #74000093.
That means I’m down to seventeen places. These are whittling away fast. Tomorrow Mike and I are going bowling. While out we can stop by and get another site photographed.
Wish me luck on this on-going project. I’m going to miss another historic place that’s near my home. There’s no reason for it. The good news is I’ll share the places I’ll see with you.
As always it’s great to hear from you! Feel free to comment, start, or share this post. You know how get me if you’d like to chat privately. Until next time!
I found the photos I made back in the Christmas season at the Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center in Townsend,Tennessee. On an usually warm day during the holiday visit my mother-in-law (Donna) and I went over to Townsend to see the decorations in the cabins. Her garden club had done the decorating for a previous year and we were curious to see this year’s decorations. The men were golfing and this would feed my shutterbug. However I downloaded the photos onto my netbook and forgot about them. Until I found them yesterday.
Thus you are getting Christmas at Easter. I have to say much of this isn’t new to me growing up in the Appalachians. Honestly some of the things I’ve seen used or chatted with people that used them in their childhood. Several branches of my family has lived in the Appalachians since receiving land grants for their service in the American Revolution. Much of this speaks to my roots in the area and my genealogy research.
I remember my Granny Rolen (maternal great grandmother) showing me how she spun thread to weave on her loom. I’ve heard stories all my life of her large loom that was in the attic of “the old house.” That house burned, the loom with it I’d guess in the late 1950s or early 1960s. Every time I see a loom in an Smoky Mountain display I always think of the demos she did on how to spin and long to see her loom that burned.The outhouse. Yes I’ve used them. The church I attended growing up that’s all they had. It wasn’t unusal to see old outhouses going untended among outbuildings at farms when I was growing up. I remember my Nannie’s (maternal grandmother) neighbor kept up their outhouse and turned it into a shed where they kept their lawnmower. That’s always struck me as funny.I remember a story my Nannie telling that her mother challenged her to learn to harness a team to a carriage like Nannie’s friend could do. Intending to show her mother she could do it without her stinky ole brother showing her how she went out to hook up the team. Well they bolted, Nannie went to the house and left her brother to catch the team. “Served him right for not ever teaching me until Mama said I needed to know.”Once while visiting my Nannie I went to tour Forbidden Caverns with some cousins. When I got back telling her about all we saw – fish without eyes, neat rock formations, and an old still. To which she said “It was some of your kin that ran that still back in the day.” Truth be told if your roots go back to the depression era or later in the Appalachians the chances are your kin had something to do with bootlegging too. It was a way many families made ends meet in tough time. However be careful of my great-grandpa and his brothers they were revenuers and lawmen.I’ll just say I’m not sure why they have pine cones on the stove. Putting that decoration choice aside let’s look at the coffee pot. I’ve seen pots like that all my life. I even have one we use camping. Coffee from them is great and always has a distinctive taste, not like drip or even electrically percolated. Use it over an open fire and it’ll have a nice smoky note to the coffee.I know this isn’t the best picture but I wanted to share. I’ve never seen a tree this big in the Smokies. Back in the early to mid 1900s lumber was a commodity for the Smokies partly from the old growth forest giving large trees to make long run planks. All those are gone now but I found it amazing there were once trees that big in the forests I grew up knowing. I can’t imagine what my great grandparents saw with a forest that contained those trees.
Here’s a few beauty shots I make of the decorations and place. The stagecoach rules amused me. If you want to see more of the pictures from that day click on any of the photos here. That will take you over to my Flickr photo stream where you can surf about.
Hope you enjoyed this Christmas for Easter post. As I always say I love to hear from you here or any where – don’t be shy!
Kenosha has some interesting sights that make it Kenosha to me. So many towns are beginning to look one like another – big box stores, national supermarkets, restaurant chains, and fast food places. I like to try to find what makes a place, THAT place. For me one of the things about Kenosha that stood out are the unique buildings. I’ve toyed with the idea of going out to make pictures of various unique buildings in Kenosha to share with friends on-line. Yesterday was my first day.
It was sunny and I was longing to do some photography. I decided to take Rappy down to the beach and make some pictures. She wasn’t so sure of the plan at first.
Is this a trick? Are we going to the vet?
We used to have a small SUV. She liked riding in the back of that but now we have a grandpa sedan (I don’t like sedans). She doesn’t like riding on a seat with a big ledge that falls to the floor. She liked the big platform in the back of the SUV where she could lounge & look out. Here once we start moving she lays down and can’t see out but is terrified to sit up. Any way she’s suspecting a vet visit… even gives me that questioning stare as I go around to get in.
Are you SURE we aren’t going to the vet?
We tool off down the road with no particular place in mind except to pick up my prescription through the drive thru (damn sedan spoils that fun as she hunkers down hugging the back of the seat). Once that’s done I head off down 75th toward the lake.
What lake? Why Lake Michigan of course. We lived just a few miles off of the lake. I wind up at the Southport Public Beach House. Now I know very little about this building but I’ve always liked the looks of it. It seems perched on the edge of decay just a hair past shabby chic yet it has magnificent bones. I have walked around it many times fantasizing about what it looked like in its glory days.
Hey, you didn’t lie! This isn’t the vet’s office!
Rappy was pleasantly surprised we weren’t at the vet’s office. She hopped out and we enjoyed a very brief walk in the park next to the beach house. It has a stunning view of the lake. The walk was brief because she’d already had a walk that day and I wanted to do one around the beach house. She’s not a spring chicken as you see (she’s an old greyhound) and can’t do walks like she used to do. Still she loved it and I took a few nice shots of the park and lake. Enjoy!
Then we took off for my photo expedition around the Southport Public Beach House.
Kenosha’s Southport Public Beach House
It looks a little worse for wear from the last time I circled it. I have to admit though circling it with a camera gives one a more observant eye looking for decent shots. Since I knew I was going to do a post with some of the photos I thought I should do a bit of research about the building. The first thing I learned was you can rent it for functions. Next it is on the National Registry of Historic Places. I’ll summarize a few points for you. It was built 1936-1940 just like the plaque says. It was built as part of the WPA program. The architect was Christian Borggren. It was built from material scavenged from condemned buildings and the post office that was torn town. It has a ballroom inside in addition to the usual beach house showers and snack bar. I’m not sure when it was shuddered off like now. The roof has a large tarp on it. I’m not sure what damage it conceals and what that has done to the interior of the place. There is very little malicious damage such as graffiti and broken windows. This might be because there is video surveillance of the exterior. I’m not sure whose watching the paint peel there but there are signs and camera up around the structure. Most of the images show the need for a good sweeping and paint. Excluding the needed roof repair. Now I’ll stop blabbling and give you some of the pictures. There are more on my Flickr page. You can get there by clicking on any image then moving about my photostream.
Again if you were intrigued and want to see more head over to my Flickr account. There are some detail shots and views of the beach too. In the end Rappy and I had a good time our first day out doing photos of interesting buildings in Kenosha.
That was fun!
As always I’d love to hear from you. If you like give me a like or stars or share with others or do all three! It helps keep me going and doing these sorts of things.
So why did genealogy become my hobby? I hate people who wear their ancestors as a badge. I’m not a dog that need a documented breeding bloodline. Does it matter who my 4th great grandpappy was? I want to be taken for my merit not the merit or misdeeds of people I didn’t know and couldn’t influence due to linear aspects of time. Yet, genealogy is one of my favorite hobbies. Why?
Thomas Fain Bright ( the chair front row on left) is my great grandfather on left. His wife next to him Molly I remember her funeral. Her father is James Madison McCravey at the end on the right (my great great grandfather) fought in the Civil War as a Confederate. Leslie Bright the boy in the back row in about the middle of the photo is my grandfather.
I’ve always loved history. I’ve liked tales of the past as long as I can remember. I don’t know why but it’s always made me feel better to think humans have experienced the same feelings I have for thousands of years. I loved historical romances when I was a young girl. In high school I had a teacher, Liz Morrell, who challenged me to look at real history through real people’s eyes. I loved it even more. If you want a good mystery – read history there’s plenty of them. Want a good scare – read history there’s plenty of them. Want the feel good story of the year – read history there’s plenty of them. Want steamy romance – read history there’s plenty of them. I think you get my point. I found all I wanted in real true tales. History isn’t just dates and military movement to me but people living life!
Genealogy was a way to get the everyday person’s view of history, their world at that time. Depression job loss – my grandfather’s time with Singer Sewing Machine Company I posted about. How it is to come of age – my other grandfather’s clothes progression to long breeches. Horrors of Andersonville, Sultana, explosion and what happened to the families that endure such painful loss – I’ve found them in my family tree.
The father Pleasant M Rogers is my 2nd great grandfather. Next to him is his wife Margaret Clark. He’s holding Minnie Christine. She’s holding Josie M. Sitting on the ground is William Victor. Standing behind is Ida Alberta my great grandmother. Photo taken about 1891
Honestly it doesn’t HAVE to be my family tree. I’ve helped friends intrigued by stories I’ve found in my tree find some stories in theirs. The child left to be raised by an aunt & uncle grew up thinking they were the parents but noo, life changed when all was flipped. What happened to the lost child of someone? Find their life and tell it – who knew he’d wind up out west panning for gold then have a hand in the railroad dying a rich man?
For me it’s looking into the faces of the pictures I discovered and seeing a person. A person who had feelings like me, who lived events I’ve only read about, and who is now gone but not forgotten. Maybe shelved for years and rediscovered but not forgotten. Now when I eat a Cracker Barrel I wonder who those faces are in those old pictures, what genealogist out there is trying desperately to find a face to put with the story?
My grandmother, Winnie Bradford, is the girl behind the one hold the flowers standing between her parents Joe Berry Bradford & Pansy Brown Bradford.
Another thing I’ve learned is we’re all connected. If not literally in the 14 generations I’ve gotten so far then through experiences. To me all of it is ours, our story as humans. How we made it through good times and difficult times. It’s inspiration.
It’s all about citation and documentation. I LOVE to document things and fit them together. It’s the old auditor in me. Want to be put in my family tree program? You gotta have documentation otherwise you wind up in my notes to investigate or in my family lore files. My tree is one that’s well reinforced with documentation – marriage certificates, death certificates, birth certificates, censuses, wills, land deeds, dairies, letters, photos, newspaper articles, and on and on. All to be deliciously filed and scanned and attached to the facts they document. See my penchant for neat files in previous posts.
In the middle back row the woman in the dark dress is my great grandmother Ollie Belle Hicks Rolen. In front of her are her parents my 2nd great grandparents Margaret Jane Denton and David Crockett (aka Crockett) Hicks.
This is a job that’s never finished. Every answered question seems to raise ten more questions to answer. I’ll never run out of things to do in my hobby. Every year more are born and more die. You want to fall into my realm of investigation you have to die. I do paper research, grave yard research, book research… I leave the living to my mother. I’m happier in the stacks with that musty smell thinking “AHHH THERE you are! I’ve been looking for you!” Than I am over tea trying to get people to lay their lives open warts and all.
John Bright and Mary Jane Browder Bright my 2nd great grandparents
Genealogy has given me a topic to discuss with my parents. My mother and I share the same hobby so we can build on what the other finds. My father is a treasure trove of family lore, stories I’ve heard all my life but never wrote down. Now I’m hearing them again and encouraging him to write them down. Oh the lovely hours in stacks that will lead to investigating! It gives us something to share, to talk about, to do together beyond comparing medical visits.
My 2nd great grandfather. He was a sheriff in the mountains of East Tennessee. His son became a revenuer. Looks the part of a lawman doesn’t he?
Finally it gives me something to pass on to my son. Here is who we are. This is how we fit into those stuffy history books. It makes the past live for him because he can say he has a connection to it. I hope it keeps me remembered by my 4th great grandchild. She cared, she cared enough to send these stories down to me so I too would share something with her – our connection to life future and past.
For me it combined my love of history, my love of stories, my love of office supplies (files!), my love of order and documentation, my always needing something to do, and gave me another connection with my parents. I can’t think of a better hobby.
As always I’d love to hear from you. You can comment here (it’ll show up when I get it). You can catch me on twitter as @marylouiseeklund or on Google+ as +Mary Louise Eklund. I don’t go to Facebook any more though there’s an old profile still there. BUT you can email me at marylouiseeklund at either yahoo.com or gmail.com.
Today was the last day to tour the Durkee Mansion here in Kenosha. It’s been decorated for the holiday season. We’ve talked for five of the last seven holiday seasons (two of them we were on active duty in Tampa) we need to go tour the historical structure in our town. However, holiday season happens and it’s never simple and by the time we looked up it was over and the house was closed.
The Kemper Center was built on the Durkee Mansion grounds
We made the effort today, with more presents to wrap but the bulk of the holiday chores done we decided to take time to tour the home. We were justly rewarded for our small effort of getting off the couch and turning off football. Okay that wasn’t a small effort as the two games had Bears in one and the Pack in the other. Still my photography hobby was greatly pleased to see such lovely decorations in a restored Victorian home.
The colorful trim painting I’d expect to see on a Victorian home.
The entrance of the mansion has all the detail painting you’d expect on a Victorian home. Yet I thought the entrance somewhat stark for a Victorian home. Later with talking with a volunteer I learned what it was missing. The once elaborate and breathtakingly ornate wraparound porch with all the lattice work detail of the period is long gone. The plantation windows (the large kind that go to the floor where you walk through them when open) that we saw in the parlor and dining room once opened to this porch. Glimpses as to what the porch looked like can be seen in the early graduation pictures of the Kemper Center School for Girls. They posed on this ornate porch. Today the windows are just large windows with iron grates at the bottom on the outside
These windows once allowed entry and exit to the ornate wrap around porch
The home was said to be a stop on the Underground Railroad. The Durkees were abolitionist. Mr. Durkee’s brother was involved in finding railroad “stops” in the Kenosha area for escaping slaves. The Mansion has a root cellar that is accessible by a trap door in the floor of the pantry. Lore holds this is where the Durkees hid slaves they hosted as a train stop on the route to freedom. Currently the door is under a large pantry armoire and not visible to visitors.
The house isn’t furnished with original furniture. Instead it is furnished with period correct pieces donated by the community. The restoration and care of this lovely home is a community effort. It is so sad that we have missed out on seeing this treasure for so long. The holiday decorations are also donated and done by volunteers. Each room had a podium explaining the room function and listing the volunteers who had decorated it for the holiday. Much of the decoration was Victorian inspired with the heavy draping of many fabrics and the ornate nature of the decorations. It was set to be a feast for the eye. I did enjoy finding areas to highlight with my lens eye and appreciate the efforts of everyone who donated time and materials.
Morning Room or Ladies’ Parlor
The main area of entertaining guests would have been the main floor were the parlors and dining room were located. Then the third floor where the ballroom was located. Unfortunately the ballroom is now closed off and houses the furnace and other mechanicals to service the home. I so would have loved to have seen a restored ballroom decorated to the nines for Christmas. Though it did seem odd to me that the two main entertaining areas were not adjoined but rather required passing through the family’s floor.
The other odd thing to me was the home faces away from the lovely view of Lake Michigan. They must of had a spectacular view sitting there in the middle of their ten acres. Only the bay window in his room can glimpse the lake. I would have highlighted that view from my home and ballroom much like the Vanderbilts did at the Breakers in Newport. Okay maybe not as ornately as the Vanderbilts but orientation wise like they did or the Ringling home in Florida does the Atlantic.
Here is where the Durkees would have hosted their guests.
Back to the main floor. There were three parlors. The guest parlor that would have showcased the best the Durkees had to offer in furniture, decoration, and such. This was to the right of the foyer or entrance hall. The hall was where the guest would have given their cloaks, gloves, and gentlemen doffed their hats. Also calling cards would have been left there by each guest. Straight back from the foyer was the ladies parlor where Mrs. Durkee would have enterained lady vistors. Back and to the right was the gentlemen’s parlor where Mr. Durkee would have entertained male callers. I’m sure much political discussion went on in that room given Mr. Durkee’s career.
All of these parlors were accessible by the Butler’s Walk a hallway that ran through the core of the house and connected with the servant’s hall. I did find the ceiling in the servant’s hall lovely and today it’s where you can view photos of the early graduating classes from Kemper and get a glimpse of the house’s porch.
A stained glass window in the dining room
One of the striking features of the home’s main floor was the stained glass windows. They were glittering with the bright winter light streaming into the dimly lit home. One thing we take for granted now is good lighting. Early light bulbs weren’t as strong as we are used to today. Nor did one light a whole room, instead one lit the area where they were. One of the mad extravagances of George Vanderbilt at his Biltmore home was fully lighting rooms with electrical lights. Still the pleasant cozy dimness highlighted the lovely colors of the glass in the windows. Check out my flickr account for some shots of the other windows.
Going down the free standing stairs
The second floor or family floor held five bedrooms. At the time they lived in the home the Durkees did not have children. Later when the Kemper Center operated the girls school this floor had classrooms, offices, and the Mother Superior’s bedroom. Today they all have been restored to bedrooms. They are lovely but in the interest of space I’ll only highlight two. The one that was the Mother Superior’s bedroom and one I just liked the furniture.
This is the bedroom with the largest fireplace and became the Mother Superior’s bedroom
This is the bedroom the Mother Superior later chose as her bedroom. I can see why on two counts. First it had the largest fireplace so it would be a warm bedroom. Here in the late 1800s I can imagine the winters could be brutally cold and being next to the lake I’m sure the wind was brutal. Next it just outside it’s door was the sitting room for the family area I’m sure that was good place for the students to gather between classes and she would easily keep an eye on them. At least those were my imaginings as I stood in the bedroom doorway. It was also a good sized room but not large like the master bedroom so I’m sure it was a nice size to be her private area. There are more pictures of the room on my flickr feed so click on any image in this post and go over to look about.
I loved this bed and thought the headboard and foot board were just beautiful!
The other bedroom I just thought the bed was lovely. It was decorated as a ladies room but there were men’s riding boots by the fireplace. **waggles eyebrows** What lovely horseman put his boots by her fire? **wink wink** Really who can’t see lovely decorated Victorian homes and not fall into a romance novel state of mind? Okay guys I get it you can do it but even I, the not really a romance reader gal, couldn’t help it.
The pump frame there is only for decoration this was a true dry sink from the original house
Now back down the stairs to the servant’s areas. I didn’t get any pictures in the pantry where the root cellar hatch is because the room was very small and often crowded given the historical significance of it. I did get a shot of ceiling in the servant’s hall. The floor was also very attractive being striped by alternating light wood with dark wood in the hardwood floor. This was a wide hallway where the servants would gather outside the small kitchen where the dry sink was located.
What’s a dry sink you ask. Well ignore that pump handle and spout there it’s just decoration. A dry sink had no water and no drain. You went out to the pump and carried in the water. You washed the dishes in the water you heated on the stove there in the dry sink pans. When you were finished you carried the dirty water outside. Thus the sink was truly a dry sink just a place to hold the dishpans.
Simmons Gym built in 1910
That concluded our tour of the home. On the way out I made a few pictures of the Kemper Center grounds including the Simmon’s gym built in 1910. The school was a very progressive one for women. The nuns taught chemistry, physics, horseback riding, pottery making, and many other things. The gym even included bowling alleys. The classes were small at the most 24 girls. The girls lived in dorms on the grounds. A woman who graduated from Kemper was well educated and knowledgeable about many things. They were finished ladies.
A real wild red fox strolls down the sidewalk in town.
Just as we were getting in the truck to go home I spotted a red fox, yes a real wild red fox strolling down the sidewalk of this historic lake front community. We sat in the car and watched him for a bit. The lady walking on the other side of the street paused to watch him trot along occasionally stopping to sniff here or pee there (gotta mark territory ya know). It was an odd thing to see as we can’t recall any woods near there for him to live. I guess he was just like us enjoying a day out in the sun with no snow and temps that weren’t really cold by Wisconsin December’s standards.
As I’ve said multiple times in this post there are more photos on my flickr account. You can also view larger sizes of any of these by clicking on them and going to that account. Also as always I’d LOVE to hear from you. You can comment here, e-mail me at any of my e-mail accounts (marylouiseeklund at gmail or yahoo) or tweet me @marylouiseklund. I’m also on Google+ as myself but you won’t get me on Facebook. My old account there is there but it’s dead. Until next time – Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and hope life’s treating you well.
Mary Louise Eklund 