March brackets

We filled in our brackets.  Yes, I did fill out an NCAA March Madness bracket, but the more important ones were family history brackets!  I didn't do well with basketball brackets, but I did enjoy doing a small bit of family history.  And with these brackets, you don't have to scratch anyone out!  :)  What got me going was Nathan's ancestor project at school.  He was supposed to pick an ancestor and research their country's flag and traditions.  Luckily, the family history was already done for Nathan's paternal line to Ellen & Edward from England (thanks Aunt Jane).  He just had to do a little research on England.  Each of the students did a class presentation, talking about the flag, traditional dress and customs, and sharing a little bit of family history.  Alex's aunt even provided a copy of Ellen & Edward's declaration of citizenship.  Pretty cool.  We know a little of their story.  Ellen & Edward got married in November 1869 in England.  They arrived in Ohio in May 1870.  Edward spent 3 months there and then went to settle homestead land in Kansas.  They were Baptists and farmers.  Their first son was born in January 1871 in Ohio.  Ellen and baby joined Edward in Kansas in the spring of 1871.  They had 8 children.  Their 2nd born girl died when she was about 7 years old.  Their 7th born was Clarence.  Clarence married Edith.  They were also farmers in Kansas, and Edith was a teacher.  They were Methodist and had 4 children.  Their 3rd born was Gerald.  Gerald married Ruth.  They lived in Kansas.  Gerald was a chemical engineer.  They were Methodist and had 2 children.  Their son is John, who married Fay.  They had 2 boys.  Their first born is Alex, who married me, and we have 4 boys!  We're doing our part to branch out and keep the line strong.  :)        

Nathan did well on his presentation.  I brought in little egg and cucumber sandwiches ("tea sandwiches") for his classmates to try.  Did you know that the modern term "sandwich" came from the 4th Earl of Sandwich in 18th century England?
 

Nathan also shared how he got his middle name Ray, which has been passed down in each generation on Alex's mom's line.  It goes back to Nathan's great great grandmother, who was put inside the oven of a wood stove as a baby to keep her alive.  She was given the middle name of Ray, which was the name of the stove.  Elsie passed her middle name to her son Clifton, and it has continued to be used in later generations.   Apparently Elsie Ray also named Clifton after a brand of wood cooking stove that she liked - the "Clifton" stove.  So we should be naming our boys after stoves or ovens... I guess we should have named Weston "Wedgewood," our current oven?  We'll just have to slightly change the nickname Westie to "Wedgie".  

Ha ha!