BESSIE MAE PUGH ... HER STORY

To begin to tell Grandma Bessie's story, we have to go back to Thomas Hall, born in England in 1672.    He married Sarah Brave, born 1674.  He migrated to Pennsylvania by 1708.   His son, William Hall I, was born ca. 1708, but exact date is unknown as is anything else about this family.  His first wife was Hannah Richardson, born ca 1712.  Hannah was a Quaker, so the Halls, though English, would most likely were Quakers.   It was by his second wife, Mary Crow, born ca 1720, that he fathered William Hall II born 1743.   Nothing appears to be know about Mary Crow.  Could she be our Indian connection?   William II served in the Revolutionary War.  He had two wives and six children.  Our family line continues with William II's daughter Mary Ann Hall by his second wife, Susanna William.  

 Mary Ann Hall, born 1790, married Joseph Peter Paris.  Paris was born in France.  Family legend has it that Paris joined the French navy under Napoleon Bonapart and served a total of seven years with four years to that time frame fighting the British. He is said to have jumped ship in America.   Their daughter, Susanna, married Ephraim Martin, they had ten children.   Which gets us closer to Bessie Mae.  Martha Jane Martin, daughter of Susanna and Ephraim, is Bessie's mother.   The nationality of the Martin family is unknown, but it might be surmised that they, too, were of English decent, though Martin was a common French name also.

Ephraim's father was Urias Martin, born 1774 in Virginia.  Urias Martin's father was James Martin, born in New Jersey ca 1750.

I do not have any memories of grandma Bessie.  I know that we visited them, though not very often.   It was said that she like to go bare foot and that she did not put soap in her dishwater as she threw the water onto her plants.   She was diabetic, but the details of that are also unknown to me.  I do know that she died in 1951, in her early seventies, of complications of that disease.  It was said that she did not take care of herself in that respect.   But, thinking back, I am wondering how much was know about diabetes back then.

She gave birth to eight children, my father being the first.    

Descended from Royalty?

Alexander Preston Pugh, Bessie Mae, Elva, Martha Jane, brother died in infancy.  Bessie is a teenager.

If the information regarding the ancestors of Bessie Mae Pugh Strahl is to be believed, then my grandmother was a descendent of King William I "the Conqueror" born 1027, Falaisse, Normandy, France.  However, her French pedigree thereafter was contaminated by many English ancestors.

Other legends in connection with grandma Bessie have her descended from a French sailor who jumped ship during the French Revolution (circa 1776) and landed in the United States.  She claimed to have American Indian ancestry as well, but never explained who the Indian ancestor was.   It was concluded that since her father's line was completely traced, that the Indian part must come from her mother's side of the family, the Martins.

Looking at the family tree, it seems that she was of both French and English descent.  And since our family records do not include over the years the nationality of the various spouses , it can be concluded that other nationalities may have come into play.   That holds for grandpa Aaron Strahl's ancestry also.  But be that as it may, I have always thought of myself as mainly German (Strahl and Fischer), English (Riddiough), and French (Pugh).   My mother discovered that one of her ancestors was Irish, so I will add a thimble full of Irish to my pedigree.

It is fun to think that there was royalty in our lineage no matter how far back it went.  It is also fun to think that there might be some Native American blood running through my veins.  After all, they were the "first true Americans".

Thomas Guenther is 100% German, so add that to mine, the Guenther children are about 3/4 German, a smidgen of French and Irish and a tea cup of English.  The Donnell children have Prussian and Scots ancestry.  Irma Pust Donnell's father was Prussian.  Samuel Russell Donnell was for the most part Scots.  I am sure there are some other nationalities mixed in, but the first recorded Donnell did migrate from Scotland in the late 1700s.

This in a nutshell is who you are nationally.  But since you all were born in American, you are all Americans first and foremost.   You can be proud of that.

REMEMBERING THROUGH RECIPES

         I like to remember people who are no longer with us through their recipes.  One such person is Grandma Maude Brye, my sister's former mother-in-law.   When Fern married Bernard Brye, she married into a Norwegian heritage.  Maude was a terrific cook and baker and passed many of her recipes on to Fern, who then passed them on to our mother and me.  One of the recipes I enjoy making during the Christmas season is Maude's Christmas Cookies topped with a red candied cherry.

                                                    Maude's Christmas Cookies
          
                                                3/4 cup brown sugar
                                                1 cup crisco
                                                1 egg yolk
                                                2 cups flour (I sifted first, then measured)
                                                Candied cherries

                         Cream brown sugar and crisco, add egg yolk and continue creaming.  Stir in flour.
          Roll into ball and flatten on the cookie sheet by pressing a whole candied cherry in the center.
         Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until lightly brown.
Note: I just made these and they seemed too rich and tended to crumple.  Maybe 1/2 cup crisco would be better.   Again, it could be high altitude.  But I have made these before, and they always turned out great.


 

AARON STRAHL

      Aaron Strahl was a staunch Baptist if not a bit fanatic, something we preferred not to deal with when he came to visit.  Not sure why, maybe to avoid a harsh lecture on our sinful behavior or not to disappoint him in that his son, Everette, and his family had strayed.

       Often he would stay a couple of weeks, so that meant that we all had to curtail some of our usual activities.  Let me explain ... the Baptist believed that movies, dancing, and smoking were all sinful.  I am sure there are other things as well, but these three were the ones that impacted my parents, Fern and me.   Needless to say when my father wanted a cigarette, he managed to have one when out of sight of his father.   Fern, mother, and I refrained from going to movies, but I am not sure how we managed the school mixers (dances) if there were any during his visit.

      While his brother and sisters became firmly enmeshed in the church, my father detached himself completely.  Mother, Fern, and I would attend services at the Wesley Methodist Church on Barlow Street, and dad would hook up his boat and head for the Mississippi River for a day of fishing.   I never discussed religion with him, so I have no idea what his religious convictions were.  We all accepted the fact that dad wanted nothing to do with church and based on what we knew, understood completely.

    Aaron, the sixth generation Strahl, was born July 4, 1876, the third son of Perley and Katherine's seven children.  He married Bessie Mae Pugh January 1, 1899, at Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin.  They had eight children of whom, my father, Everette Ray, is the oldest and obviously their first born.

     In the days when motor vehicles were still a luxury, Aaron was an early mail carrier, delivering the mail by horse and buggy.  He spent his life farming and moving from farm to farm.  (Not known whether he owned or rented)  He finally settled on a farm in northern Illinois, Sycamore to be exact, and then retired to Paw Paw, Ill..   Bessie died July 1951, so I am assuming that his retirement came after her death.  (A note of interest: it was said the Bessie died of complications of diabetes, most likely caused from poor eating habits and her stubbornness, the management of diabetes  may not have been common knowledge back then.  Not sure whether it was type 1 or 2, or whether she was on insulin or not.  My cousin is diabetic, I have type 2 managed by sensible eating, and my son, Grant, has type 1.  Thanks, grandma Bessie!)  


     I have fond memories of my grandfather.  He was a kindly and appeared to be an even tempered man.  I remember that when I was little and visiting his farm, I went "fissing for fissies" in his water tank.  
He may have had gold fish in the tank to control the algae ... but this is just a guess.   I have his recipe for Brown Sugar Cookies.  He did know his way around the kitchen.

Shown here with Bessie and Aaron are their three daughters, (top left) Hazel, (bottom left) Amy and next to her on the right, Helen.  Aaron and Bessie had five sons,  Everette, Russell, Emil, Harold, and Carroll.  No date on the picture, but they could have been in their fifties ... guessing.  


     Aaron lived with his daughter, Hazel, son, Carroll, and brother and sister, Wilbur and Ella, in North Clayton before making his final abode with son Russell.  During those years, he expressed his deep religious convictions through poetry.  His book, Pray Do Not Weep For Me, was published by Comet Press, New York.  Aaron passed away March 1967 and is buried in Lakewood Memorial Cemetery, Elgin, Illinois.  (Note: I have a copy of his book)

                                          AARON'S  BROWN SUGAR COOKIES

                                 2 cups brown sugar 

                                 1 cup butter or margarine

                                 3 eggs, well beaten  

                                 5 cups flour

                                 1/2 tsp. salt 

                                 1 tsp soda ... heaped a very little

                                 1 tsp. vanilla                              

                                1/4 cup milk

       Cream butter and slowly add the brown sugar.  Add eggs, milk and vanilla.  Sift flour with salt and soda.  Stir into creamed mixture.  Drop by spoon on greased pan and bake in a moderate oven, 350-375 degrees for about 15 minutes or until lightly brown.   (Note:  raisins and nuts can be added, and I left out the milk and used only 4 cups of flour.  I made a notation that these were very good!)  






  

THE QUAKER CONNECTION

     In a nut shell, the Quaker connection goes back to Casper Strahl (born 1732 in Germany) and ends with Stacy Strahl, Casper's grandson, in 1822 when Stacy married outside the Quaker faith.

     Casper married Rebbeca Barger, also a Quaker.  They had nine children of whom one was Isaac.  Isaac married Ellen Lee who also was Quaker.  They had twelve children.  Their son, Stacy, was the one who broke the chain when he married Caroline Campbell in 1822.  As a result of his union, Stacy was disowned by the Quaker Somerset MM.  They had seven children.   Interestingly, Stacy was afflicted with epilepsy.   To continue with the lineage, Caroline and Stacy's son, Isaac, married Samantha Davis.  Their son, Perley, married Katherine Palmer.  They are the parents of my grandfather, Aaron Strahl.  Aaron married Bessie Mae Pugh on January 1, 1899, to which was born to that union, my father, Everette Ray Strahl.   What religion was followed after the break with the Quaker faith was not recorded, however, my grandfather, Aaron was a staunch Baptist.  The early Strahls settled in Pennsylvania.  Sometime later, the Strahls settled in Ohio and from there to Wisconsin.    

Perley is on left with the white beard.  Aaron is front with arms crossed.  Everette is in the light colored suit.  The picture was taken in 1925 when Everette (my father) was 24 years old.   

Katherine Palmer Strahl ... June 1936.  She died in December 1936.