My Grandmother, Maude Hankinson Davis

My paternal grandmother, Maude Hankinson Davis (1884-1967) was the daughter of professional baseball player, Frank Hankinson--and Mary Purple, my all time ELUSIVE ANCESTOR. (More on her in a future blog post.)  
 

In 1943 Maude requested that a search be made for a copy of her birth certificate. She stated she was born on either August 1, 1884 or 1885 at either 361 Renwick St. or 8 Dominick St. in downtown NYC. 

The results: NOT FOUND.
 

In 1900 she was living with her grandmother, Alice King Hankinson, at 2011 7th Ave, NYC. On September 11, 1906, at the age of 21, she married Ralph Butler Davis. Both of the above documents list her parents as Frank Hankinson and Mary Purple. 

The newlyweds moved across the river to Palisades Park, NJ, where they raised three children: Ralph Franklin (1909-1992, my dad), Alvin Butler (1912-2012), and Margaret Edwards (1914-1972).  In the late 40s my parents, brother, and I lived on the 3rd floor. I remember having the mumps here running around with a white bandage wrapped around my head and wearing a beanie hat with a propeller on top :-)

As president of the local Woman's Club, Maude went to Atlantic City as a delegate to the Woman's Club Convention in May 1932. Here she is taking a stroll on the boardwalk with Mrs. A.V. Griffith. 

Her Civilian Defense ID card dated Dec. 12, 1941. 

In 1952 my grandparents moved to Lake Owassa in Sussex County, NJ. For years there was no indoor plumbing and the outhouse was mighty cold at night. It was here that Nana had trained a chipmunk to go into her apron pocket to get birdseed. She was also a great cook and Thanksgiving dinners were always "at the lake." She and I would spend hours playing Canasta on the porch.

My dad always told me that Nana went to Cooper Union in NYC to study art but the school has no record of her ever attending. I own some of her oil paintings and once had a small hooked rug that she made.  

These are hanging in our cabin. When my husband and I were dating we were canoeing out on the lake in early May when a quick storm pushed through and we capsized. I have fond memories of me wearing Nana's house dress and my husband wearing Poppy's pants and flannel shirt which were way too small for him. We had to wait for our clothes to dry near the wood-burning stove.
 

In 2005 I went to an awards dinner that the students in my husband's class was having at Kean University. After it was over we were walking to our car with one of the other professors chatting about his camp and our cabin. As we were saying goodnight I noticed the "Owassa" license plate on his car. I told him about my grandparents place on the lake and that the Wolfe family now owned the house. He smiled and said "I live next door." He arranged for us to meet the owner who so graciously invited us to come inside. It was a day I will never forget :) 

We've been back several times since then. Even caught a 23" pickerel at the far end of the lake which we had stuffed. It too hangs in our cabin. 

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Copyright 2014, Barbara Schaffer

A Lot of This 'n That

I thought it would be fun to show you some summertime pics--past and present. 

 

My great Aunt Leila . . .

  . . . and Uncle George. 

Fireworks over Mirror Lake in Lake Placid, 2014.

A string-pieced jacket I made in 1989--Summertime Blues.

The back. Those dots are flowers I made out of seed beads. 

An osprey in her nest on the Ausable River, 2014. 

A view of the river.

My dad wearing a wool bathing suit, 1936. 

I bought one just like it at a vintage clothing show.

Bee Balm in our garden. Years ago, we created Blossom's Garden in memory of our dear dog, Blossom.

A little quilt I made last month after I found some leftover HSTs from a Split 9 Patch I made in the early 90s. 

I've been into physical fitness ever since I became an Aerobic Dancing instructor in 1974. I exercise nearly every day and go to the Y several times a week where I take classes and do the weight training circuit. Since 2012 I've been logging my fitness activities on The President's Challenge. I earned Bronze and Silver awards in 2013 and Gold two weeks ago after achieving 160,000 points. The next level is platinum at 1,000,000 points. I only have 836,230 points to go! Let's see . . . how many years will that take?? 

I decided to try and finish the borders on this top. It's been a long time since I've done any hand piecing. Not sure yet what to do beyond that. 

In May I brought 11 storage bins of vintage clothing, hats, trims, etc. to Andi Charkow for her Vintage Clothing, Accessories & Textile Auction coming up on the 26th in Horsham, PA. Check out the "View Photo Gallery" near the bottom of her page to see all the treasures that are being auctioned off.

Happy Wednesday!


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Copyright 2014, Barbara Schaffer

Historic Waterloo Village and Quilts

The weekend before the 4th a friend and I went to the Canal Day Festival at Historic Waterloo Village in Stanhope, NJ. Waterloo is a 19th century village along the Morris Canal in a tranquil setting of historic homes and mills. 

I have fond memories of Waterloo . . . 

 

In September 1987 The Heritage Quilt Project of NJ had one of its organizational meetings at the parsonage next to the Methodist Church. 

In October that same year Garden State Quilters held its quilt show at the picnic pavilion. My quilt A Christmas Card was on display.   

Fast forward to 1997 when I worked one day a week at the Quilt Barn and documented the Village's small quilt collection. See pics below. 

 

I'd visit the Seamstress Shop across the way and let the sheep out of their pen at feeding time :)  

 
Of the six quilts in their collection, this Sunburst was my favorite.

Love the blue floral background fabric.

 Basket with swag border.

Chips and Whetstones with a lot of fabric deterioration. 

Star of Bethlehem, c. 1930. 

Old Maid's Ramble Variation, c. 1880. 

Split 9-Patch, off center. 

I spotted that quilt in the Rutan Cabin on our recent visit. 

I wonder what happened to the rest of the quilts?

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Copyright 2014, Barbara Schaffer

Let's Celebrate!

Here are some of my patriotic quilts and other fun things with stars and stripes. Let's not forget Caleb Tichenor, a soldier of the revolution.
 

The first quilt I ever designed. Made for the 1976 Bicentennial. 

Ancestry made in 1977. You can read about it here.

Washington Star. In 1987 I won 12 blocks made by members of Garden State Quilters. 

Patriotic Pieces, 1999-2002, a Millennium quilt.

A detail. 

The back. 

 
The label.

Fun Stuff

A patriotic costume.

A flea market pillow and a small collection of pins.

 Silk American flags and one from every state. 

From the gift shop at The Shelburne Museum. 

Caleb Tichenor

A Soldier of the Revolution

In his words 22 January 1830:

Early in June 1776 I enlisted at Newark in which township I then resided, for five months under Capt. Abraham Lyon in Col. Van Courtland’s regiment from Newark. I was first marched in New York & from there to Long Island where I was when the British landed on said Island – from there I went to New York & marched to fort Washington & had an engagement there with the enemy. From there I marched to White Plains where we had several engagements with the enemy. From the Plains I marched to Kingsbridge & crossed the Hudson & then retreated back to Fort Lee & was in several skirmishes there. From Fort Lee we returned before the British army below in New Brunswick in New Jersey. 

Caleb continued to be called into service through 1781 and served his country for 28 months as a private in the revolution. 

 

First Presbyterian Church of Hanover, E. Hanover, Morris, NJ

Stranger Approach and contemplate 

the Grave.

Caleb Tichenor

departed this life

July 29th 1834

Aged 76 years

In his death his widow is bereaved

of a beloved companion

Who was most tender and 

affectionate.

His children of a Father most kind

and indulgent,

Society of a benevolent upright and honest man.  

Have a great 4th!

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Copyright 2014, Barbara Schaffer