Along the roads were several Amish horse and buggy rigs. Evidently they are capitalizing on the interest in their lifestyle and offer rides in the carriages and intro to their way of living. The Amish don't appreciate having their photos taken so we just got the carriages.
There's also a RV/MH Hall of Fame Museum and Library in Elkhart which makes sense since so many RVs are manufactured in this area. Having seen the museum last time through, we decided we should make the effort to see it this time. They have some really old models of RVs; tent trailers, teardrops, pickup campers, and motorhomes. It was interesting to see how far they've come since the early days.
Among the many RV manufacturers in the area are Thor, Heartland, Nexus, Keystone, Forest River and Newmar. Not all their models are made here but you can get tours of the plants for several that are. Unfortunately we were too late arriving as several of the plants are closed on Saturdays and Sundays.
Sunday we visited our friends' church in Mishawaka followed by lunch and good conversation. Bruce has known Anna Guikema since they were both children and Bruce's family lived in Mishawaka.
Monday we headed to Illinois to do more genealogy research. Bruce's parents and grandparents as well as cousins, aunts and uncles, were all brought up in Chicago and many stayed. We were on a quest to find gravesites and verify more family history. I have copies of death certificates that give the cemetery information so we thought it would just be a matter of going around and taking pictures. Nothing in genealogy is that easy!
Before we went grave hunting, tho, we contacted one of Bruce's cousins, Dan Heseltine and his wife Diane (one of the many who stayed in Chicago). Bruce had, of course, known Dan growing up and had seen him and Diane more recently, but I had never met either of them.
Dan and Diane Heseltine
They invited us to their home for dinner in the nearby town of Joliet. They have a lovely home they built themselves, with living quarters for both their mothers on one whole floor. Dan's mom passed away a few years ago and only Diane's remains, but they had the moms with them for over 9 years! They prepared an awesome dinner for us and we spent the evening getting acquainted. We hope they will consider coming out to California once they retire (Diane's retirement will be next year!). I don't think they have ever been to CA so it would be our pleasure to show if to them. Besides, there are cousins out there too!
We managed to find Bruce's mother's dad's grave first in Oak Hill Cemetery near Blue Island, but were puzzled by the inscription and the fact that his second wife was not there also. We don't know who provided the headstone so it remains a mystery why it just says 'father' on it. Irene's brother raised his family in Chicago, so may have been instrumental in it. Also Abraham James Coleman had changed his name when he came to the U.S. and switched his first and middle names so went by James A. In several census records the names are reversed. BUT, on the headstone it is the way it should be, Abraham James Coleman. Incidentally he had an older brother whose name was James Abraham Coleman in England, which caused the mystery as to why he changed his name here in the U.S.
The second grave site we were searching for was for Charles L and Amelia Heseltine. Charles, you may remember from earlier blogs, was from Maine and led an interesting life of mystery prior to arriving in Chicago. Interesting that the birth year is off by a year on this headstone too!
A bonus find was the grave site of their son Lester and his wife. Bruce's grandfather was Charles and he eventually moved to and is buried in CA. No other Heseltines were in the same section and we didn't query the cemetery about them as they charge $10 per name to look them up. So we have to be satisfied with the ones we found. This cemetery is a huge Evergreen Cemetery in Evergreen Park, IL.
When I contacted the listed cemetery for Daniel Baird, they told me he wasn't in their cemetery. That was totally unexpected. So we decided to try and find his wife's (Margaret) grave, which, according to her death certificate, was in another part of town in Mt Emblem Cemetery in Elmhurst, IL. We surmised that he may have been moved to 'her' cemetery when she passed so they would be together. (He died in 1926 and she in 1943). When I asked about her grave site I was told that SHE was not in this cemetery, but Daniel was. What? We went to the site and didn't find any headstone with their names on it.
Rather we found a headstone for their daughter, Margaret Reid, who passed in 1965. Back at the office, I asked about this and wondered if Margaret Reid was in the same plot and if their records stated whether there was a headstone for Daniel or not. It turns out Daniel is in #4 spot in the plot, and Margaret Reid is in #3. They could not tell me if or who was in the #1 or #2 positions. They did tell me there would only be 4 people buried there. Unless I could give them names, they couldn't tell me who was there. But the question remains; if Margaret Baird isn't there, where is she??? Such is the way of genealogy! Always a mystery to solve and not always a clear answer!
This building at the Mt. Emblem Cemetery is over 100 years old! It was beautiful inside and out.
This windmill is as old as the cemetery.
The cemetery is over 90 acres!
Next we are headed for St. Louis to see another of Bruce's cousins. Carol Ann (Heseltine) Benwell and her husband Jim live in Fairview Heights. She, Dan, Bruce, Donn Van Dyke and Paul were all born the same year. Donn lives in Sacramento and we see him and his family quite often. Carol has been out to see us and we have been to her house a couple of times. Carol also hosted Ryan for Thanksgiving and other dinners while he attended Illinois State University in Normal/Bloomington, IL. We're looking forward to meeting Carol's new husband and having a great visit.
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