Family Edition Friday Five Meme

Sophia over at RevGals offers this Family Edition for the Friday Five Meme:

1. Do you have any interest in geneaology? I have roots in the Mormon Church with family members who have done geneology on parts of my family. I am lucky to have copies of those records and find them fascinating. Sadly they only go back to the early 1800's with the early round of Mormon pioneers settling Utah and Idaho. Along with those settlers are stories of a pregnant great grandmother (5 generations back) who left England with her two toddlers and travelled to Utah while her husband stayed behind to earn money. The grandfather/husband later joined the family then took an additional wife or two and this grandmother divorced him. So, yes, I also have polygamists on my family tree. Then there's the story of another great grandfather who was a missionary to American Indians and wrote an English/Indian (not sure what tribes) dictionary. (Wish I had that. apparently they aren't very common). There are more stories....

2. Which countries did your ancestors come from? England, Ireland, Scotland, and France. I have also heard that there is a bit of Apache in my bloodline but I can't find out for certain.

3. Who is the farthest back ancestor whose name you know? I knew my great grandparents: Roland Chatterton and Maggie Hill Chatterton.

4. Any favorite saints or sinners in the group? Plenty of both.

5. What would you want your descendants to remember about you? I hope they know me as someone who tried hard to break a long family line of unhealthy behavior.

Bonus: a song, prayer, or poem that speaks of family--blood or chosen--to you. For me my family history is tied to land - the Rocky Mountains of Utah. I was recently there and repost this poem I wrote and photos from the other day:



The road traversed long, sometimes narrow
and steep. Oh! So very high up -
and, then - down. Winding along
through canyons of red and grey stone
with scraggly trees and shrubs.




Leaving my car behind,
for a bit of a hike, I wandered
along a well worn trail. Ancient land,
Indian land, land of migrating
wild cats and who knows what else.



Land that my father lives on.
Land that one day will be "mine"
or so he says in his trust.
Land that really belongs
to no one and yet, everyone.

Comments

angela said…
Wow, polygamy. I bet more people in the world know what that's like than we want to think about. How strong of the great grandmother to divorce him--an early feminist?

Love the western connections too--American. And your pictures and poem. There is always something starkly inspiring about that landscape.
i am always envious of those who have such a deep abiding connection to the land... it literally roots people, spiritually, that nothing else can.
Jan said…
What a beautiful poem, along with your pictures. It's funny that your grandparents' last name is the name of the street that my son BJ lives on in Houston. Interesting.
1-4 Grace said…
Grandmother was a real "spitfire" then? And also a truly brave woman!
Also, cool to find someone with Mormon roots who can dispel any urban myths and correct us on any hearsay. We were discussing earlier.
Thanks for sharing
Beautiful poetry and pictures. And I resonate with your answer to #5.

Been thinking of you a lot as they prepare to call one of two (of course) male candidates. Humph. I'm sure neither can compare to you but will try to keep an open mind! Prayers and good energy in a scary and stressful situation which you are handling with integrity.
Magdalene6127 said…
This is beautiful and wild, Mompriest. Thank you.
revhipchick said…
hmmm...i don't know of any Butterfield mormons! ;)

i love the pictures and poem--especailly wonderful together

the American Indian question of heritage is interesting. my aunt used to own a bar (nice, i know) outside of a reservation in OK and everyone constantly asked her what tribe she was from and when she said "none" they laughed and said she needed to find out. she has some very "Indian" features.

wonderful play as usual!
Terri said…
revhipchick - most certainly some Butterfield Mormons...settled in northern Utah around Logan...they are my dads mothers family...I know we are related somehow...maybe through the Butterfield line that came out of Maine, which is where my family lived before the moved to Utah?

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